Legacy World 4.36 I Can't Go Back To Who I Was Before

Meanwhile, somewhere deep in the forest outside, Vlad held onto Vanora tightly. The moment he saw the bangles, he instantly knew they were bad news. So, he teleported themselves out of the house, no longer caring about the farce they were supposed to keep up. However, it was still not fast enough.

"No, no, no, no, no. Stay with me, stay with me!" His eyes opened wide in fear. Tears filled his eyes as one hand cradled her face tenderly.

Vanora's body glowed dimly with white sparkles that occasionally left her body and disappeared into nothing. Each time it did, the edges of her body faded away, like she was an elusive painting being erased.

Vanora gritted her teeth hard to tolerate the burning sensation. "Vlad...!"

Vlad could hear her fear and sadness in her strained voice. Hardening his heart and holding back his tears, he hushed her and stroked her head. "Hold on, I'll make you feel better soon. What you're going through now is the obliteration of your soul. The angels must have gained some power up from winning the war or something. But what matters is I won't let them have their way. You'll suffer less if you let me consume you instead. Do you trust me?"

Vanora nodded with some difficulty.

Just as he leaned in towards her neck, he heard her whisper with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry... I couldn't do anything..."

Vlad's heart wrenched and he could no longer stop his tears from falling. "That's nonsense. You've not only done plenty for me, you've also done plenty for the children and your parents. I'm sure they'll be proud even if you die here. You didn't just survive without a care for others, you've lived, like they asked for."

"Do you really-" She winced in pain as another wave of intense burning sensation consumed her entirety. "Really think so...?"

"Of course. I'm sure my love for you helps me understand their sentiments even better." Vlad smiled kindly among the tears that now flowed freely.

Vanora smiled from her heart amidst the pain she felt. "Perhaps...!"

Vlad kissed her on her lips before biting into her neck. Vanora grunted a little as she was hit with a wave of ecstasy that she recognised. However, the burning heat continued. The combination made it feel like she was high and made her mind a little woozy. Although it felt weird and uncomfortable, it was indeed more tolerable. She panted, but her breaths got shallower and weaker. The light in her eyes gradually dimmed as Vlad merged her soul with his.

Just as she thought to thank Vlad once more, she felt a completely different pain wreck through her body. It felt like she was being torn, shredded, and churned to bits. /Fuck!!/

To Vlad, Vanora's body simply turned cold in his arms in less than a second. In his grief, he did not realise the slight oddity of her passing. She should have taken longer to die if it was due to being consumed by him.

Anger and grief filled his entire being. His body rocked with how hard he sobbed over her death. He hugged Vanora's cold body so tightly, as if he wanted to meld her body into his. Their time together replayed in his mind, reminding him of everything he would never experience again, now that she was no longer around. A loud and agonising cry escaped his throat and echoed through the forest.

"WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITHOUT YOU?!"

It had started off as a mysterious but simple infatuation, like an obsession. He simply wanted to own and have her. He let his unexplained anxiety and paranoia dictate the way he treated her. However, the more he learnt about her and understood her, the more he grew to respect her and genuinely like her for who she was, and the more he learnt to treat her the way she would like to be treated. As time passed, like grew to love. He became aware of his feelings and was sure that she was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, however long it lasted before the time came for him to fulfill his purpose.

/I'm only the person I am now because of you... To be with you... Now that you're gone, how am I supposed to live?/

Demons had no need for this kind of empathy, much less a powerful demon lord like him. Why would he need it? What was the use of having routine and order in his life either? However, returning to how he was before, was not an option.

"It's impossible... I can't... I don't want to! I don't want to forget you. I don't want to erase your impact in my life! Why...? Why...? Why did you have to go...? WHY?!"

At this moment, as if on cue, he recalled the moment when Vanora said something about her fate being entwined with Angela's.

"Fate...? FUCK THAT." He gently set her body down on the grass and stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers dearly. "Since this world rejects us, this world can end for all I care. There's nothing left for me to lose. Wait for me for awhile more. Hopefully, we'll be reborn into a different world, a different dimension, where we can be together."

He kissed her forehead and his heart broke upon feeling the cold temperature of her body on his lips. Another tear trickled down his cheeks before he listlessly walked a distance away from her body.

He stood there silently among the trees with his eyes closed and clenched fists.

/I call upon you, our King! Claim your vessel now! I know that the only way for me to end this immortality is to desire death while suffering a fatal wound, and I very much desire death at this moment! If you don't want your perfect vessel gone, you'd better come and get me NOW! I need that power NOW!/

Suddenly, Vlad eyelids flew open. His eyes were completely black. It merged with the darkness, so it looked as if they were just empty sockets. The black colour spread through his veins from his eyes, across his face, then his entire body. Sounds of bones cracking and skin tearing broke the silence of the night. His bones warped and broke through his skin. Blood splattered everywhere. He growled in pain and his teeth grew into long fangs. His jaw changed and became more beast like. He dropped down to his knees and his fingers dug into the ground, leaving deep trails behind. His spine grew longer before all his other bones did. Black horns extended out of his skull.

In the midst of his transformation, a dense black circle of decay atmosphere encased him as if forming a barrier around him. It grew in size along with him, but as it reached Vanora's body, the transformation halted.

He was already almost a giant black shadowy beast with horns, then the transformation reversed. He roared out again, while his bones reverted back to normal and his skin healed at an unprecedented speed. Vlad stood in the middle of the devastation completely naked. The only things that remained from his little ordeal were the black horns protruding from his head and the visible black veins across his entire body. He broke into a wide toothy grin that revealed razor sharp teeth. "Didn't expect this ending when you chose me as your vessel from so long ago, did you?"

Vlad looked up at the sky and snorted. "Took them long enough to come."

He disappeared, then appeared in front of the pair of angels that were the bane of his existence. Before they could react, he flew forward and jammed his fingers into their eyes. Vlad jumped back and the blood spurting out from the force and speed that he drew his hands back.

Screams filled the air. Their veins slowly turned black like Vlad's. Big red welts slowly formed on their bodies, then became inflamed sores and open wounds.

"What's happening?!" Michael and Angela asked at the same time.

"You're infected with my blood. Your divine protection isn't going to help you this time." Vlad explained with an empty smile.

They screamed and shouted in fear and agony as they helplessly felt themselves rot away. The foul stench of their rotting flesh filled their nostrils. They felt their flesh split and peel away until they could feel nothing at all. They did not need to have a wonderful imagination to know how their bones must be exposed. No amount of prayer could change the process. No amount of aimless swinging and stabbing could kill Vlad. Before long, all that was left of them was a pile of bones.

Vlad looked at the bones without a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. This was only the beginning. He then set out to carry out the remainder of his plan. He enslaved every human on sight, killed every angel on sight, and literally brought hell onto earth.

When a crack of light appeared in the night sky, he knew that it was the pathway towards heaven. He recklessly charged into it to bring the fight there as well, not caring if it was an ambush for him or not. The light was so bright and seemed to come from all directions, so there was not a shadow casted anywhere. It was also warm like a mother's embrace. However, it only made Vlad miss Vanora's warmth even more.

When he broke through the clouds that looked like candy floss, a kind looking old man with a serene and peaceful expression greeted him from a small distance away. The old man had an arm raised and the unequipped angels begrudgingly fell back. Vlad paid them no attention and quickly advanced towards the old man, until an image of Noah and Sophia cowering in the corner of a room appeared between them. Vlad stopped in his tracks, frozen.

"Do you not care about these children any more? There's a reason why you've left only this village alone, isn't it? There's a reason why you could control the demon king's possession over your body. No one is completely invincible. You have a good heart, Vlad. It's still not too late for you." The old man stretched out his arm towards Vlad and smiled sadly.

Vlad slowly walked through the image with a poker face, stopped before the old man's outstretched hand, then stared down at his open inviting palm. In the next instant, he jammed his hand straight through the old man's heart.

Everyone was stunned into stillness.

Vlad grinned as he retracted his arm with a strong pumping heart in his hand. "Yeah, no one is invincible. This should should have happened a long time ago." His grin faded away to turn into a scowl. "I shouldn't have been so scared about losing myself. Perhaps then she would still be alive. Perhaps then she wouldn't have to be involved in this stupid war." He squeezed the heart in his hands so that it exploded dramatically. The crowd around him went bonkers after that. No matter if they tried to fight or flee, Vlad caught and ended them. His killing spree left no one alive. The warm light dimmed and disappeared, as if to signify the end of all heavenly life. There was not even the light from the stars or the moon. It was just dark, pure darkness, and it would be like this for a long, long time. It took a human who graciously persevered through many tough trials in their life to even qualify as an angel.

At the end of it all, Vlad returned to the house in time to find a demon about to attack the children. Without a second thought, he easily killed the demon with just a swing of his hand. The demon got torn up and its blood splattered onto the children.

The children looked at Vlad with mouths agape and wide tearful eyes. They looked horribly small and insignificant to him. /They brought the bangles in. They caused Vanora's death./

"Da- Dad...?" Their voice was shaky. They did not dare to approach him. He suddenly felt even more distant than he had already been with them.

He wordlessly stared at them for a good long while, while the children trembled in silence for the whole time.

/But... Vanora cared for them.../ It was as if he could hear Vanora scolding him. /Vanora... My love.../

Finally, he opened his mouth to speak in monotone. "Your mum's dead."

The children's eyes widened as the realisation of who their pseudo parents were and what had happened hit them. They were no idiots. Recalling everything that had happened between them and Vanora, they finally understood why Vanora always seemed to behave like she owed them something.

Even more tears spilled out from their wide open eyes and they shook their heads as if in denial. Yet, the words that came out of their mouth revealed their guilt and sorrow. "Sorry... Sorry... I'm- I'm- I'm so sorry! We didn't mean to- Mean any harm- We're sorry!" They could not stop apologising, their sobbing making them choke on their words often.

Their time together may have been short, but they could feel Vanora's genuineness and sincerity.

Vlad stared at them impassively. "If you're truly sorry, you'll do as I say. So, shut up and listen."

The children instantly shut their mouths and gritted their teeth to listen to him in tears and on their knees, as if begging for forgiveness. Vlad got down on one knee to speak with them at their eye level.

"I'll be giving the both of you powers to become very strong so that you can survive on your own."

"On our... Own...?" Noah caught on fast which also made it clear for Sophia. Their red and sore eyes grew wider and wider as Vlad continued to speak as if Noah had not spoken a word.

"It'll be a torture on your bodies at first because your bodies aren't equipped to handle that much power. But just keep practicing whatever your mum has taught you and keep fighting, and you'll be fine overtime. Two of you... Work together and live on for our sake. I have no will to live anymore, I shall be joining your mum."

Just as the children looked shocked and terrified to be greeted with the news that they would be orphans again, Vlad knocked them out. He used the knowledge of his newly gained powers of possession to transfer his powers into them, which was equivalent to splitting his existence into two. Now, they were like two halves of one whole. As long as they worked together, they would stand undefeated.

Vlad stayed to guard their writhing distorted bodies. He was pale all over and dark circles surrounded his eyes. As time passed, his lips and body dried up like a land parched of water. When the children finally stirred in their sleep, he left. Bit by bit, his body crumbled away. Although he moved like a mindless zombie, his mind was as sharp and determined as ever, keeping all hell beings away from him. His eyes only lit up with emotions as he finally arrived at his destination. He laid down by Vanora's side, cradled her hand against his cheek, and smiled gently as he disintegrated into dust.