Chapter 222: Final(?) Clash of Black and White(2)
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As the blast of flames, wind and lighting shot towards me, I realized...that I had several ways of neutralizing his attack. Which one would be most appropriate? Maybe it's time to unleash my most powerful magic-...before I could decide, a massive wall of ice burst up in front of me, absorbing the impact of the blast, before shattering as the attack dissipated.
"Huh? You've...you've gotta be kidding me...how many times do I have to fail at killing you, damn it!?" Shiro exclaimed in fury and despair, before turning to Az with a fierce glare, "What the hell do you think you're doing!?"
Az had freed the others from my webs, but the three of them were too weak to move, he'd moved them off to the side and made a square room of ice around them...he himself looked like he was barely able to keep his eyes open or even stand, his expression slightly dazed.
"You...just made it clear...exactly who...the imposter is...," He replied with a dark look in his eye, "I don't like being deceived."
I then finished healing Fuo, retracting my fangs from her neck slowly.
"Are you alright?" I asked her, as I stood back up.
"Yeah, thanks...now, go finish this already, it's gone on for long enough."
Yeah...I agree.
"Why, you-...who do you think you are, don't act like you're better than me!!" Snarled Shiro, zipping towards Az with a bone blade formed out of his right hand.
Looks like he's finally snapped...his anger has overpowered his rationality, harming Az will end him, but he's so enraged that he's forgotten about that. Az tried to put up some ice spikes, but stumbled back dizzily, still not recovered from my sonic blasts. I used Teleport to appear between them, facing Shiro as he closed in. He let out a yell of anguish as he swung the bone blade towards my neck...
"You must have realized by now...you don't stand a chance again me," I remarked, as he stumbled back, blood bursting out of his right side.
"M-my arm...wh-what just happened...?"
I used Obliteration Magic, the most powerful and destructive magic in my arsenal...dark purple blasts with black streaks and outlines around them, blasts of pure destruction...I'd only used a relatively small one, and that was enough to completely vaporize his right arm and most of his right shoulder.
"My emotions may be sealed, but...even like this, your actions can provoke me...and that's the last thing you want to do."
He nearly killed Fuo, and then he went after Az...he'll suffer for that...
"Damn it, shut up...stop...stop talking down to me like you're better than me!!!" He exclaimed viciously, extending out his claws on his left hand and swinging them at me.
He has my memories, so like me, he doesn't know what it's like to suffer a truly one-sided and humiliating defeat in a fight...but he's about to. I deflected his arm away using Repulsion, shattering the bone in his forearm, as he stumbled back from the sheer force, before gritting his teeth and extending out a bone spike towards me from the middle of his chest.
I shattered the bone with my tail, before getting in close too quickly for him to react and slamming my knee onto his midsection as a look of alarm appeared in his eyes, sending him flying back and crashing onto the top of a building, falling into it as the wall broke inwards. He flew out with a roar, charging up a sphere of water and lightning above him using his partially-healed left arm, a crazed look in his eyes.
I appeared right in front of him using Teleport, he stiffened before giving me a resentful glare and began to swing his arm down, but I caught his wrist before he could and snapped it like a twig, his attack dissipating instantly.
"Hm? What do you mean? I am better than you," I remarked, tearing off his arm and tossing it aside.
With fear in his eyes, his gaze darted off to the side, using Teleport to get away, reappearing two hundred meters away and flying off. He's running away? He won't get away. I don't even need to use Teleport. I shot after him at top speed, grabbing his left ankle as I caught up with him within seconds.
"What the-!?" He cried, before I swung him down to the ground with all my strength.
The ground broke apart as his body slammed down with devastating impact, a massive dust cloud bursting up following a powerful shockwave, the glass on the windows of the surrounding buildings shattering. I fired out a blast of wind straight down to clear away the dust cloud, as Shiro stood up unsteadily, bones poking out of his body as blood streamed down and dripped onto the ground.
His arms weren't even halfway regenerated yet, he can no longer fight...but I'm not done with him yet. I appeared in front of him using Teleport, as wind, water and lightning swirled around my right fist. I fired a blast of Obliteration Magic at his abdomen, instantly blasting a hole through his stomach, his blood poured out like a fountain, as he stumbled back...I then slammed my right fist onto his chest.
I felt his ribcage cave in like an eggshell, as he got sent flying back and smashing through a building, I flew up and zipped over the building, before using Teleport to appear behind him and he burst through the back of the building. I then swung my foot up as hard as I could, slamming it onto his back, his spine snapping as he got sent zooming up rapidly.
He shot through the clouds in an instant, his blood raining down below. I used Teleport again, appearing to his left. He was barely conscious, his eyes drooping heavily...but the fear in them was clear, he was terrified. And why wouldn't he be...I was on a while other level above him right now. And he knew that...
"S-stop it...," He begged hoarsely, blood running down the side of his mouth.
I drove my fist towards the left side of his face, slamming onto it and sending him flying through the sky rapidly, skimming the top of the clouds. The left side of his skull and cheekbone were completely crushed, his left eye smashed into a bloody pulp.
I used Teleport to appear above him, spun myself around downwards and slammed my heel onto his back, sending him screeching down at a blinding speed and crashing onto the ground with a devastating impact.
I then landed down using Teleport and picked him up...hm, he's unconscious...I'll heal his head so that he wakes up, there's no point in beating up an unconscious body. I swiftly healed his head and coated my palm in lightning, before slamming it onto his chest, waking him up with a gasp.
"I suppose I should wrap this up soon, shouldn't I? A few more hits and then I'll kill you."
"N-no, stop-," He began to plead, before I interrupted him by blasting his legs into oblivion using Obliteration Magic.
His gaze began to dart off in desperation, I swiftly fired out acid venom at his eyes, blinding him before he could use Teleport. All his limbs are gone and his eyes are useless...he has no tricks left, I'll crush his throat if he starts channeling Mana into his mouth.
"It's finally over...time to die."
"No...I don't want to die! It's not fair, damn it, I didn't ask to be created, is it so wrong for me to want to keep existing!? You've lived for years, but my life has to end in just a couple of months for no goddamn reason!? Tell me, why do I have to die, just so that you can keep living, huh!?" He screamed in despair, blood foaming in his mouth and running down the sides.
"Hm, you make some good points...but all this is irrelevant to me...because you killed Mika. You're finished, time to die...now, Obliterate," I remarked as I flung him straight up into the air and firing a massive blast of Obliteration Magic at what was left of him, erasing all trace of his existence in an instant.
It's over...it's really over now, finally. He's dead...I did it...and now, I can finally rest easy...I'm so tired. I let out a sigh as I returned to my normal state, staring up the sky. I suppose that...I no longer need to suppress my emotions, do I?
"Kuro! My memories are back to normal, you did it!" Exclaimed Fuo, jogging over to me with a grin.
Persia and the others were walking behind her, averting their gazes with guilty looks in their eyes as I looked at them. I walked towards them, unsealing my emotions as I did. It slowly began flooding back, I stumbled back dizzily as it began to overwhelm me, all the emotions that I would have felt over the past couple of months hitting me in rapid succession.
All the rage, sorrow, bloodlust, impatience, anxiety, the sheer mental strain from my subconscious battle with Diablo and so much more, all flooding me in mere instants...tears uncontrollably running down my face as my mind swirled with emotions, welling up inside me rapidly. Oh, this is bad...I'll probably lose consciousness soon, I feel like I'm drowning right now...
"K-Kuro...?" Stammered Persia, as I collapsed onto one knee.
"Hey, you okay!?" Inquired Fuo with a look of concern.
"I...unsealed my...emotions."
"Already? But..."
"I can't...take it anymore...I've...I've had enough...," I blurted out without realizing it, as I started to get overwhelmed by the emotions, my head feeling like it was splitting in half...everything's starting to go dark...I don't think I'll be waking up for a while after this...I'm just...so tired...with my last bit of strength, I glanced up at Persia and uttered with a weak smile, "Oh...by the way...happy...birthd-..."
And then, everything went dark, my head feeling like it was exploding, as I collapsed onto the ground...
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Point-of-View: Shiro Blanc
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Everything's white...I see, I'm back in not-God's dimension. I died...Kuro killed me. It's over...this is the end of my existence, after all. I failed...
"Indeed you did."
"Tch, hurry up and finish me off already...and it looks like you can read my mind after all, not-God."
"Yes, because this is your spiritual form, I could not read your thoughts when you were in your physical form. You will soon return to being pure energy, which I shall re-absorb, restoring a small amount of my divinity. First, I shall restore the altered memories, except for the changes I made regarding my existence and reincarnation, of course."
I see...then it's really over. A part of me wanted to protest and resist, but...what's the point? I can't actually do anything to stop this, it would be a waste of effort...right? As I gave in and waited for him to finish me off, I suddenly felt like I was being dragged away...is this it?
"What!?" Exclaimed not-God, as I felt myself getting pulled in the opposite direction as well, a tug-of-war being played on my spiritual form.
Wait, his reaction...could it be that...when I first felt myself getting pulled away, it wasn't not-God, it was someone else...and when I felt a pull on me from the opposite direction, that was not-God, trying to keep whoever it was from taking me...I have no idea what's going on right now, all I do know for sure is...that I have no say in it. Just like the rope in a game of tug-of-war, I couldn't do a thing to influence the outcome.
"This can't be...it is too soon, she could not have broken free already! It is no use...I cannot hold on, I do not have enough Divine Magic, I am too weak...!" Grunted not-God, his voice starting to fade with every passing second...is the person he's pulling against winning?
And the next thing I knew, the white surrounding me was completely gone, replaced by pitch-black darkness...what is this? I then felt something...it felt like...something was growing around me...wait, I've felt this before...it's just like when I was first created...I was just an artificial soul at first, and then an artificial body was created to house that soul...this felt just like that, but...cruder?
It was hard to explain, it was almost like...the first time, my body had been crafted by an expert, and this time, it's being crafted by an amateur...I have no idea what's going on right now, but...I don't think it's a bad thing...yeah, I'm getting a good feeling about this. My body was almost done forming...my eyes have already formed, and in my curiosity, I couldn't help forcing my eyelids open...
In front of me, was a woman. She had incredibly beautiful blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, as well as jet-black feathered wings on her back...and a black halo floating above her head. But most noticeably...her boobs were amazing, big yet firm, I could stare at them all d-...no, I need to focus, what the hell is going on right now...?
I looked down at myself and scanned my body...it feels the same...tch, so I'm still a physical copy of Kuro, huh? No, wait, that's a trivial fact in the face of the bigger picture...could I be...am I...am I really alive right now...? How...why...I had so many questions, this seemed to good to be true, and so, I was afraid to ask any questions at all, because...what if I'm wrong, and I'm not alive, after all?
"Who...are you?" I inquired cautiously.
I already knew the answer, her appearance matches the physical description Lazarus gave Kuro regarding one of the two beings created by not-God all those centuries ago...Belia Lasmodeus...
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Point-of-View: Hacte Routh
———————————————————————————
"I did it! Yes, finally!" Exclaimed Belia triumphantly, as we fell onto the ground, in the same area we had last been in before being sealed.
It had likely been four or five months at most, but it was torture...I did not feel hunger, tiredness or thirst, but I could not move or speak either, and I could see was endless darkness...Belia had been behind me, but we could not interact at all, we could not even see each other, let alone speak with each other. Finally...we are finally free. Any longer and I would likely have lost my mind.
"Are you certain that Samsara will not attempt to restrain you again?" I inquired with a groan, as I stood up.
"He can try, but he can't do any better than this, he barely had any divinity left even then when he sealed us, and now, he has even less. So, he shouldn't be a probl-...," She suddenly trailed off with a frown, a look of disbelief on her face.
"Is something the matter?"
"Hold on, this...this can't be right. Bolg, Aeolu, Kanine, Cabra, Lilith, even Basilisk and Titan...wh-what, no way, Diabo too...they're all gone!? Impossible, except for the other three that are still in the Forbidden Zones, all my monster kings are gone!? How!?" She exclaimed with a baffled look of confusion.
"Er, are you sure you could sense them before we were sealed?"
"Of course I'm sure, I-...hang on, what's this? Divine Magic is being used right now, and on a fairly large scale...and there's something else too," She remarked, curiosity and intrigue in her eyes..., "Is it the creation of another divine being like myself and Sant? No, something's different...it's like an inferior prototype, though still fairly powerful...oh, it has no physical form, only a spiritual one...is Samsara trying to absorb it into himself? Well, now, I don't really know what's going on, but if there's one thing I do know, it's this...the fact that it'll barely cost me any Divine Magic to steal it away from him and take it for myself instead, which will then restore some of my divinity!"
She then closed her eyes and pointed her palms out in front of herself as they began glowing, her expression straining slightly. And then, something began to appear in front of her, surrounded by a bright light with gusts of wind bursting out from it...what...is that...?
"What are you doing!?" I exclaimed, stumbling back as the wind grew more intense.
She did not seem to hear me...
"Woah...whoever or whatever this is, it had a physical form, which was destroyed, and then, Samsara was about to absorb it in order to restore some of his divinity. I was initially planning on taking this Divine Magic for myself, but now I'm curious...I think I should be able to recreate and restore the physical form it had, there's a fair amount of lingering residual traces of the Divine Magic used to create it, I can use that instead of using just my own Divine Magic! It'll be a bit rough, but there shouldn't be any major issues. Here goes!"
Sure enough, the light began to take form, in the shape of a person...a skeleton formed, followed by the organs and blood vessels, skin appearing over it as semi-transluscent white hair grew out from the top of its head...there was something familiar about the figure that was appearing before us...it almost looked like that bastard, Kuro...
My eyes widened as it finished forming, and the figure opened its eyes and looked up at Belia...it's not almost like Kuro, it looks exactly like him...who is this? Except for the white hair and yellow eyes, he was identical to that bastard. He then glanced at Belia with a cautious look in his eyes, and uttered...
"Who...are you?"
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As the blast of flames, wind and lighting shot towards me, I realized...that I had several ways of neutralizing his attack. Which one would be most appropriate? Maybe it's time to unleash my most powerful magic-...before I could decide, a massive wall of ice burst up in front of me, absorbing the impact of the blast, before shattering as the attack dissipated.
"Huh? You've...you've gotta be kidding me...how many times do I have to fail at killing you, damn it!?" Shiro exclaimed in fury and despair, before turning to Az with a fierce glare, "What the hell do you think you're doing!?"
Az had freed the others from my webs, but the three of them were too weak to move, he'd moved them off to the side and made a square room of ice around them...he himself looked like he was barely able to keep his eyes open or even stand, his expression slightly dazed.
"You...just made it clear...exactly who...the imposter is...," He replied with a dark look in his eye, "I don't like being deceived."
I then finished healing Fuo, retracting my fangs from her neck slowly.
"Are you alright?" I asked her, as I stood back up.
"Yeah, thanks...now, go finish this already, it's gone on for long enough."
Yeah...I agree.
"Why, you-...who do you think you are, don't act like you're better than me!!" Snarled Shiro, zipping towards Az with a bone blade formed out of his right hand.
Looks like he's finally snapped...his anger has overpowered his rationality, harming Az will end him, but he's so enraged that he's forgotten about that. Az tried to put up some ice spikes, but stumbled back dizzily, still not recovered from my sonic blasts. I used Teleport to appear between them, facing Shiro as he closed in. He let out a yell of anguish as he swung the bone blade towards my neck...
"You must have realized by now...you don't stand a chance again me," I remarked, as he stumbled back, blood bursting out of his right side.
"M-my arm...wh-what just happened...?"
I used Obliteration Magic, the most powerful and destructive magic in my arsenal...dark purple blasts with black streaks and outlines around them, blasts of pure destruction...I'd only used a relatively small one, and that was enough to completely vaporize his right arm and most of his right shoulder.
"My emotions may be sealed, but...even like this, your actions can provoke me...and that's the last thing you want to do."
He nearly killed Fuo, and then he went after Az...he'll suffer for that...
"Damn it, shut up...stop...stop talking down to me like you're better than me!!!" He exclaimed viciously, extending out his claws on his left hand and swinging them at me.
He has my memories, so like me, he doesn't know what it's like to suffer a truly one-sided and humiliating defeat in a fight...but he's about to. I deflected his arm away using Repulsion, shattering the bone in his forearm, as he stumbled back from the sheer force, before gritting his teeth and extending out a bone spike towards me from the middle of his chest.
I shattered the bone with my tail, before getting in close too quickly for him to react and slamming my knee onto his midsection as a look of alarm appeared in his eyes, sending him flying back and crashing onto the top of a building, falling into it as the wall broke inwards. He flew out with a roar, charging up a sphere of water and lightning above him using his partially-healed left arm, a crazed look in his eyes.
I appeared right in front of him using Teleport, he stiffened before giving me a resentful glare and began to swing his arm down, but I caught his wrist before he could and snapped it like a twig, his attack dissipating instantly.
"Hm? What do you mean? I am better than you," I remarked, tearing off his arm and tossing it aside.
With fear in his eyes, his gaze darted off to the side, using Teleport to get away, reappearing two hundred meters away and flying off. He's running away? He won't get away. I don't even need to use Teleport. I shot after him at top speed, grabbing his left ankle as I caught up with him within seconds.
"What the-!?" He cried, before I swung him down to the ground with all my strength.
The ground broke apart as his body slammed down with devastating impact, a massive dust cloud bursting up following a powerful shockwave, the glass on the windows of the surrounding buildings shattering. I fired out a blast of wind straight down to clear away the dust cloud, as Shiro stood up unsteadily, bones poking out of his body as blood streamed down and dripped onto the ground.
His arms weren't even halfway regenerated yet, he can no longer fight...but I'm not done with him yet. I appeared in front of him using Teleport, as wind, water and lightning swirled around my right fist. I fired a blast of Obliteration Magic at his abdomen, instantly blasting a hole through his stomach, his blood poured out like a fountain, as he stumbled back...I then slammed my right fist onto his chest.
I felt his ribcage cave in like an eggshell, as he got sent flying back and smashing through a building, I flew up and zipped over the building, before using Teleport to appear behind him and he burst through the back of the building. I then swung my foot up as hard as I could, slamming it onto his back, his spine snapping as he got sent zooming up rapidly.
He shot through the clouds in an instant, his blood raining down below. I used Teleport again, appearing to his left. He was barely conscious, his eyes drooping heavily...but the fear in them was clear, he was terrified. And why wouldn't he be...I was on a while other level above him right now. And he knew that...
"S-stop it...," He begged hoarsely, blood running down the side of his mouth.
I drove my fist towards the left side of his face, slamming onto it and sending him flying through the sky rapidly, skimming the top of the clouds. The left side of his skull and cheekbone were completely crushed, his left eye smashed into a bloody pulp.
I used Teleport to appear above him, spun myself around downwards and slammed my heel onto his back, sending him screeching down at a blinding speed and crashing onto the ground with a devastating impact.
I then landed down using Teleport and picked him up...hm, he's unconscious...I'll heal his head so that he wakes up, there's no point in beating up an unconscious body. I swiftly healed his head and coated my palm in lightning, before slamming it onto his chest, waking him up with a gasp.
"I suppose I should wrap this up soon, shouldn't I? A few more hits and then I'll kill you."
"N-no, stop-," He began to plead, before I interrupted him by blasting his legs into oblivion using Obliteration Magic.
His gaze began to dart off in desperation, I swiftly fired out acid venom at his eyes, blinding him before he could use Teleport. All his limbs are gone and his eyes are useless...he has no tricks left, I'll crush his throat if he starts channeling Mana into his mouth.
"It's finally over...time to die."
"No...I don't want to die! It's not fair, damn it, I didn't ask to be created, is it so wrong for me to want to keep existing!? You've lived for years, but my life has to end in just a couple of months for no goddamn reason!? Tell me, why do I have to die, just so that you can keep living, huh!?" He screamed in despair, blood foaming in his mouth and running down the sides.
"Hm, you make some good points...but all this is irrelevant to me...because you killed Mika. You're finished, time to die...now, Obliterate," I remarked as I flung him straight up into the air and firing a massive blast of Obliteration Magic at what was left of him, erasing all trace of his existence in an instant.
It's over...it's really over now, finally. He's dead...I did it...and now, I can finally rest easy...I'm so tired. I let out a sigh as I returned to my normal state, staring up the sky. I suppose that...I no longer need to suppress my emotions, do I?
"Kuro! My memories are back to normal, you did it!" Exclaimed Fuo, jogging over to me with a grin.
Persia and the others were walking behind her, averting their gazes with guilty looks in their eyes as I looked at them. I walked towards them, unsealing my emotions as I did. It slowly began flooding back, I stumbled back dizzily as it began to overwhelm me, all the emotions that I would have felt over the past couple of months hitting me in rapid succession.
All the rage, sorrow, bloodlust, impatience, anxiety, the sheer mental strain from my subconscious battle with Diablo and so much more, all flooding me in mere instants...tears uncontrollably running down my face as my mind swirled with emotions, welling up inside me rapidly. Oh, this is bad...I'll probably lose consciousness soon, I feel like I'm drowning right now...
"K-Kuro...?" Stammered Persia, as I collapsed onto one knee.
"Hey, you okay!?" Inquired Fuo with a look of concern.
"I...unsealed my...emotions."
"Already? But..."
"I can't...take it anymore...I've...I've had enough...," I blurted out without realizing it, as I started to get overwhelmed by the emotions, my head feeling like it was splitting in half...everything's starting to go dark...I don't think I'll be waking up for a while after this...I'm just...so tired...with my last bit of strength, I glanced up at Persia and uttered with a weak smile, "Oh...by the way...happy...birthd-..."
And then, everything went dark, my head feeling like it was exploding, as I collapsed onto the ground...
———————————————————————————
Point-of-View: Shiro Blanc
———————————————————————————
Everything's white...I see, I'm back in not-God's dimension. I died...Kuro killed me. It's over...this is the end of my existence, after all. I failed...
"Indeed you did."
"Tch, hurry up and finish me off already...and it looks like you can read my mind after all, not-God."
"Yes, because this is your spiritual form, I could not read your thoughts when you were in your physical form. You will soon return to being pure energy, which I shall re-absorb, restoring a small amount of my divinity. First, I shall restore the altered memories, except for the changes I made regarding my existence and reincarnation, of course."
I see...then it's really over. A part of me wanted to protest and resist, but...what's the point? I can't actually do anything to stop this, it would be a waste of effort...right? As I gave in and waited for him to finish me off, I suddenly felt like I was being dragged away...is this it?
"What!?" Exclaimed not-God, as I felt myself getting pulled in the opposite direction as well, a tug-of-war being played on my spiritual form.
Wait, his reaction...could it be that...when I first felt myself getting pulled away, it wasn't not-God, it was someone else...and when I felt a pull on me from the opposite direction, that was not-God, trying to keep whoever it was from taking me...I have no idea what's going on right now, all I do know for sure is...that I have no say in it. Just like the rope in a game of tug-of-war, I couldn't do a thing to influence the outcome.
"This can't be...it is too soon, she could not have broken free already! It is no use...I cannot hold on, I do not have enough Divine Magic, I am too weak...!" Grunted not-God, his voice starting to fade with every passing second...is the person he's pulling against winning?
And the next thing I knew, the white surrounding me was completely gone, replaced by pitch-black darkness...what is this? I then felt something...it felt like...something was growing around me...wait, I've felt this before...it's just like when I was first created...I was just an artificial soul at first, and then an artificial body was created to house that soul...this felt just like that, but...cruder?
It was hard to explain, it was almost like...the first time, my body had been crafted by an expert, and this time, it's being crafted by an amateur...I have no idea what's going on right now, but...I don't think it's a bad thing...yeah, I'm getting a good feeling about this. My body was almost done forming...my eyes have already formed, and in my curiosity, I couldn't help forcing my eyelids open...
In front of me, was a woman. She had incredibly beautiful blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, as well as jet-black feathered wings on her back...and a black halo floating above her head. But most noticeably...her boobs were amazing, big yet firm, I could stare at them all d-...no, I need to focus, what the hell is going on right now...?
I looked down at myself and scanned my body...it feels the same...tch, so I'm still a physical copy of Kuro, huh? No, wait, that's a trivial fact in the face of the bigger picture...could I be...am I...am I really alive right now...? How...why...I had so many questions, this seemed to good to be true, and so, I was afraid to ask any questions at all, because...what if I'm wrong, and I'm not alive, after all?
"Who...are you?" I inquired cautiously.
I already knew the answer, her appearance matches the physical description Lazarus gave Kuro regarding one of the two beings created by not-God all those centuries ago...Belia Lasmodeus...
———————————————————————————
Point-of-View: Hacte Routh
———————————————————————————
"I did it! Yes, finally!" Exclaimed Belia triumphantly, as we fell onto the ground, in the same area we had last been in before being sealed.
It had likely been four or five months at most, but it was torture...I did not feel hunger, tiredness or thirst, but I could not move or speak either, and I could see was endless darkness...Belia had been behind me, but we could not interact at all, we could not even see each other, let alone speak with each other. Finally...we are finally free. Any longer and I would likely have lost my mind.
"Are you certain that Samsara will not attempt to restrain you again?" I inquired with a groan, as I stood up.
"He can try, but he can't do any better than this, he barely had any divinity left even then when he sealed us, and now, he has even less. So, he shouldn't be a probl-...," She suddenly trailed off with a frown, a look of disbelief on her face.
"Is something the matter?"
"Hold on, this...this can't be right. Bolg, Aeolu, Kanine, Cabra, Lilith, even Basilisk and Titan...wh-what, no way, Diabo too...they're all gone!? Impossible, except for the other three that are still in the Forbidden Zones, all my monster kings are gone!? How!?" She exclaimed with a baffled look of confusion.
"Er, are you sure you could sense them before we were sealed?"
"Of course I'm sure, I-...hang on, what's this? Divine Magic is being used right now, and on a fairly large scale...and there's something else too," She remarked, curiosity and intrigue in her eyes..., "Is it the creation of another divine being like myself and Sant? No, something's different...it's like an inferior prototype, though still fairly powerful...oh, it has no physical form, only a spiritual one...is Samsara trying to absorb it into himself? Well, now, I don't really know what's going on, but if there's one thing I do know, it's this...the fact that it'll barely cost me any Divine Magic to steal it away from him and take it for myself instead, which will then restore some of my divinity!"
She then closed her eyes and pointed her palms out in front of herself as they began glowing, her expression straining slightly. And then, something began to appear in front of her, surrounded by a bright light with gusts of wind bursting out from it...what...is that...?
"What are you doing!?" I exclaimed, stumbling back as the wind grew more intense.
She did not seem to hear me...
"Woah...whoever or whatever this is, it had a physical form, which was destroyed, and then, Samsara was about to absorb it in order to restore some of his divinity. I was initially planning on taking this Divine Magic for myself, but now I'm curious...I think I should be able to recreate and restore the physical form it had, there's a fair amount of lingering residual traces of the Divine Magic used to create it, I can use that instead of using just my own Divine Magic! It'll be a bit rough, but there shouldn't be any major issues. Here goes!"
Sure enough, the light began to take form, in the shape of a person...a skeleton formed, followed by the organs and blood vessels, skin appearing over it as semi-transluscent white hair grew out from the top of its head...there was something familiar about the figure that was appearing before us...it almost looked like that bastard, Kuro...
My eyes widened as it finished forming, and the figure opened its eyes and looked up at Belia...it's not almost like Kuro, it looks exactly like him...who is this? Except for the white hair and yellow eyes, he was identical to that bastard. He then glanced at Belia with a cautious look in his eyes, and uttered...
"Who...are you?"
_____________________________
Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!
Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.
Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:
https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP
As the blast of flames, wind and lighting shot towards me, I realized...that I had several ways of neutralizing his attack. Which one would be most appropriate? Maybe it's time to unleash my most powerful magic-...before I could decide, a massive wall of ice burst up in front of me, absorbing the impact of the blast, before shattering as the attack dissipated."Huh? You've...you've gotta be kidding me...how many times do I have to fail at killing you, damn it!?" Shiro exclaimed in fury and despair, before turning to Az with a fierce glare, "What the hell do you think you're doing!?"Az had freed the others from my webs, but the three of them were too weak to move, he'd moved them off to the side and made a square room of ice around them...he himself looked like he was barely able to keep his eyes open or even stand, his expression slightly dazed."You...just made it clear...exactly who...the imposter is...," He replied with a dark look in his eye, "I don't like being deceived."I then finished healing Fuo, retracting my fangs from her neck slowly."Are you alright?" I asked her, as I stood back up."Yeah, thanks...now, go finish this already, it's gone on for long enough."Yeah...I agree."Why, you-...who do you think you are, don't act like you're better than me!!" Snarled Shiro, zipping towards Az with a bone blade formed out of his right hand.Looks like he's finally snapped...his anger has overpowered his rationality, harming Az will end him, but he's so enraged that he's forgotten about that. Az tried to put up some ice spikes, but stumbled back dizzily, still not recovered from my sonic blasts. I used Teleport to appear between them, facing Shiro as he closed in. He let out a yell of anguish as he swung the bone blade towards my neck..."You must have realized by now...you don't stand a chance again me," I remarked, as he stumbled back, blood bursting out of his right side."M-my arm...wh-what just happened...?"I used Obliteration Magic, the most powerful and destructive magic in my arsenal...dark purple blasts with black streaks and outlines around them, blasts of pure destruction...I'd only used a relatively small one, and that was enough to completely vaporize his right arm and most of his right shoulder."My emotions may be sealed, but...even like this, your actions can provoke me...and that's the last thing you want to do."He nearly killed Fuo, and then he went after Az...he'll suffer for that..."Damn it, shut up...stop...stop talking down to me like you're better than me!!!" He exclaimed viciously, extending out his claws on his left hand and swinging them at me.He has my memories, so like me, he doesn't know what it's like to suffer a truly one-sided and humiliating defeat in a fight...but he's about to. I deflected his arm away using Repulsion, shattering the bone in his forearm, as he stumbled back from the sheer force, before gritting his teeth and extending out a bone spike towards me from the middle of his chest.I shattered the bone with my tail, before getting in close too quickly for him to react and slamming my knee onto his midsection as a look of alarm appeared in his eyes, sending him flying back and crashing onto the top of a building, falling into it as the wall broke inwards. He flew out with a roar, charging up a sphere of water and lightning above him using his partially-healed left arm, a crazed look in his eyes.I appeared right in front of him using Teleport, he stiffened before giving me a resentful glare and began to swing his arm down, but I caught his wrist before he could and snapped it like a twig, his attack dissipating instantly."Hm? What do you mean? I am better than you," I remarked, tearing off his arm and tossing it aside.With fear in his eyes, his gaze darted off to the side, using Teleport to get away, reappearing two hundred meters away and flying off. He's running away? He won't get away. I don't even need to use Teleport. I shot after him at top speed, grabbing his left ankle as I caught up with him within seconds."What the-!?" He cried, before I swung him down to the ground with all my strength.The ground broke apart as his body slammed down with devastating impact, a massive dust cloud bursting up following a powerful shockwave, the glass on the windows of the surrounding buildings shattering. I fired out a blast of wind straight down to clear away the dust cloud, as Shiro stood up unsteadily, bones poking out of his body as blood streamed down and dripped onto the ground.His arms weren't even halfway regenerated yet, he can no longer fight...but I'm not done with him yet. I appeared in front of him using Teleport, as wind, water and lightning swirled around my right fist. I fired a blast of Obliteration Magic at his abdomen, instantly blasting a hole through his stomach, his blood poured out like a fountain, as he stumbled back...I then slammed my right fist onto his chest.I felt his ribcage cave in like an eggshell, as he got sent flying back and smashing through a building, I flew up and zipped over the building, before using Teleport to appear behind him and he burst through the back of the building. I then swung my foot up as hard as I could, slamming it onto his back, his spine snapping as he got sent zooming up rapidly.He shot through the clouds in an instant, his blood raining down below. I used Teleport again, appearing to his left. He was barely conscious, his eyes drooping heavily...but the fear in them was clear, he was terrified. And why wouldn't he be...I was on a while other level above him right now. And he knew that..."S-stop it...," He begged hoarsely, blood running down the side of his mouth.I drove my fist towards the left side of his face, slamming onto it and sending him flying through the sky rapidly, skimming the top of the clouds. The left side of his skull and cheekbone were completely crushed, his left eye smashed into a bloody pulp.I used Teleport to appear above him, spun myself around downwards and slammed my heel onto his back, sending him screeching down at a blinding speed and crashing onto the ground with a devastating impact.I then landed down using Teleport and picked him up...hm, he's unconscious...I'll heal his head so that he wakes up, there's no point in beating up an unconscious body. I swiftly healed his head and coated my palm in lightning, before slamming it onto his chest, waking him up with a gasp."I suppose I should wrap this up soon, shouldn't I? A few more hits and then I'll kill you.""N-no, stop-," He began to plead, before I interrupted him by blasting his legs into oblivion using Obliteration Magic.His gaze began to dart off in desperation, I swiftly fired out acid venom at his eyes, blinding him before he could use Teleport. All his limbs are gone and his eyes are useless...he has no tricks left, I'll crush his throat if he starts channeling Mana into his mouth."It's finally over...time to die.""No...I don't want to die! It's not fair, damn it, I didn't ask to be created, is it so wrong for me to want to keep existing!? You've lived for years, but my life has to end in just a couple of months for no goddamn reason!? Tell me, why do I have to die, just so that you can keep living, huh!?" He screamed in despair, blood foaming in his mouth and running down the sides."Hm, you make some good points...but all this is irrelevant to me...because you killed Mika. You're finished, time to die...now, Obliterate," I remarked as I flung him straight up into the air and firing a massive blast of Obliteration Magic at what was left of him, erasing all trace of his existence in an instant.It's over...it's really over now, finally. He's dead...I did it...and now, I can finally rest easy...I'm so tired. I let out a sigh as I returned to my normal state, staring up the sky. I suppose that...I no longer need to suppress my emotions, do I?"Kuro! My memories are back to normal, you did it!" Exclaimed Fuo, jogging over to me with a grin.Persia and the others were walking behind her, averting their gazes with guilty looks in their eyes as I looked at them. I walked towards them, unsealing my emotions as I did. It slowly began flooding back, I stumbled back dizzily as it began to overwhelm me, all the emotions that I would have felt over the past couple of months hitting me in rapid succession.All the rage, sorrow, bloodlust, impatience, anxiety, the sheer mental strain from my subconscious battle with Diablo and so much more, all flooding me in mere instants...tears uncontrollably running down my face as my mind swirled with emotions, welling up inside me rapidly. Oh, this is bad...I'll probably lose consciousness soon, I feel like I'm drowning right now..."K-Kuro...?" Stammered Persia, as I collapsed onto one knee."Hey, you okay!?" Inquired Fuo with a look of concern."I...unsealed my...emotions.""Already? But...""I can't...take it anymore...I've...I've had enough...," I blurted out without realizing it, as I started to get overwhelmed by the emotions, my head feeling like it was splitting in half...everything's starting to go dark...I don't think I'll be waking up for a while after this...I'm just...so tired...with my last bit of strength, I glanced up at Persia and uttered with a weak smile, "Oh...by the way...happy...birthd-..."And then, everything went dark, my head feeling like it was exploding, as I collapsed onto the ground...Point-of-View: Shiro BlancEverything's white...I see, I'm back in not-God's dimension. I died...Kuro killed me. It's over...this is the end of my existence, after all. I failed..."Indeed you did.""Tch, hurry up and finish me off already...and it looks like you can read my mind after all, not-God.""Yes, because this is your spiritual form, I could not read your thoughts when you were in your physical form. You will soon return to being pure energy, which I shall re-absorb, restoring a small amount of my divinity. First, I shall restore the altered memories, except for the changes I made regarding my existence and reincarnation, of course."I see...then it's really over. A part of me wanted to protest and resist, but...what's the point? I can't actually do anything to stop this, it would be a waste of effort...right? As I gave in and waited for him to finish me off, I suddenly felt like I was being dragged away...is this it?"What!?" Exclaimed not-God, as I felt myself getting pulled in the opposite direction as well, a tug-of-war being played on my spiritual form.Wait, his reaction...could it be that...when I first felt myself getting pulled away, it wasn't not-God, it was someone else...and when I felt a pull on me from the opposite direction, that was not-God, trying to keep whoever it was from taking me...I have no idea what's going on right now, all I do know for sure is...that I have no say in it. Just like the rope in a game of tug-of-war, I couldn't do a thing to influence the outcome."This can't be...it is too soon, she could not have broken free already! It is no use...I cannot hold on, I do not have enough Divine Magic, I am too weak...!" Grunted not-God, his voice starting to fade with every passing second...is the person he's pulling against winning?And the next thing I knew, the white surrounding me was completely gone, replaced by pitch-black darkness...what is this? I then felt something...it felt like...something was growing around me...wait, I've felt this before...it's just like when I was first created...I was just an artificial soul at first, and then an artificial body was created to house that soul...this felt just like that, but...cruder?It was hard to explain, it was almost like...the first time, my body had been crafted by an expert, and this time, it's being crafted by an amateur...I have no idea what's going on right now, but...I don't think it's a bad thing...yeah, I'm getting a good feeling about this. My body was almost done forming...my eyes have already formed, and in my curiosity, I couldn't help forcing my eyelids open...In front of me, was a woman. She had incredibly beautiful blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes, as well as jet-black feathered wings on her back...and a black halo floating above her head. But most noticeably...her boobs were amazing, big yet firm, I could stare at them all d-...no, I need to focus, what the hell is going on right now...?I looked down at myself and scanned my body...it feels the same...tch, so I'm still a physical copy of Kuro, huh? No, wait, that's a trivial fact in the face of the bigger picture...could I be...am I...am I really alive right now...? How...why...I had so many questions, this seemed to good to be true, and so, I was afraid to ask any questions at all, because...what if I'm wrong, and I'm not alive, after all?"Who...are you?" I inquired cautiously.I already knew the answer, her appearance matches the physical description Lazarus gave Kuro regarding one of the two beings created by not-God all those centuries ago...Belia Lasmodeus...Point-of-View: Hacte Routh"I did it! Yes, finally!" Exclaimed Belia triumphantly, as we fell onto the ground, in the same area we had last been in before being sealed.It had likely been four or five months at most, but it was torture...I did not feel hunger, tiredness or thirst, but I could not move or speak either, and I could see was endless darkness...Belia had been behind me, but we could not interact at all, we could not even see each other, let alone speak with each other. Finally...we are finally free. Any longer and I would likely have lost my mind."Are you certain that Samsara will not attempt to restrain you again?" I inquired with a groan, as I stood up."He can try, but he can't do any better than this, he barely had any divinity left even then when he sealed us, and now, he has even less. So, he shouldn't be a probl-...," She suddenly trailed off with a frown, a look of disbelief on her face."Is something the matter?""Hold on, this...this can't be right. Bolg, Aeolu, Kanine, Cabra, Lilith, even Basilisk and Titan...wh-what, no way, Diabo too...they're all gone!? Impossible, except for the other three that are still in the Forbidden Zones, all my monster kings are gone!? How!?" She exclaimed with a baffled look of confusion."Er, are you sure you could sense them before we were sealed?""Of course I'm sure, I-...hang on, what's this? Divine Magic is being used right now, and on a fairly large scale...and there's something else too," She remarked, curiosity and intrigue in her eyes..., "Is it the creation of another divine being like myself and Sant? No, something's different...it's like an inferior prototype, though still fairly powerful...oh, it has no physical form, only a spiritual one...is Samsara trying to absorb it into himself? Well, now, I don't really know what's going on, but if there's one thing I do know, it's this...the fact that it'll barely cost me any Divine Magic to steal it away from him and take it for myself instead, which will then restore some of my divinity!"She then closed her eyes and pointed her palms out in front of herself as they began glowing, her expression straining slightly. And then, something began to appear in front of her, surrounded by a bright light with gusts of wind bursting out from it...what...is that...?"What are you doing!?" I exclaimed, stumbling back as the wind grew more intense.She did not seem to hear me..."Woah...whoever or whatever this is, it had a physical form, which was destroyed, and then, Samsara was about to absorb it in order to restore some of his divinity. I was initially planning on taking this Divine Magic for myself, but now I'm curious...I think I should be able to recreate and restore the physical form it had, there's a fair amount of lingering residual traces of the Divine Magic used to create it, I can use that instead of using just my own Divine Magic! It'll be a bit rough, but there shouldn't be any major issues. Here goes!"Sure enough, the light began to take form, in the shape of a person...a skeleton formed, followed by the organs and blood vessels, skin appearing over it as semi-transluscent white hair grew out from the top of its head...there was something familiar about the figure that was appearing before us...it almost looked like that bastard, Kuro...My eyes widened as it finished forming, and the figure opened its eyes and looked up at Belia...it's not almost like Kuro, it looks exactly like him...who is this? Except for the white hair and yellow eyes, he was identical to that bastard. He then glanced at Belia with a cautious look in his eyes, and uttered..."Who...are you?"_____________________________Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP
