Chapter 523
CHAPTER 523
SANCTUM"S END (X)
Eldon sat against the side of the carbon-alloyed s.h.i.+p, praying . Though he didn"t believe in a G.o.d -- or, rather, the entire concept of religion had been missing from Adur for quite some time -- he had no other avenues of settling down . They were about to take a flight to the sky . Would they live? Die? He didn"t know . Chances are that they would die, struck down by those horrible beams of light .
Alana lied on his lap, fast asleep, too exhausted to continue . He patched his wounds haphazardly, but couldn"t focus on the pain . It was too much . Unlike the rich, he had ordinary genes, meaning that he couldn"t live that long . He was already in the twilight of his life, inching toward the last third of it . The wear and tear of endless labor had deteriorated his body, with today"s events being the nail in the coffin, it seemed .
--Weakness--Is--Not--Yours
He was hearing things, at last . He snorted bitterly at himself, closing his eyes . He was tired . Too tired . Inside of him, the desire to slump over and fall asleep burned hot . But he couldn"t . At the very least, he wanted to see how the story would unfold with his own eyes . If death must come, he wanted to at least stare at it .
We--Will--Give--you--Strength
There was a storm inside of him, a whirlwind of unstoppable emotions as his mind finally cracked, remembering . He had left her behind, lying asleep in the cold coffin of gla.s.s . Biyung . What whipped at him like the holy fire was that he didn"t even think about going to save her . He had completely forgotten . His heart, already a furnace about to explode, bled . He loved her -- that was indisputable . Yet, he abandoned her . So quickly . So easily .
It wasn"t that long ago that she was his entire world . She pulled him up from the vapid holes of emptiness and showed him the light of the living . She was the one who gave him purpose, the one who gave him strength, the one who made him into the man he was today . Yet, he abandoned her -- so quickly . . . so easily .
You--Can--Protect--Survive--Enlarge
Did she wake up? Perhaps the system malfunctioned and she woke up . How would she feel? Stuck inside the cold, desolate, unknown place, calling out his name . . . just for him to never arrive . Calling out haplessly until death descended upon her fragile body and mind .
How terrible was he? Terrible . Too terrible . Despite the fact that he tried to patch his mind by repeating that he saved Alana and couldn"t help Biyung, it was pointless . Guilt rode him like a wave, bas.h.i.+ng against his walls like the ocean against the high cliffs . Each breath was difficult, even agonizing .
Nothing--Is--Out--Of--Reach
The voice wouldn"t shut up, but he was in too much distress to care .
They rose up slowly . Their flight had begun -- a flight that would determine whether they lived or died . But . . . what if they lived? Where would they go? They"d be stranded in open s.p.a.ce with limited supplies and no cryo chambers . They"d drift and drift, and they"d still die . Perhaps, in a way, it would have been better if they died on the surface, with the rest .
Death--Is--Not--Inevitable
The s.h.i.+p shook due to the resounding shockwave that swept over them . There were no windows inside the wide, living chambers -- just thick, gray-black walls and flickering lights of the elongated bulbs . The patterns were the same, dull, even, repeating .
It shook again . And again . The feeling was terrible, as each time he could feel the shake, his heart would freeze for a moment with worry . He somehow moved his lethargic arms over to Alana and tried to stabilize her as much as possible .
Destroy--NO-CREATE--Destroy
His mind was an unwinding mess, his body a sh.e.l.l that wouldn"t listen . He could feel his eyes closing, his mind sinking . And sinking . And sinking .
The birds chirped, the lonely sound of the flute adjoined, the hazy wind billowing the thin, naked branches . The vast meadow spread, isolated from the carca.s.s that was the cityscape . The mountains . Ah, the mountains -- some drowned in green shrubbery and trees, and some naked to the earthly bone . They were beautiful . Everything was beautiful . Breathtaking . Like a song .
Annihilate--PROTECT--Obliterate--DIFFUSE
The tall gra.s.s of green and yellow swayed, droplets of the early-rise dew s.h.i.+ning on the surfaces of the stalks . They swayed in unison, creating a beautiful scene that could not be replicated elsewhere . All around him, all he saw was . . . beauty . The sort of beauty that was transcendent . The likes of which no artificial hand could make . Something that grew of itself, becoming what it is now . Inspiring . Alluring . Inviting .
Dissever--GUARD--Consume--a.s.sIST
He walked, yet he didn"t . No, he swam -- like a b.u.t.terfly led by the wind, he swam through the gra.s.s, letting it cradle him . Warm . So warm . His wounds eased . His mind settled . His heart calmed . All around he saw peace, unity, beauty transcendent of reality . Here . Yes . Here . This was where he belonged . This was the place that needed to be his reality .
Chaos--CHAOS--Chaos--Chaos--INVItes--YOu--
Something surged from within him, a black mist of sorts, soundless, wordless, colorless . Flickers danced inside it as it rose from his slumped, tired body, spreading out .
The world of the swaying gra.s.s and the rising mountains shook, startling him . The clear blue sky dimmed, the ashen clouds turning black and devouring it . Bolts pelted like rain, destroying the mountains . Burning the gra.s.s . He wanted to scream in defiance, yet he couldn"t . He had no strength . He was powerless here, just as he was powerless there . Strength . Yes . It was clear to him . Everything was determined through strength .
CHAOS--Chaos--Chaos--Chaos--Primal
"I--I--"
The black mist encompa.s.sed the s.h.i.+p whole . The beam of the light headed over like a judgment of death itself, ready to devour it . Everyone made their peace with it, closing their eyes . They would die, dispelled from the world for all eternity . Then, a miracle . The beam descended, but it didn"t destroy . It was consumed . The s.h.i.+p was fine, continuing its flight . It was perfect .
"Strength . . . "
Chaos--CH--Chaos--C--Chaos--Helps
"Help me . . . "
It--Is--Willed
"Help me . . . "
The black mist streamed urgently, flowing like a rapid into Eldon"s mind . Something inside snapped, the gra.s.sed meadow splitting in half like a porcelain bowl, shards scattering in the ever-violent wind . He found himself inside the open void, inside the terrible darkness that he could not reconcile .
There, juxtaposed between nothing and everything, a single structure arose . No, it wasn"t a structure . Yet it wasn"t living either . It was there yet not . Shaped strangely, yet straightforwardly . Eldon couldn"t understand . Couldn"t comprehend .
Hear--Our--Voice
He heard it, the whispers that trickled through his mind . The darkness before him cleared, and he could finally see . He could see with such clarity that he was stunned . He felt boundless strength, power akin to what he never felt before .
Become the Champion . The Writ . Create Chaos . Consolidate it . Warp it . Unify it . Expel it . Use it to rebuild the Edifice . To restore the order to the Universes . Rebuild the Destroyer, so it may contend against the Creator .
Eldon shuddered as his vision expanded; it felt as though his spirit left his body, streaming through the vast sky of Adur and into the open Cosmos . His eyes gleamed sideways themselves, beyond the vast nothingness of the void, onto a tiny, almost invisible speck . It rained fire, acid, and molten rock . It was horrible . But, it was to be his home . No, their home . He was not alone . He could not do it alone .
Yet, soon after, the regret inside of him swelled . Biyung . Despite all this, she was gone . Desolation and coldness returned, corrupting his mind once more .
We--Shall--Restore; Though--Not-Whole; She--Lives
A tiny speck appeared before his eyes, the size of his fingernail . A bubbly sphere of white surrounded a beautiful, black-haired woman cradled in a fetal position . A screen suddenly fluttered in front of his eyes, startling him . It was similar to those from Adur, which made it easy to navigate .
[Biyung"s Soul -- Cosmic Mythical]
Level: ??
An incomplete Soul, restored by temporarily reversing the tendrils of time and death that had consumed her . Currently in slumber . Needs to be fed in order to be fully restored . A chance of failure still exists .
0/1,000,000
Note: We--Are--Chaos--Before--Destroyers
Eldon stared numbly at the screen and then back at the tiny speck floating above his palm . That . . . is Biyung? He shuddered, tears of joy streaming through his eyes . There was a chance . That was all that mattered to him . There was a chance he would see her brilliant smile once more . There was a chance he would hold her once again . There was a chance they would be a family again .
He didn"t know why it happened . Why he was chosen . He didn"t understand anything of what had just transpired . But, he didn"t care . Alana was safe . Biyung could be helped . There was hope, hope for the future that they could not have had on Adur . And, inside, he swore to himself, he would make that future a reality -- even if he had to down his soul in endless sin .