SYSTEM ASCENSION

"What the hell man...wake up."

His grip tightened even further. He finally broke into tears. Loud tears that refused to stop no matter how desperately he swallowed them back down.

The reality his mind had rejected over and over again finally began tearing through him without mercy, stripping away denial piece by piece.

His mind roamed. All the way back to his earlier days. It was like a Veil was lifted from his eyes. A fog cleared from his mind.

His eyes widened. This wasn’t the first person he had lost. It was all clear to him now. Death really meant gone.

He bit his lip.

"Mother... Roche...Quil...Yvonne and now..."

Then a footstep echoed across the battlefield.

Truly bad timing.

The surviving leader emerged slowly through the dust with blood running heavily down his body while one arm hung twisted at his side. His movements were unsteady from the injuries Haliad inflicted earlier and the blood pool from the strange girl, but he was alive, and the moment his eyes landed on Elias, he immediately sensed that something was terribly wrong.

The man’s gaze shifted briefly toward Zeal’s corpse before returning to Elias again.

"Oh..."

His breathing cautiously slowed.

"The hound disappeared..."

’He must be a summoner, but it seems like he’s not high enough to keep Haliad for more than a minute. Still, to be able to summon the hound of the night makes him a threat.’

He narrowed his eyes.

’But...why is he staring at me like that? Is he not...scared?’

Elias said nothing to the point that the silence stretching between them became suffocating.

The leader frowned slightly as instinct screamed at him to retreat immediately. Something was wrong in a way he couldn’t explain.

’Haliad is gone. So why do I feel uneasy?’

Elias carefully lowered Zeal onto the ground.

The movement was painfully gentle. He adjusted the older man slowly before standing up, his head remaining lowered while dark strands of hair hid his expression completely.

The atmosphere changed instantly.

Darkness began spreading behind Elias, like space itself had split open to reveal an endless abyss hidden behind reality. It flowed outward across the shattered battlefield in slow waves while cracks began forming through the air itself.

The leader instinctively stepped back.

"What are you doing...?"

Elias raised his head, and the man froze. His face paled.

Those eyes no longer carried grief alone.

There was something far worse inside them now.

Nothing.

He turned around and dashed off, cut through the distance with frantic movements.

"That child is not normal..."

He glanced back, and frowned.

’Where is he?’

The leader barely managed to react before a hand seized his face and slammed him violently into the ground hard enough to crater the battlefield. The impact shattered his rib, while blood exploded from the man’s mouth, yet before he could recover, Elias dragged him upward again with monstrous force only to slam him again.

"You..."

The leader coughed violently while trying to struggle free.

Elias stared at him with tears still running down his face. The air creaked open again, and black hands erupted from the tearing. They pierced through the man’s limbs instantly before lifting him into the air like prey caught by a trap.

The scream that tore from the leader’s throat echoed through the destroyed clearing while the void expanded even further behind Elias, rising high enough to distort the sky. Elias put his hand into the dark hole, and pulled out a weapon.

A very familiar weapon.

The gaping mouth and ridiculous size.

"That weapon..."

’What the hell is up with this child? That’s Haliad’s sword!’

Elias took the same stance, and swung the sword with a terrific ease.

The impact cut through reality itself.

The leader’s body didn’t even have time to think or regret. One moment he was suspended by black hands, the next he was falling apart, split clean from shoulder to hip, both halves still twitching as they hit the dirt.

The fight ended as soon as it began. Another round of silence soon returned.

Elias felt cold to the bones. He fell on his knee, and loosen his grip. The sword left his hand sucked back into the void behind him that was already starting to seal itself shut.

He raised his hands and covered his face, desperate to wipe off his tears and just admit that he never met Zeal in the town of Cody that night.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work.

"Damn it..."

He stretched his hand, and reached out, only to see that he was fading, breaking and scattering piece by piece into the wind, and into nothing.

"Ah."

That was all he said. There was no panic, nor anger, but just that tired quiet sound.

"Am I dying?"

’I don’t feel any pain...’

He shut his eyes and opened it again.

’Did that person do something to me... before I killed him? ...well, it doesn’t matter now...’

A few seconds later, a figure caught his eyes. Someone approached from a distance, covered in hood, but obviously a male. The new stranger stopped feet away, and glanced around, like he was observing the scene.

His eyes locked with Elias. He seemed to stiffened up for a moment, then he looked away without stepping close. He glanced over at Zeal, then he moved closer to observe the fallen raider.

Elias could not even react. All the fight was drained from him. He could only watch, fading away slowly, as the stranger had his fill, turned around and walked away the same way he came.

A minute later, the barrier cracked, and broke. The clear sky returned. Not that it mattered anymore.

His body continued to fall apart slowly. Agonizingly slow.

His vision blurred.

’Perhaps...this is karma catching up to me too...’

’I killed my mother, even when she tried to protect me. I used Yvonne as an excuse to murder everyone in the scorched trial ground...’

He shut his eyes, and bowed his head.

’Yes...this is karma.’

’If I can just die to atone for...’

"Elias!"

’Huh...I heard my name...’

"Elias!" The voice was clearer.

’Someone is calling me...’

"Elias! Open your eyes!"

The voice right before him made him force his eyes open. Before him was a familiar face.

"Mr... Rowen?"

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