Corrupted Whisper's

It was cold.

Even though there were crimson flames everywhere, conjured by a saint, what I found more painful than fire was the fact that I couldn't change the ending even if I was given a chance to.

My life was a failure.

Worthless as anything, the cold atmosphere made that very clear. My tears were whispered into existence. How, you ask?

Well, you see, I was never the type to care about death or pain at all. Even if it meant killing a loved one, my existence would never have wavered.

I was a monster born with the flesh of a demi-heart, yet my love for this dying woman was real. For the first time in my life, I found some form of value in living.

This woman named Jenny was more than family and more than a mother to me. She was my hope and my soul.

But no, this isn't a piece of my humanity nor is it a form of adaptability; it's reality. I, Nel, the Zen-Spirit of Ajar, have obtained a new form of evolution, which is compassion.

Yes, compassion. Why? Because I've known for a long time that my race could never obtain consciousness.

The rarity of being conscious is one in a hundred million. But to obtain compassion? An emotion that only humans or half-breeds have from prior fate is unheard of.

The fact that I have obtained something unknown, something so far-fetched, something unbelievable makes me believe that I can change. That I can stop being a failure.

I hate pain, and I hate my life, and I also hate my powers, but more than anything, I hate my existence.

But some part of me wonders if 'He' was given a chance at life, would he make the same decisions as I did? Would he choose compassion over selfishness? Or would he change the options and become a being that I could never be? Even if my existence were known as a monster, I always believed that I could change that perspective.

Was that so wrong?

Nel's face slightly changed, thinking my life's essence was only hopeful because I believed her filthy words.

I even chose to take the downgraded version of an ingredient upgrade, as well as a path of righteousness.

Evolution ingredients were vulgar as well as monstrous, yet Jenny believed—Nel paused as his leftover skin twisted and turned—that I could evolve in a more righteous way, and to think my stupid self-followed her will for five years.

Nel's skin continued to twist in two as his bones broke. Damn, why couldn't I be decisive? Why couldn't I be more monstrous, for fuck's sake!

"Crack"

Why did I give a shit about her opinions? Was I so lonely and deprived of love and attention from a motherly figure that I would blindly let someone choose my own path just to please her?

His face quickly softened as he closed his eyes.

But yet, I can't find fault in her at all. Sometimes I wonder if 'he' was given a chance, would he too flock for a mother's love? Or sit there within his own reality, his own dreams, and accomplish things?

Am I really better at life than him? Or her?

"Was it really just luck?"

Why was my fate so weak?

Why did I strive for someone's benefit?

Why did I develop human emotions?

What benefit did I obtain from this scenario?

I hate it!

*rumble*

Large rumbles could be heard in the distance as multiple skyscraper buildings crumbled. The once powerful Telcos city that was full of life is no more. "I truly doubt Mushroom City is any different."

The thick smell of charred flesh and blood is everywhere, but I somehow find it appetizing. As Nel slowly lifted his head to the sky, burning but beautiful essential elements formed from the deaths of multiple vestiges as they twisted through the atmosphere, slowly wisping through space and flying through Nel's body and soul.

"Blood-born vestiges"

It hurts.

I hate them. "But," he paused briefly, almost stumbling on his words, "I hate myself more."

He took a deep breath, instantly coming back to reality. Slowly looking down at Jenny, Nel couldn't help but cry.

Nel's leftover flesh slightly twisted to form a frown. "You can't die yet, Jenny."

"I won't let you die on me. Please don't die, Jenny."

"When were you such a crybaby, Nel?"

Jenny's face started turning pale as more of her life essence started to leave her body. Soon her body started getting cold, but Nel still couldn't do anything because half her body was molded to the earth.

-She was dying. -

Green twisted vines grew around her lower body as the corruption was eating at her soul. Jenny's thick blood was being absorbed by the dirt and infested insects as well as the heart core. Even her body was withering at an alarming rate too. She was a Vestige 4 Devour close to a saint level. But even so, she couldn't stop a real saint in battle.

-Let alone two. -

But the fact that this all started from the Crystal Rulek, a rare item from a tomb, but not just any tomb—a sanctum. The fragment of ancestral evolution, it could even help any saint or devil class to evolve from the dialect. It was already rare for so many saint-class vestiges to come to this city by itself. But when a chance to evolve is known, it's hard not to fight for it, even if it's a minor chance.

But still, if only I was stronger. Nel was weak, only at Vestige 2 all his life. He was a failure. Five years of training, learning the ropes, all for these weak abilities.

Nel quickly got out of his dazed state. Looking back down at the woman who saved him from the laboratory and also helped him learn how to write and even speak, Nel was hurt that he couldn't return the help at all.

"I'm sorry, Nel. Got you caught up in my problems, huh?" she smiled bitterly. "It's fine. I'm also a part of the team, you know." Jenny couldn't help but laugh but immediately winced in pain.

-Sometimes regeneration can be a curse rather than a blessing. -

Crimson, green blood dripped down from her lips. Soon sensing her last bit of essence leaving her body, she smiled, slowly closing her eyes. Losing her consciousness, Jenny couldn't help but say, "Yeah, Nel, you are a part of this team."

Nel's hands turned cold as Jenny's body became brittle. Her once strong life force was gone. The broken buildings and the corpses of once—he paused slowly before continuing his words in puzzlement at his words—friends, he questioned himself, alongside the pain in his chest.

His soul hurt, his heart ached, but suddenly his eyes turned blood red, as if a hunger awakened from his newfound emotions. Moved in a trance-like state, he grabbed the rune key and dashed to the heart of the sanctum tomb.

Weaving through corpses of children and citizens, he felt rage, rage that came from his soul. Roaring in his mind, he yelled out loud, "I'll kill them all, every last one of them."

Nel contorted his face in distaste, realizing that it was an impossible task to do, but suddenly his essence weaved through his soul as a thought crossed his mind; his face slowly contorted heavily, revealing a demonic smile, a devilish smile, a terrifying smile.

"Or I'll at least screw them over."

Shortly arriving at the sanctum, he walked calmly, ignoring all presence nearby, but suddenly he was left in a daze. The white color of the sanctum had gold and black ores as exterior decorations; it was extra extravagant.

It was nothing like a tomb, seeing how huge columns held the exterior; it was more like an ancient church never touched by time. Walking up the stairs, I was met with a gallery of beautiful ores and hundreds of thousands of flying lightbulbs?

Nel said with skepticism. Soon his eyes sensed something faster than his essence, as well as his instincts. In the center of the tomb, there lay a heart.

That's most likely the heart of the tomb. The inner center was beautiful as the golden white crystals were on the floor as well as the walls.

But above all that, what stood in the center was by far the most beautiful and the best of them all. Standing in the center was it, the heart of the tomb, the Rulek.

Walking to the center, Nel found himself in front of the Crystal Rulek, a sparkly gem that glowed with deep essence was one way to describe it.

But the Rulek was much more than that; it was a case that could hold a soul or evolve it. But Nel couldn't help but think that this one item was the sole cause of this genocide.

Nel couldn't help but smile; he was going to fuck them over by using this.

Nel could do it.

He could put his soul in the item, but he needed to be fast. He could hear the attackers coming to get their reward. "Bastards, like hell I'll give it to you."

Grabbing the key, he put deep essence in his hand as it flowed from his blood, pushing it into the Rulek. As the key and his essence slowly morphed, it moved his soul core to the Rulek.

He touched the case, causing a warm touch. His eyes dimmed, visibly changing back from blood red to blue. Soon the world gained new colors, terrifying colors.

He could hear that they were close; he needed to be faster—. "Huh, hey you little bastard, the fuck are you doing? That's mine." One of the men yelled loudly, jolting and sending shivers down Nel's spine.

Fuck!

He still needed to push his core in—shit. The man dashed to Nel, breaking the fabric of sound as it echoed near the inner center.

Flashing at an unbelievable speed, the man lunged in the air, shoving his hand in Nel's heart from the back.

Nel coughed out crimson blood, as this was the first time he saw his own heart. Feeling a sense of irony at his own heart, because he never thought he would see it so soon. It felt kind of cold.

No, please. I can't die like this; he coughed out more blood as the splatters splashed on the Rulek.

Damn it, I couldn't even do this right. Nel's eyes turned cold as he tried to grab the Rulek. The man threw him to the wall with a thud. Slowly starting to close his eyes as everything slowly turned black, no, white?