481-490
481:ONE SIDED THRASHING
The system wasn't the only one that was surprised as even the Goddesses were shocked to the point that their jaw dropped wide seeing the situation.
The Excalibur used by the Goddess Of War wasn't a physical entity. It was a manifestation of her power in the form of a sword.
Excalibur was the symbol of her presence which contained a great amount of Power Faith and Divinity.
And Alex's goal was exactly this Power Of Faith.
The Power Of Faith was such a miraculous energy, that it could achieve anything that one desires as long as it doesn't interfere with the law of casualties of the world.
When the Goddess Of War sent him Excalibur, it carried a hint of her power and Alex exactly aimed for that power to make his own.
The Goddesses might have never imagined that he could use the Power Of Faith.
But contrary to their belief, he could use it quite well.
He had always wondered how the system works, what it was made of and how it operated.
His system is like a vessel that had been trapping his power made of the Power Of Faith and used his powers stored in it as a battery.
That means once Alex squeezed everything out of it, the system would disappear from the world.
Instead of using Excalibur, Alex absorbed the Power Of Faith and manipulated it to draw some strength from the system forcibly where using the remaining to strengthen his body to adapt his body.
Even though he had not become too powerful. It was enough for him to defeat this person.
He didn't know whether he could heal his body using this as it was essentially a form of the light element so instead of taking a risk, he reverses the time of his body where he wasn't injured.
The wounds on his body also disappeared and his body felt new.
He felt fresh and alive though his body might crumble after finishing all this.
Ignis whose left arm had disappeared, felt his power going amok and scatter.
"...uhhh?"
Ignis exhaled deeply while looking ahead stupidly completely unaware of the situation.
"How did you heal your wounds?"
"And what is that power?"
He blabbered stupidly with a dumbfounded expression.
Suddenly, his vision was distorted with a tremendous shock.
A new type of sensation spread through his body that constantly dug into him while he smashed up a rocky mountain.
"What happened?"
Ignis who barely understood the current situation only after digging almost to the centre of the rocky mountain, distorted the entire place around him to shake off Alex's hand holding his head.
A thousand hands wriggled from his skin and were covered by a dark aura that transformed into various types of weapons inserted towards Alex trying to pierce through his skin and cut him apart.
Black orbs surrounded Alex and then started to rain down on him carrying condensed energy of destruction.
At that time, Alex gently lifted his opposite hand and grabbed Ignis's head upwards and then lightly grabbed it as it was.
That moment...
The weapons of hands that were being shot towards Alex and the black orbs of energy disappeared from everyone's view.
Ignis' eyes widened at the sight that was incomprehensible to common sense and roared in anger.
A chain of waves of light erupted from Alex's hands which were still holding Ignis's head.
Holding the nape of his neck, Alex clobbered Ignis on the ground making him taste dirt.
As a result, Ignis breaks through the floor and begins to sink endlessly to the ground which starts to crack forming a bottomless pit.
"Stoppp...Ughhh!"
In the end, Ignis barely escapes after sacrificing a part of his body to widen his distance from Alex frantically.
Alex clicked his tongue as he saw a clump of flesh in his hand wrapping itself around his arm and trying to explode.
Alex clenched his fist and with a blinding flash, the lump of rotten meat disappeared.
Ignis' body was almost destroyed by the brief clash and stared at Alex with bloodshot eyes.
Ignis who used to be arrogant enough to hate even a single grain of dust on his body was now thrashed on the ground again and again like rags.
"Foolish human, you dare treat me like this, "Ignis screamed and took out a dark ring that gave off an ominous presence.
"Take this bastard?"
Ignis shattered the jewel on the ring and following this, the area around started to distort and collapse revealing an army of hundreds of thousands of phantoms.
It looked as if a mythical heavenly army was coming down to punish the world.
"Ahhhh!!"
Desperate voices came out from people's mouths as they saw waves of disaster filling their entire vision unfolding before them.
While everyone's expression crumbled and each of them looked at Alex straight back shining brightly, Alex's lips curled upwards.
He felt as if he had found a sense of freedom with nothing to worry about.
He didn't remember how long it had been since he had felt this feeling of superiority of dominating his enemies.
Alex's eyes scanned the thousands of individuals marching towards him.
These phantoms don't have a physical manifestation still they carry a great amount of power however they are also quite easy to deal with.
"Cheap tricks."
'Hmmm! Let's use that, I haven't used it since I arrived here. I was too weak to take a peek into the flow of the world.'
'Maybe I can just take a glance now.
With that though, Alex's hands reached forward lightly.
There is a flow to everything in the world such as fate, atmosphere and also life.
If the flow stops the world would stop functioning and everything existing in that flow might disappear.
So, what if the flow goes beyond stopping and disappears after being obstructed?
It's like forcing something to break and crumble.
Alex closed his eyes.
His mind became blank and everything around him became dark.
While everything ceased to exist, countless thin threads intertwined in his vision.
Some were thin, some were thick and some were clumped together.
Alex tries to peek at the flow and feels his mind clouded with various types of information, each one of them being too heavy for him.
'One strike is enough.'
Alex outstretched his hand and formed a blade with his sharp aura, he slowly reached for a few threads and slashed it.
[Negation]
After Alex finished his simple gesture which seemed to be filled with wonder and shock for others.
There was no explosion.
There was no light or sound.
Everything became enshrouded with a deathly silence for a moment.
But the result was far beyond anyone's imagination.
As if it didn't exist in the first place.
A hundred thousand phantoms driving and rushing towards Alex disappeared without leaving any trace.
Under everyone's bewildered expression, everything before them disappeared in an instant and terrifyingly they couldn't even sense a hint of mana fluctuations, still, their heart screamed wildly as if they had witnessed the peak of world powers.
Hex's expression turned ugly and he clenched his fist annoyingly as for the first time in his life, he felt inferior to someone.
He could feel the tremendous gap that had suddenly appeared between him and the man who appeared out of nowhere and shocked the world.
At the same time, a sense of crisis suffocated him wondering about the events that were about to come after this.
Ignis pulled his hair in despair, unable to understand what had happened in an instant.
Feeling that he may die for real, he screamed and even thought of begging for his life because the man before didn't look human in any way.
Rather than human, he looks like an embodiment of death who had come to take his life.
82:ENTERTAIN ME
Ignis felt as if the person before him wasn't a human but rather a god.
His presence felt unfathomable and the powers shown by the human were unreachable for him in his entire lifetime.
He had tried and done many things to become stronger and finally reached here after countless struggles but even after all of this fell, he fell short of his goal.
Feeling the fear of death he had no choice but to ask for mercy. Even if he had pride, what can he do after all his pride would save him from this situation?
He begged for his life while on the other hand, he tried to hide the fact of absorbing power from behind.
The meat puppet he was using had a special means to absorb the life of others and become stronger.
He tried to absorb the power of demons behind him trying to shake away Alex's attention.
Alex grinned as the petty tricks didn't go unnoticed in his eyes.
"Nice, you have some good tricks under your sleeve."
"I will give you a chance."
An icy cold voice rang in Ignis's ears.
"Show me!"
"Uhh...What?"
"Show me what you can do?"
"Entertain me?"
A deep silence lingered for a moment and Ignis felt he had heard something wrong.
Seeing his curiosity, Alex said"It's been a while since I wielded this power. I want to enjoy myself thoroughly so I am giving you a chance to hit me with everything you have got."
"Hahaha!"
Light returned to his eyes and he found the situation extremely funny.
"Since you want to die, I will fulfil this last wish of yours, "Ignis shouted and raised his arms.
A strong suction force emerged from him creating a huge whirlpool trying to drag everyone who was close by.
Alex waved his hand creating a wall to block the people on his side.
"Sir, what are you doing?"
The demons screamed at the top of their voice as they felt their life being drained slowly.
"Sir, stop it."
"We are going to die "Halton's eyes fluttered while he screamed frantically.
"Shut up and be my nourishment."
The demons try to resist but their life force was drained from them forcibly leaving behind dried corpses.
"Sacrifice your life for the greater cause, "Ignis shouted and then his figure started to enlarge and a dark veil started to cover it.
Alex tilted his eyes as he found that it was similar to his way of draining dark death mana from life force when there is no source.
'But how did this guy know the method?'
Alex suppressed his curiosity as he saw a gigantic figure formed rising towards the sky.
A huge shadow was formed on the ground that covered everyone and a frightening sensation washed over everyone.
The shadow enveloped everyone in the nightmare as they felt that this might be the end of their for real.
The entire sky became dark as even the rays of the sun were also covered and everything became dark.
"You are still wet behind your ears. Even if you are strong, you are quite immature. You shouldn't have given me this chance."
"Foolish human, you will suffer my wrath."
"Die along with everyone."
"Is this it?"
Ignis, who was drunk in his power, was startled by Alex's words and all the confidence he had gathered by absorbing the life forms suddenly faltered.
"Uhhh.."Ignis' eyes shook as he wondered whether his strength still lacked to deal with the human.
Alex, who was about to speak, suddenly closed his lips and grasped his shock.
His eyes enlarged and his expression changed a bit.
'Something is wrong with me.'
'Why am I giving him a chance to fight? There was no need for it? Even if I want to enjoy it there is no reason to do this when my wives are exhausted and need rest.'
'Damn, it seems I am being influenced somehow.'Alex asked himself as he knew that he had never been arrogant in his life even after defeating the Goddess.
This meant that something inside him had changed and it happened somehow when that slut provoked me.
"I should wrap up."
Alex muttered and grabbed the air in front of him as if pulling something and pulling his hand down, his silhouette disappeared.
At that moment Alex appeared before Ignis whose eyes fluttered relentlessly as he witnessed an overflowing power from the person in front of him.
The empty air in between Alex's hands glowed and a bright light condensed taking the form of a magnificent sword that seemed to gleam joyfully.
"Stop it.."
"I surrender.."
Ignis screamed with a panicked expression as he felt his existence was in peril.
Alex raised his hand in which a sword pointed towards the sky.
A huge golden beam of condensed mass of energy shot out from the sword towards the sky which was accompanied by the deafening roar of heaven.
The sky seemed to be torn by the beam emitting a loud tremble.
Flashes of lightning blazed the sky.
Heavy gales started to blow from all around signalling the forthcoming destruction.
It was a marvellous sight that turned people's legs soft causing them to sit down while the expression of many waa dyed with awe and reverence.
"Excalibur!" Alex shouted and slashed the sword.
Ignis tried to fight by throwing everything he had got and also burnt his lifespan to generate more power.
However, everything he did was for naught.
The beam of golden light directly poured on Ignis tearing him apart and sweeping him away like dust.
The ground exploded and was pulverised immediately into countless pieces. The beam of light extended for many kilometres and destroyed everything in the path.
The army of the Demon who bear the full brunt of the attacks was instantly annihilated and wiped out of existence.
The miasma and dark mana hovering around was also filtered as shockwaves of light radiated all around blinding everyone's vision for a moment.
Destruction on a large scale that could wipe out an entire Kingdom unfolded which almost reached Arkham as the bright light extended throughout the border.
Alex's body descended and the bright light that enveloped him disappeared leaving an exhausted look on his face.
As the light dispersed, Alex saw the residue of the demon's corpse and a saw chunk of flesh from which a transparent dark mist was pouring out endlessly.
"You are still alive."
Alex murmured while walking toward it and tore through the scarps of flesh and a figure similar to a skeleton appeared in his eyes.
"So, this is how you look like Ignis."
Alex muttered as he saw a sunken figure with strings attached to meat used as a puppet.
Alex looked at the source of the dark mist and pulled out a dark greenish orb that contained dark energy.
'So, this the seed of darkness.'Alex murmured and after putting it in the box, threw it into the storage ring.
''I..curse..you.."
"You will die cruelly."
"Unfortunately you are not going to stay alive to see that day," Alex muttered and flames emitted from his body devoured Ignis.
"Give my greeting to the devil."
Alex smirked as Ignis struggled and a series of screams and wails resounded throughout the space.
83:TAKING HER AWAY
"It's finally over."
Alex exhaled deeply and sighed as drowsiness started to hit him.
He hadn't wasted even a second since he had entered the pocket dimension nor did he have a wink of sleep during the past six months.
Alex turned back and waved his hand with a smile to signal that everything was over.
Seeing his smile, relief washed over Christina and Athena.
Alex walked towards them and spotted Sean and others who had dazed expressions on their faces.
"Hey, you are in charge of cleaning the mess."
"Don't expect anything else from me. I have done my task."
Alex spoke light-heartedly, then heard a scream from somewhere and his eyes fell on bewildered Shion.
"Who are you?"
Alex raised his brows as he saw Shion angered expression which looked like a child throwing a tantrum.
"You can't be Alex."
"Alex is dead."
"Just who the hell are you and why are you impersonating him."
Shion muttered and his eyes shone as if he understood something.
"Hehehhe!"
"I got it."
"You are impersonating Alex so that you can embrace the beauties."
Alex, who heard some useless accusations, felt his blood boil and looked at Sean.
"Can we kill him here?"
"I will make sure that there are no witnesses."
"We can't do that," Sean said with a blank expression.
"Shion, just stop it."
"No one is in the mood to soothe your tantrum."
"What do you mean brother?"Shion shouted and pointed at Alex.
"We should investigate him. There is no way he can become so powerful and if he was alive what the hell was he doing when our troops were dying."
"If you have that much power you should have stepped forward before but you just hid in the hole waiting for an opportunity to come out and behave like a hero."
Alex raised his fist as he didn't want to waste his time arguing but stopped when he heard a small thud beside him.
Shion froze for a moment as soon as he saw the figure.
Jealousy rose in his heart seeing her.
Alex looked back and saw Riya's dishevelled expression.
Her figure was drenched in blood and her body was shaking a bit as if she had encountered something horrible.
"Riya, what happened?"Athena asked with a worried tone.
'Nothing bad had happened till now so why is my heart screaming.'Athena murmured inwardly.
Riya struggled to take a step.
Seeing this Alex reached for her and dragged her towards him for a hug.
"Al...Alex..."
Stuttering a bit Riya hugged him and wept suddenly confusing Alex.
It was a shaky voice with wet tears which caused him to tighten his arms around her.
"Did you encounter something terrible?"
"Don't worry, we will get through it. We can talk about it after you calm down."
"Yes..whoa..."
The shock was so great that Riya burst into tears
"Kis...Kiss me."
Alex was taken by surprise by Riya's words, still seeing her sorry state, he did what she said.
Riya's hand groped his chest and at the next moment, Alex suddenly heard Christina's voice.
Followed by the voice, Alex felt a sharp pain in his chest and as he looked down he saw Riya's previous dagger Kiss of Death embedded in his chest.
Alex's eyes stared blankly at Riya wondering what happened.
Even Riya couldn't believe what she had done and her eyes opened wide.
One of her hands tightly clutched the hands that stabbed the dagger to the point that blood oozed out from the arm.
"Nooooo!"
Riya shrieked and her body jolted and she jumped back in fear with a pale expression.
Alex coughed dark blood and saw veins of dark colour bulging all over his body.
"Noooo!"
"Alex...My Alex...No...No...No!"
"Stopppp!"Riya wailed in pain and pulled her hair in despair as if she had gone mad.
"Alexx!" Christina jumped up and held Alex who staggered and almost fell.
Athena cast light over Alex however it was to no avail as the wounds didn't go.
"How can this be.."
"It's not healing."Athena squirmed in shock and her eyes became moist.
Sean and others jumped forward wondering what happened.
"Riya, how can you do this?"Christina shouted while Sean knights rushed towards Riya to restrain her.
However, their bodies froze in the middle and a portal appeared behind Riya and two figures walked out from it.
Sean's eyes widened as he felt the fluctuation coming from them.
"Supreme Realm expert."
The entire space was enveloped with strong pressure.
Alex murmured while trying to maintain his consciousness from fading away.
"What is going on?"
The two Supremes held Riya as if they were going to take her.
"Stop! What have you done to me?"Riya screamed trying to push them away.
"Alex, please believe me, I can never hurt you. My body is working on its own."
"Sorry Princess, we have to take you with us. Please understand, we are just doing our duty."One of the Supreme ranked experts murmured.
"Princess..what Princes..."
"You are mistaken."
"We are no..."
His words were cut short by lighting showers.
"Who gave you the courage to run amok in our territory."
Followed by the voice, countless obscure figures appeared in the sky.
The sky started to rumble as if it was going to break apart, unable to tolerate the pressure of the gathered individual.
The pressure that bored everyone disappeared with their appearance.
"Human Supremes don't interfere."
"We swear in the name of our Gods that we will not harm anyone. We will just take her and go back peacefully."
"We don't want any war or bloodshed."
"And if we don't agree with you."A figure's cold voice resounded in everyone's ears.
"Then there will be a bloodbath. If we fight here you know better than anyone else that the Princes of Kinley would be killed along with their troops in the aftermath of the battle."
"Can you handle the consequences?"
Alex, who heard all this, tried to stand up.
"Please help her."
"I will owe you a favour," Alex said, trying to suppress his pain.
"Since they are taking her, she might be very precious to them. We can't let her be taken away so I ask you all to stop them from taking her."
"Please.."
"Pufff!"
Alex's condition worsened as a sharp pain assaulted his mind causing his vision to become dark and the flesh in his chest started to rot.
"Damnnn!"Athena gritted her teeth and applied a healing spell.
"It's not working," Christina muttered with a panicked expression.
Athena bit her lips, feeling her helplessness to cure him.
Seeing this was not working, Athena pressed her palms on his chest and poured out a greenish light.
Christina's eyes widened as she saw Athena using her life force to heal Alex.
For the Supreme, it was a trivial thing as they had lived for countless ages and watched many people dying.
Still, Alex's words drew the attention of the Supreme as his words were somehow correct.
Since the other side was making a move, she might prove to be an important asset.
Pondering for a moment, they looked at the battlefield after arriving at the same conclusion.
"We will live right to decide to the Princes since they are the ones who represent us."
Their speech hadn't even finished, when Shion raised his voice.
"I reject it. I don't want to take the risk for her."
"I also think the same. Single life doesn't take precedence over a million. I don't have the right to put others in danger just for her who is nothing to me."William spoke.
"Me too."Hex finished in one sentence while giving Riya a complicated gaze.
After this everyone looked at Sean who just stood there blankly.
He looked at Alex who had passed out and was bleeding profusely.
"Does my opinion matter? The majority are already against it."Sean spoke, gritting his teeth.
"S, it's decided."
"Goodbye.."
Riya, who was held by them, cried and begged them.
"Please, I beg you."
"I will go with you and do as you say but at least save him."
"Don't kill him."Riya cried and kneeling on the ground, she hit her head on the ground.
"Please let him live."
The two people glanced at each other for a moment and spoke.
"He is not going to die nor is he going to wake up anymore. Only those who have the power of darkness could resist it but at least he is not going to die."
"Now let's go, Princess. Many people are waiting for you."With this, the two people pulled Riya and their figure disappeared behind a portal.
The Supreme rank people sighed heavily and looked at Alex's figure.
And then all the obscure figures disappeared leaving behind a gloomy atmosphere.
84:UNSEEN MEMORIES
A blurry scene of Riya kneeling on the ground while sobbing was the last thing he could perceive before he lost the sense of the world.
It was as if everything in the world had come to a standstill and vanished leaving him alone.
Darkness engulfed his vision once again.
With pitch darkness all around, he could feel his body floating without any resistance.
This had happened to him so many times that now he was oddly familiar with it.
Every time he passed out after over-exerting himself, he would fall into an endless abyss while a certain memory deep inside his heart would resurface or he would meet someone.
And although his consciousness was blurry, the scene of Riya being snatched before his eyes forced his consciousness to stay awake in the void.
And then a bright light exploded again covering everything.
...
Alex opened his eyes and was startled by the bright influx of light that almost hurt his eyes.
He rubbed his eyes while wondering what kind of light it was as the light that emerged from Goddess's appearance was mostly made of mana which is quite subtle and refreshing.
Alex who was rubbing his eyes was suddenly assaulted by the pungent smell of disinfection which made him nauseous and it was followed by a beep, beep mechanical sound ringing in his ears.
He slowly opened his eyes, squinting in an attempt to sharpen the blurred images before him.
A terrible headache that seemed to split his mind apart came out of nowhere.
He rested his hand on the wall to support himself.
Alex held his head with another and took a deep breath to glance around but as soon as he tilted his head, his body froze like a statue.
Cold sweat dropped from his head and he looked around as if he had become crazy.
"This can't be."
He glanced around the deserted blue-and-white colouring scheme hospital while doctors were taking in patients hurriedly.
"What...What is going on?"Alex uttered with a dumbfounded expression and looked straight.
He stood before the bluish-colour door on which chamber number 225 was printed.
Alex's hand which rested on the door was retracted and he stepped back.
"No, it can't be."
"Am I in a dream world or has someone attacked me by peeling into my memories?"
"Or did I go back in time?"
Alex's head spun for a moment as countless ill-fated scenarios emerged in his mind.
Trying to affirm his suspicions Alex gathered his courage and thought of confronting the nightmare that was behind the door.
Clicked.
He opened the doorknob and entered inside.
Alex's heart almost stopped as she saw the figure that lay on the bed.
The woman in bed seemed to age a lot and looked quite old and fragile. While her heart beats stubbornly in her fragile chest, her skin looked so weak that it could be ruptured by just a simple touch.
Even in her haggard appearance that was supported by the machines she still looked quite beautiful.
Her eyes wandered around the window with a blank expression that seemed to have lost all the emotions a person has.
Alex felt that his heart would burst apart.
"I thought I was already used to it still when I saw this, I...I felt that it should have been me instead of you."
All the anguish in his heart disappeared leaving behind a deep sorrow.
Alex raised his voice and called her name"Ava, Ava, can you hear me? It's.."
Alex was cut in the middle as the door behind him opened with a small bang and the figure went past Alex towards Ava.
Alex was startled to see the man passing through him and slump down near Ava with a teary expression.
Alex who looked at the back was familiar with the person.
"George...No, I mean me."
"Just what is happening here?"Alex muttered and looked around.
The place and everything looked around the same.
Alex reached towards them and tried to hold his shoulder.
However, his hands passed through George's body as if he was just a spirit.
Alex whose mind was clouded with confusion heard a painful groan which caused him to murmur" Please don't let me watch this."
"Please take me out of here."
He prayed sincerely for a miracle however his wish only remain a wish and he was forced to watch the scene which caused him to break down once again.
"Ava, please don't leave me."
"Don't die."
"Just hold on. I am sure there is something that can cure you."
"We just need some time."
George held Ava's hands and cried painfully.
His tears soaked the blanket over Ava.
The scene felt quite nauseous and suffocating for Alex who was looking at it from afar.
Ava, whose expression was quite blank, suddenly changed and a beautiful smile bloomed on her face as if she had never been in pain.
In her state, the smile on her face seemed to form with a lot of strength.
The smile may look beautiful but the pain hidden behind that smile wasn't something a person could imagine.
Unless you have gone through such a thing, you cannot experience the pain and loneliness of those who suffer while spending their lives on hospital beds waiting for their death to slowly approach and take them away from this bleak world freeing them from the endless suffering.
Ava tried to hold George's hands tightly with her trembling hands.
"George, promise me one thing."
"Hugh!"
"Tell me.."
Sniff...Sniff.
"What do you want Ava? Tell me?"
"I will do everything in my capability to fulfil your wish."
"Promise me, George?"
"Promise me George that you will live a fulfilling life in case I pass away."
"Avaaaaa!"George roared with a panicked expression.
"Don't say that."
"You can't lose hope?"
"I am just saying but can't you just keep a simple promise?"Ava spoke with a saddened expression.
"Promise me."
Fearing her condition might get worse George nodded his head again and again.
"I will lead a fulfilling life."
"Are you happy now?"
"Yes!"Ava nodded with a satisfied expression as if a huge burden had been lifted from her heart and spoke.
"I want you to know that I love you."
"I love you so much."
"And I swear that even in my next life, you will be the only one I will love, "Ava repeated the words as a broken record and tears flowed down her cheek.
Beep...Beep...Beep.
"No...no...Ava..."
"Ava speak something. Doctor...Doctor" George screamed with an alarmed expression and run out to call for the doctor.
The alarming sound that resounded from the machine started to repeat as Ava's heart rate started to decrease rapidly.
George's scale became numb and his body shuddered when he saw the ECG declining.
A group of doctors along with nurses rush in to take check her condition and declared that it was an emergency and tried to stabilise her condition however no matter how hard they tried everything was for naught.
Alex, who watches the scene from the back, leaned back on the wall and closed his eyes, unable to watch it anymore as he knew what was coming before him next.
:UNSEEN MEMORIES 2
BANG!BANG!BANG!BANG!
The sound of a fist hitting the walls, again and again, reverberated back.
The sound was quite loud and echoed through the hallway but oddly enough no one paid attention to it as if it never existed.
Alex breathed heavily wondering what was going on.
It had been 6 hours since Ava died after squeezing out those words.
Alex, who watched her die again, hit the wall angrily but there wasn't even a dent in it and what he felt was immense pain.
He had lost his strength and was now at a normal level of human and could feel pain and all sorts of stimulation but weirdly, no blood is shed after being hurt.
No matter how immense the pain was, it would subside after some time and no matter how broken he was, his body would come out fine.
Due to the sheer frustration of being unable to get out, he even tried to commit suicide and jumped from the top of the roof.
On hitting the ground an immense pain as if all of his existence was torn apart coursed through his body and his vision became blind for some time but still, he was in one piece at the end.
The second thing he noticed was that he couldn't interfere with living beings or touch them.
He tried to throw a chair at his pathetic self who was sitting down on the bench like a soulless puppet but it went past him and after some time, the chair appeared in the place where it was.
It looked as if some sort of law was trying to keep him from interfering.
This causes him immense frustration.
He doesn't know what was going on.
He doesn't know how to get out.
He doesn't know what the hell he was doing here.
He didn't know a damn thing except to watch this pathetic scene which made him want to dig out his eyeballs and throw them away.
Just catching a glimpse of Ava's dead body caused his heart to burst apart.
The only good side of all this was that he was happy to see that he had still lingering emotions about Ava.
If there was not an ounce of sadness after watching this scene that must mean that his love for Ava was all deception and it was not love but just a fleeting emotion of attraction to her beauty.
But to his relief, he was not. He is still as was as the day she died.
Walking toward his previous one who sat on the chair with a hollow expression, he screamed"Son of bitch just get up."
"I know you are sad but at least give her a proper burial."
"It had been six hours you pathetic bastard. Will you let her body rot?"Alex shouted with an enraged tone.
But no matter how angry he was, his voice couldn't reach George, who sat there like a statue.
Alex just stood there walking to and fro contemplating many things.
Like this, another two hours passed.
"Did I behave like that?"
At first, he was sceptical but the more he watched the more curious he became.
For him, this had happened a long time ago and only some bits of memories were in his mind.
"I thought I cried a lot that day and after burying her, I immersed myself in drinking alcohol to forget the pain and became an addict to the point that I got into an accident."
But now that he thought about it, he felt quite absurd.
He more than anyone else knew just how precious Ava was to him and her words was law.
Since he had promised her that he will lead a fulfilling life, he must have tried. Even though it was for a moment, he would have surely tried but now that he thinks about it, all he remembered was immersing himself in drinking in pain.
Alex muttered and looked at George again.
He hadn't shed a single tear but Alex could feel the pain and suffering in those eyes. It was like a huge water body stopped by the dam.
'There is something odd here.'
Alex who was grumbling till now stopped complaining and decided to take a closer look at the world outside.
TAP! TAP!TAP!
An old man dressed in a white coat walked towards George and patted him.
"George, I am sorry to ask but just how long are you going to stay like this?"
"I am sorry for being unable to save her."
"Every day we encountered people whom I desperately wanted to save and give our best but in the end, we couldn't do anything."
George's hollow eyes fluttered and he looked at the doctor with a blank expression.
"George, you have to live up."
"You can't go on like..."
The old man wasn't able to finish the sentence as his body froze.
And it wasn't only him but everything around the place that froze as if time had stopped.
Alex's eyes widened as he noticed the supernatural activity which shouldn't have been possible in the previous world.
George gawked at the scene and stood up.
He looked around frantically with a panicked expression.
At that moment, like a whisper of the devil, words echoed in George's mind which was also heard by Alex.
"Do you want to save her?"
"I can bring her back."
"Who are you?"George spoke with a nervous expression.
"I am telling you if this is a prank, I swear that this will not end well."
"This is not a joke "
"I don't joke on heavy matters like death."
"If you want to say something, come forward."
"Where are you hiding?"
As George roared in anger, the space before George fluctuated a man with dark hair and pale skin appeared.
Dark hazy fumes covered his face and he was dressed in neat attire.
"Ahhhhhh!"
George screamed in pain witnessing the horrifying scene making his scalp numb.
He staggered backwards and almost fell to the ground.
As the man started to walk forward.
George crouched back slowly.
His body was drenched in sweat and he screamed as if his heart was about to come out of his mouth.
George, whose body was shaking crazily, was finally stopped when the man waved his hand.
George suddenly felt that his nerves had calmed down automatically.
"What did you do with me?"
"I have calmed you down, George?"
"My aura makes others tremble."
"I lurked in the shadows of everyone waiting for the time to come."
"I am The God of Death."
George who heard his words felt the world spinning around him and suddenly lost consciousness as his brain was unable to cope with the man's sudden appearance.
Meanwhile, Alex, who stood there like a statue, could feel the terrifying aura from that man which was turning his leg jelly.
His presence was similar to Devil but the man seemed to be more frightening than the Devil.
Alex's mind might be still alright but his body which had gone back to normal was shaking heavily.
Alex looked at the man back and could see through the haze.
Behind the haze was the face of a man who had black pupils and Alex could feel that the pupils of the man's eyes were slowly tilting towards him. There was a small smile on his lips as his eyes matched Alex's eyes.
A TRIAL TO BRING HER BACK
George's whole body twitched as he passed out due to fear.
After some time George, who slumped down on the floor, opened his eyes and rubbed them.
His body was still shaking thinking about the horrifying sensation he had gone through.
"I think I am going crazy."
"I am already hallucinating about weird things. I don't know what will happen to me."
"It's neither an illusion nor you are hallucinating."
A sharp cold voice rang in his ears and he looked ahead with widened eyes.
"Kayak!"
He screamed and looked at the man again who introduced himself as the God Of Death.
"That means you are the devil."
"Are you trying to do something bad with me?"
"Do you want me to commit evil deeds and exchange souls?"
George lost his mind and shouted like a maniac as he remembered all those stories about the Devil.
"Are you.."
"Mhhhmmmmm!"
George's lips were closed suddenly.
God Of Death looked at George for a moment.
George, who was not able to notice the man's expression behind the dark haze wondered what was going to happen with him.
All he could think of was his mind going crazy.
"Stop your blabbering."
"I am not going to do any of that you are thinking."
"My job is just to oversee people's deaths and punish and torture some souls which is already exhausting enough. I don't have time to play the role of villain nor am I bored enough to taint humans to do evil deeds."
The God Of Death spoke and stopped George from shaking violently.
"Now listen to me closely."
"I will give you a chance to live your life with her."
God of Death muttered and snapped his finger.
George swallowed his saliva and breathed heavily.
His mind was advising him not to fall for the trick but his heart was begging him to accept it.
George closed his eyes and wondered whether this was happening for real.
He was not a drug addict nor was he a heavy drinker who had lost his mind.
He opened his eyes and glanced at the people standing still like statues.
"Is this really not an illusion?"
"Do Gods really exist?"
The God Of Death chuckled.
"You worship us and plead us to help you when you are in trouble and when we finally listen to your prayers, you are doubting us."
Looking at him with a sceptical eye, George tried to calm himself and think as rationally as possible.
He did not think that he had anything precious for the God of Death to personally appear for him.
"Why me?"
"I mean hundreds and thousands of people die everyday so why am I the only one who is given a chance."George asked with a confused expression.
"You will know about this at the end and I promise you one thing there is no benefit for me here nor am I thinking of making you a pawn of mine."
"Now decide.I don't have too much free time to play with you."
Making his decision, George looked at the God Of Death after all he didn't have much of a choice.
Every time he looked at God Of Death directly his body would shudder a bit still he was better when compared to the moment this person appeared.
"Let me tell you one thing."
"No, matter how desperate I am to revive her, I will not do anything shady that may harm any living being."
"I knew Ava and if she learns that she is resurrected with despicable means by me after committing many atrocities then she might not accept it."
"If she is brought to life by committing an evil deed, she might kill herself."
"I like your spirit, George."God of Death spoke and flicked his hand.
"And by the way, if you decided to abandon your humanity and kill innocent lives to bring her alive, you are going to be failed.This was also the first part of your trial."
"A depiction of your inner heart but fortunately you passed that easily."
"So, let's begin for real."
The space distorted and everything slowly started to erase.
Dark energy radiated all around and everything turned dark.
As everything turned blank, Alex who was observing the scene curiously felt his body froze and his body was suddenly wrapped in darkness restricting his movements.
Alex struggled to get free however he was not able to.
"What is going on?"
"Why don't I remember any of this?"
"Did this really happen or someone is manipulating my memories."Alex spoke with a grim expression.
Not being able to do anything, he can only watch all this helplessly.
In fact after Ava's death, this was the second time he felt this much helplessness and powerlessness.
George, who found himself standing in the pitch dark without being able to witness anything, heard a voice filled with majesty.
"If you want to stay with her. You have to pass through this trial. Step on the stairs that appear before you."
Swish!
A ten-metre Golden Gate formed and the two tightly shut doors on it opened.
The sliding gate didn't have any gorgeous ornaments or decorations, and it was only filled with golden colours.
When the golden light dispersed, George felt a chilling sensation passing through him.
With a small gust, stairs of golden austere unfolded before his eyes and stretched upwards endlessly.
"I will be waiting for you at the top. You only have to meet me face to face. And you also have to carry the coffin with you."
THUD!
With a small thud, George looked to the side and saw a coffin with a human in it.
"Avaaaaaa!"George yelled and squatted down.
Inside the coffin, Ava's body was laid which seemed to have been preserved and recovered to the time when she looked quite healthy.
The coffin was huge and was made of unknown material.
As George slid his figure over the coffin, he looked at the golden flight of steps which was elevated amid the illumination of the night sky leading even higher towards the sky.
These stairs were placed at a slope of forty-five degrees and with the steep slope the stairs extended high up into the sky with no end in sight.
George's expression became grave and he clenched his fist.
"Is this a joke? How can I climb the stairs which seemed to be stretched to infinity."
As a human, there is a limit to his strength.
He needs food and other things to get energy but in this pitch-dark space, where would he get the energy?
Moreover, climbing up while carrying the coffin is quite an arduous task.
He wasn't a bodybuilder or a superhuman. It seemed impossible in his view.
Countless thoughts appeared in his mind.
He didn't know whether everything here was real or not.
What if this was all a ploy for this supreme being to have fun after seeing his despair?
What if this is a play for him to relieve his boredom?
As if able to read his thoughts, a cold voice spoke in his mind.
"You can give up if you want?"
"I will send you back if you decide to quit."
"And even if you think that this is a ploy, what can you do?"
"Can you defeat me?"
"Can you kill me?"
"You can't even touch me. I can wipe out your existence with just a snap."
"So, instead of thinking about useless things."
"Decide if you want to pass the ordeal or you want to quit."
George nibbled his lips while gritting his lips.
It was okay if the being would fulfil his words if he climbed up the steps and passed the ordeal. Still, he didn't want to be part of some ploy or games.
It was acceptable if it was only about him but since it was about Ava , he cannot tolerate any disrespect for her or her being a part of a grand scheme under God Of Death who is making fun of her.
She was not a plaything for others to enjoy.
He wasn't naive or gullible enough to believe that this being was helping him out of sheer goodwill
Still, as The God Of Death said, what can he do?
He is just a helpless lamb before him.
An ant who can be crushed with a snap.
Since he was given an opportunity he should try his best to make it worthwhile.
Shaking away his uncertainty, he hardened his heart and tried to lift the coffin.
To his surprise, it was quite light.
It wasn't massless, it still weighed around a normal school backpack.
There were straps on the back of coffin to carry it easily.
George who was about to step on the golden stair heard another loud majestic voice.
"Kowtow on each step in the aerial passage."
George closed his eyes to suppress the suffocating and helpless feeling.
George's legs didn't waver and without any hesitation, he immediately stepped through the gate and kneeled on the first step.
George could feel his pride being trampled.
He felt humiliated. It was as if he was begging like a frog for something.
Still, he set aside his arrogance for the sake of his love. As long as Ava would be saved, George felt that everything was worth it.
After kneeling once, Alex took a step higher and then kneeled once again paying her respect.
The coffin on his back swayed a little in the process.
The path to the sky had no end in sight.
To not let himself feel the bleak and desolate feeling of lying ahead, he stopped looking up.
Stepping and kowtowing in a succession, George already started to get slower and after climbing for just 48 steps or so, sweat had already started to form all over his body and his legs and waist started to feel numb.
Pain and ache started to spread all over his body but instead of deterring him, it burnt his heart more to reach above.
:A TEST OF HIS LOVE
In a place where the passage of time can't be felt, and stairs that shine were the only source of light, the man with an expression of forlornness climbed up with a coffin on his back.
Any other person would have perhaps already started to think about the pros or cons or perhaps given up but not a single thought like this came into George's mind.
It was because this was not only a test to bring her back but it was also a trial of his love.
The love for her did not let him give up irrespective of the suffering.
The path to the sky was getting harder and harder but he didn't flinch.
There was only a single thought in his mind which was ringing again and again.
Which is either to bring back Ava to life or die trying to save her on these very stairs.
There was no second option for him.
With such a resolve, he didn't have the slightest negative feeling and these difficult times made him more stubborn, bringing up an unseen side of him that had been lay hidden in the depths of his heart.
The coffin which was quite light at first seemed to weigh a ton now.
His body seemed to be screaming and begging for him to stop and give up.
His stomach was growling and crying for food.
His eyes were unable to stop shedding tears because of being kept open for so long.
However, he could feel his heart beating faster than ever under the effect of the adrenaline rush.
With resolve that seemed to be as hard as diamond, with one stair one kneel George didn't turn back even for a once.
There was nothing but the sight of a stair reflected in his eyes.
His footsteps which were quite fast at the beginning were now extremely steady.
One step, one kneel up and the process went forth again and again.
His face was red while veins started to bulge all over his body.
Due to the repeated kowtow, the layer of skin on his knees had been peeled and torn up.
If one looks back, one could see the imprints of blood on the stairs.
Even if he was struggling as if a hero carrying the fate of the world, no one was there to cheer for him or support him witnessing his epic struggle.
Finally, his legs started to ache especially his knees which felt as if a myriad of needles had been inserted into it.
After bowing down for more than a hundred times, he was starting to lose the sensation below the waist and his back was feeling numb.
At first, he thought that he was just feeling it but now he was sure that he could feel the weight of the coffin.
Maybe it had been made light to give him hope that he could climb but after a few steps its weight had suddenly increased in the middle.
Without it, he may have climbed more than 300 stairs and would be able to move faster and more unrestrainedly however nothing was easy.
Since the reward for passing the trial was something that couldn't be imagined, the difficulty for clearing this might be quite hard.
Maybe many were given a chance to go through this and became a source of fun for that God Of Death.
Maybe not a single one has passed this trial while he might be the only one who is trying to do something impossible.
However, this did not deter him as what could be worse than losing the one you have loved the most.
People say the heart is the source of all kinds of emotions.
His heart had been with Ava and when she died; she had taken it with her.As if to prove this true the fear of dying did not fear him.
But he didn't stop, in the end, the pain in his body was unable to affect his will in the slightest. He took firm steps in the process of advancing and kowtowing.
The pants on his legs had already been torn and with each step, blood kept falling from two places but as he reached higher, blood started to drop from his forehead as his head hit the stairs.
Watching the scene, Alex who seemed to have turned into a blurry figure started to scream.
"Stop it!"
"Give up. There is no need to suffer."
Alex didn't know what was going to happen but he knew the result was death.
"At the end, you are going to die reincarnated."
"You will meet Ava. Although it will be in a different form, you are going to meet her."
Alex felt his tears forcing out of his eyes.
His lips became dry and he started to shout while hoping that his voice may reach the past him.
"Don't listen to this son of bitch."
"You are just a simple human, you can't pass this cruel trial."
"Even, I may fail if I was in your situation."
"Moreover, who knows if that bastard would keep his promise."
At the moment, Alex only wanted one thing which was to tear the God Of Death apart.
Irrespective of the price, he wanted to kill the God of Death who was toying with them.
However, no matter how much he screamed his voice didn't reach George who kept on climbing without rest.
It looked as if a deep force was supporting his gradually weakening body.
His body had been staggering and was already close to collapsing and finally, with a loud bang, his body suddenly fell on the ground violently smashing the stairs to the ground. But his left arm still grasped the bottom of the stairs so he wouldn't slip down.
Blood covered his whole body and his face was filled with lumps due to falling on the stairs repeatedly.
His body had been shaking violently and with a violent grasp of breath, he barely managed to shift his position and fall again with a bang.
But this time he didn't climb any further and his sight slightly turned dark and he fell unconscious.
A few hours after, his body shook lightly and using his arms to prop herself, she slowly rose.
Pausing for a moment trying to manage his struggling body, he barely managed to get up.
Once again he stepped up and kowtowed again.
In just a moment his blood covered the whole new stair.
Without any break, he kept on advancing through the path.
He either dies here or brings her back.
He climbed a few steps and fell once again collapsing on the floor.
Soon he climbed again and fell unconscious.
He collapsed time after time and then got up to carry on the process.
Alex had already closed his eyes trying to stop himself from watching the scene.
He didn't know how many days had passed but George's body which had been filled with vigour at the beginning had been toned down to a thin figure.
His face had become hollow and he looked like a zombie.
The dress he had worn had been dangling loose as if he had lost tons of weight.
And finally, after an unknown amount of time, he fell without getting up and the body which had been breathing till now finally seemed to have stopped breathing signalling the end.
GLIMPSE OF HIS PAST SELF
It was a dreary scene which could break ones heart especially for the person who had gone through all of this.
Countless emotions surged in his heart making him unable to think properly.
Seeing the fading life of his past self, Alex closed his eyes.
The figure of George and everything around him disappeared.
Space twisted and retracted and the next moment, Alex who was frozen like a statue finally gained his freedom.
Alex whose legs felt weak fell onto the floor with a pale expression.
As everything disappeared leaving behind him alone in the space, he heard a cold majestic voice.
"The trial was never meant for you to pass."
"The more you climb, the more the stairs will emerge, making it endless."
Alex raised his head and stared at the person while laughing like a maniac.
"So, God Of Death, did you enjoy the show?"
"You might have a sweet time seeing me in despair."
"Giving hope which was never present since the beginning. You are really a great God."
Alex gave a round of applause and clapped his hands.
"Now what."
"What are you going to do now?"
"Do you have another trick for me to suffer?"
The God Of Death smiled and walked towards Alex.
His eyes locked straight into Alex's eyes.
His eyes were dark and hollow like a void pulling the onlooker into the darkness.
However, Alex didn't flinch because he was quite used to this eye.
It was the Devil Eye.
"I am also asking you the same thing?"
"Now what are you going to do?"
"I kept my word however you can't keep the one you loved."
"Even if you have the strength you can't do anything. You are just a pushover."
Alex frowned on hearing his words and asked with a confused expression.
"What do you mean? How did you keep your word?"
"For those like you who have supernatural powers, the stairs have an end but with each step the pressure will increase. However, for a normal person it will be a test of will."
"And it would not end until the person undergoing the trial dies as who knows you may give up when you feel the approach of death."
Alex saw the man's shady face which infuriated him.
"And if you somehow kept your words, what is your intention behind it? What kind of string are you trying to pull behind?"
God Of Death shook his head and spoke softly.
"First thing, this whole world is a memory which I locked after fabricating your memory of end moments which put a great strain on me. Unless you have the strength to access it, you cannot access this place."
"Second, I think you are correct. I didn't help you with sheer kind intentions but that didn't mean I had an ulterior motive."
"There are thousands of people like you who have a more tragic past like you.I am not free enough to do all this, I deal with millions of deaths each passing day and judge them."
"It also took a great amount of my power to create all this."
"On top of that,this is the consequence of your choice."
"The choice that you made several aeons ago."
"Several aeons ago," Alex murmured faintly and spoke after contemplating deeply.
"Are you talking about me from a past life?"
God of Death nodded.
"You already know that each world has Gods to govern the laws. Since laws are inflexible, the world needs our presence to implement and make them flexible."
"And since beings like us are present. There are naturally people who would like to harm and disrupt the balance by wanting to control the world."
Alex's eyes widened and he spoke"That means Earth also has powerful individuals before."
"Yes, the earth had a variety of strong species that wanted to take our position."
"When the earth was in trouble, a group of people rose to protect humanity and you are one among them."
"You were only able to use only fire elements unlike others who could use spells of various elements and you were considered trash but you mastered that element to the absolute limit, shocking many."
God Of Death and snapped his figure.
The space around Alex stirred and countless scenes started to replay all around.
Out of those, Alex caught the sight of a red haired man who stood over the sea of flames.
His presence was as hot as the sun who caused many to run away in fear.
He confronted a huge army alone filled with weird creatures whom Alex had never seen and at the end burnt everything into ashes.
Alex felt a bit nostalgic seeing the scene.
"You rose to the position of Flame Emperor and along with others dealt with the crisis."
"The battle put a great amount of toll on this world causing it to be on the verge of collapse and after that with the agreement of everyone it was decided to use every bit of mana to fix this."
"That's how this world became devoid of mana and without there would not be any strong people born in this world."
"All the mana was concentrated to fix the world from dying."
"Finally the life of this world was extended and the world was expanded into hollow space."
Alex was surprised to know that there was such a back story of his previous world.
"Most of the people died and those who remained alive decided to let go of their power."
"After everything was over we God decided to reward the individuals according to their wish but out of all of them you were an oddball."
"Everyone wished for various things, there were also few who asked permission to travel to other worlds or extend their lifespan."
"However,you asked especially for me for a contract."
"You are quite clever at that time.I have to acknowledge that."
"I know it.Who knows you may turn away after some time."Alex scoffed.
God of Death ignored Alex's sarcasm and said "You asked for the contract to fulfil your request in another life."
Alex's brows furrowed for a moment.
"Isn't life after death random so how was he sure that his next life would be in this world."
The God of Death rubbed his chin and said"Yeah, it's random still, who knows there may be coincidences."
"Moreover, you might have already found that your soul is quite peculiar."
"It's quite strong."
"It's as if many things lie inside it so I felt that you could perceive many abnormal things as if you knew about the future."
"In that life, you were already at the pinnacle and you didn't need anything but that can't be said for other lives."He spoke with a mischievous smile.
"But you didn't fulfil the contract. The proof is that I am standing as Alex, not George."
"I fulfilled my words. Don't accuse me like that."God Of Death raised his voice causing the surroundings to tremble.
"I said I will give you a chance to let Ava live with you and aren't you already living with her."
Alex felt as if he was struck by lightning.
"You mean.."
"I traced a glimpse of your fate and reincarnated both of you into the individuals who were going to be together."
"I cannot revive anyone from death. It is against the world but I can help you in your rebirth and let you inherit the memories."
"Moreover, the Gods of your current world are weaker than me because your world is not perfect and all the struggle that is going on behind the scenes is for the balance of the world."
Alex swallowed his saliva. He always felt that this person was stronger than the Goddess before but now he was sure.
Due to the God of Darkness and the Devil becoming separate individuals instead of one, the world had become quite chaotic.
"And Ava didn't have cancer. She died because her body had a heavenly constitution but since there is no mana in this world anymore, her death was written from the start."
"Heavenly constitution requires a great amount of mana to sustain the body and since there is none her constitution was drawing her vitality."
"There have been many deaths because of this."
"She is also one of the Hero's descendants who had inherited my power, which is Darkness and she carried it onto another world."
"I see..." Alex muttered closely and felt that he finally found the answer to his long-awaited question.
"By the way, that trial which you have gone through is also the trial to inherit my power."
"Huh!Your power."
"Yes, my power."
"Darkness is something which changes a person. For a person to not let his mind corrode by darkness, he needs to have a firm and unshakeable will like you who keeps on climbing even if it seems very futile."
"You seem to be using my power quite well to get sudden power up but I must say I am disheartened by the way you treat my powers."
"Why are you not cultivating my powers...uhhhh!"
He was not able to finish his speech as a crack appeared in space.
"Haaaaa...It seems that the time to depart has come."
"Wait….I have more questions."
"You need to find that on your own.My will that had been hidden in soul can not sustain for long, it's fortunate that it had not been for this long."
"By the way Alex, let me tell you something."
"You have already gone through the feeling of helplessness and being trampled by others."
"So don't be a pushover anymore."
"It's not about your world Alex, it's about the whole universe made up of various worlds which are soon going to face a huge crisis."
"We need oddball individuals like you to stop it."
The God Of Death figure started to become blurred and Alex seemed to be pulled out of the space by a strange force.
As Alex was about to disappear, he heard God Of Death's final words.
"Darkness is the symbol of fear.A symbol to ask people to stop committing evil cause if you don't you are going to be swallowed by an unending abyss of despair only to rot and regret."
"So on my behalf, show your current world the real power of Darkness."
:STANDING AGAINST THE GODDESS
The world around Alex suddenly shattered like glass causing his consciousness to drift apart.
The words of God Of Death still resounded in his ears.
Darkness enveloped him and everything became blurry for an unknown amount of time.
With bewilderment, he opened his eyes which were immediately assaulted by the influx of light.
It didn't take more than a moment to focus his vision as he was used to this.
A pure white ceiling greeted him.
It was beautiful but Alex didn't have the luxury to admire it as the scene of Riya taken away started to play before his eyes.
He felt as if it had been years since he talked with the God Of Death and then went into a deep slumber.
Various thoughts flashed in his mind.He felt his mind become heavier due to the countless thoughts at the same time a new path of strength seemed to open before his eyes.
The darkness which he could only use with certain conditions now can be manipulated quite easily.
But he still needed something to store the darkness mana in a vessel because the being from light cannot store darkness and this is equally true for the other side except Riya.
"Riyaaa!"
A deep sense of anxiousness started to spread in his heart.
His eyes became bloodshot thinking about what Riya might be going through now.
He murmured faintly and tried to get up from the bed however, a sharp pain assaulted him causing him to groan.
The pain interferes with his sense of breathing and flow of mana.
His body seemed weak due to being unconscious.
"Ughhh!"
"What is going on?"
Alex looked at the source of pain to see a black dagger embedded in his chest.
"Alex!"
Alex turned his gaze to see his wives standing around.
Alex got up from the bed but his feet staggered down and he almost fell on the floor.
Athena reached forward and explained slowly.
"Alex, take it slow."
"The dagger contains a terrifying power that even I can't heal and it also contains a destructive aura. The dagger is deeply embedded in your heart and I fear that if I pull it out, you may die."
"It's eating away your light aura and since it's near your heart, it's trying to corrode your mana heart rendering it useless."
"I tried as hard as possible to heal but I am unable to."
"Please forgive me for my incompetence."Athena spoke with a guilty look.
Alex looked at his wives dishevelled expression.
Normally he would try to appease them but his restless heart did not allow him to do so.
Athena's worried voice echoed in his ears but he turned a blind eye to it and spoke with a solemn expression.
"What happened to Riya?"
"Is there any news about her?"
An uncomfortable atmosphere prevailed in the room.
"We don't know anything," Yvonne spoke, mustering her courage.
Alex closed his eyes and asked, "What is the recent situation?"
"Speak truth, what had been going on after the war."
Catherine explained to Alex what was going on.
Alex's eyes widened with surprise as he got to know that he had been unconscious for a month and taking this opportunity much negative propaganda had been spread around him.
Since Alex has shown what he can do, many people have already started to move to keep him in check.
It all started with Shen but Shion added some fuel to this by trying to distort the news.
Alex was naturally regarded as a Hero of the war but some people are trying to distort the truth.
Christina also informed him about what happened during the war and after he fell unconscious.
Riya who was dragged with a teary face broke down before departing after which the powerhouse of both sides departed.
Hearing about Riya kneeling on the ground and begging for his life, he clenched his fist.
"Also Ale…"
Catherine stuttered a bit, noticing Alex's cold stare.
"Alex a few days ago, Leonheart was attacked by a group and Morderk was injured."
"There was a Legendary rank enemy but fortunately he did not kill him."
"Also the neighbouring countries' troops around Leonhart have been moving."
"They are not attacking us and I feel they are instructed to harass us.The border areas have been quite restless."
"Since, you are unconscious I ordered them to keep them in check without engaging."
Athena frowned as she sensed restlessness in Alex. She was already having a bad premonition of something bad going to happen but Riya kidnapping just exceeded her imagination.
Seeing Alex keeping quiet, Athena was sure that a storm would soon blow sweeping away everything.
Alex just listened quietly with a lifeless gaze and closed his eyes.
He tried to restrain himself.
"Where are we?"
"In the Central Church, Chelsea."
"Okay!"Alex murmured and got up abruptly, surprising everyone.
"Alex, where are you going?"
"We need to take care of that wound?"Athena shouted.
"Arrange for a prayer room now. I have something urgent."Alex spoke with a cold voice.
"Alex, wait.You need to rest!"
Alex's wives started to persuade him.
"If you don't want to do it.I can only barrage forcefully."
Alex didn't listen to them and walked out of the treatment facility.
As he walked out, strong pressure started to radiate from his body, signalling everyone to move out of the way.
"Huh!"
"What is going on?"
People in the Church looked at the commotion and were bewildered to see a man walking with a dagger stabbed in his chest from which black blood started to drip down.
Behind him, four ladies tried to stop him but it was to no avail.
The Priests were also startled by the commotion.
Alex walked towards the central prayer room.
"Sir Alex what is going on?"Bishop Sriel asked.
"I have something to resolve inside.''Alex walked past Bishop Sriel.
Alex without paying any heed to other stares walked into the prayer room and shut the door with a bang.
" Bishop Seril please let him enter.He might be praying and asking for Goddess guidance."
"Don't stop him."
Bishop Sriel nodded and decided to step back seeing Athena pleading gaze.
The commotion attracted quiet attention and many people started to gather around to understand what was going on.
.....
Inside a white spacious room, he looked at Goddess Rebecca's statue and spoke with a sharp voice.
"Come out."
A A fierce voice echoed in the room which was followed by a deep silence.
Alex waited for a moment and seeing no response, he looked ahead with a chilling gaze.
"Didn't you hear me or are you deaf?"
"I said come out."Alex roared, causing the space to vibrate as it was unable to handle the pressure coming out from his body.
The space fluctuated and light enveloped the statute.
Goddess Rebecca, enveloped in bright light, walked out and looked at Alex with a complicated gaze.
Alex directly cut to the chase and asked.
"Where is Riya?"
"I know you know something. Now tell me where she is and why they kidnapped her."
The only thing Alex could think was that Riya wasn't affected by light.
She is a perfect being who could use both types of mana.
But the faint memory of Riya being called Princess made him wonder if there is something more than meets the eye.
"Alex, you should calm yourself first."
"You are agitated right now so you may take a wrong step now."Goddess Rebecca spoke with a pleasant tone thinking that her words may calm Alex.
However, contrary to her thought.
"So..."
"Am I a kid? I will do what I think is right."
"Ohh! You must be thinking that if I die doing something useless all your investments may become futile, isn't it."
Goddess Rebecca's eyes became sharp.
"Alex, stop your madness."
"Madness...You are calling this madness."
"My wife stabbed a dagger in my heart and then she was taken away when you and everyone in the world just stood there doing nothing," Alex shouted and his breathing became rough.
"And where is that Goddess of Lust?"
"Isn't Riya her beloved daughter so what was she doing when all of this happened?"
"Don't tell me you didn't expect this?"
"You all knew about it and could have prevented this by sending an oracle but you didn't."
As Alex's voice grew louder and louder, Goddess Rebecca became annoyed.
"Hey stop staring at me and answer my damn question."Alex shouted at Goddess Rebecca.
"Alex, you are clearly overstepping your boundary."
Goddess Rebecca's voice became sharp, surprising Alex.
"We are not obliged to answer your every question. We are not your servants and you can't take out your anger when something happens to you."
"Who do you think you are?You are nothing but a mere human whom we have raised and taught."
"Khhgh!"
Alex kneeled on the ground as a a powerful sense of oppression overwhelmed him.
The wound on his heart tore and blood spattered on the ground.
Alex gave Goddess Rebecca a blank look as he had never imagined that Goddess Rebecca would do this just because he asked.
''You all train me until I pass out?''
''You forced me to take care of your daughter and protect them.''
''Now when I was doing all this, was it too much to ask you for more information.''
"Since you expect something from me, shouldn't you also show some sincerity?"
''But instead of stepping forward, you were busy playing the games behind the scenes."
"Hahahahahaha!"
Alex burst into laughter and muttered madly.
"It seems that he was correct."
"I have really become a pushover after being tamed."
Goddess Rebecca frowned seeing Alex laughing like a maniac.
She panicked and thought that she might have pushed this too far.
"Ale-"
BOOM!
A deafening roar resonated and a ray of light was shot from Alex.
The figure of Goddess Rebecca made of light popped like watermelon and the ray hit the Goddess statue shattering it into pieces.
Goddess Rebecca condensed once again and she shouted.
"Alex what the hell....."
Swoosh!
The entire room became dark suddenly.
Her body froze as she saw Alex's figure standing right before her emitting a deadly killing intent with dark eyes.
An eye that doesn't give a damn about anything reflected in Goddess Rebecca's vision.
"That look…"
"Why…Why do you have that look?"
It cannot be..
It's now possible.
'No this might be just a coincidence.There is no way it is possible.'
'I must calm down.I am Goddess and I should maintain the dignity of one.'
She tried to assure her however as she raised her head.
Her body jolted in fear seeing those eyes.
Languid gaze as chilly as everlasting coldness.
Gaze filled with confidence of being unrivalled and undefeatable.
A memory of the past that was hidden deep inside her heart which she had buried resurfaced again in her eyes.
"Do you think, if you did not teach me.I would be a pathetic bug who could be trampled by anyone as long as he wishes."
"I have been too soft on you."
"Look carefully.This is something which neither you nor The Devil had taught me and now…"
"Tell me.."
"What would happen if I wipe out every single statue and Church under your existence and hunt everyone who dares to worship you until you answer my question."
"Would not be fun?"
:THE BEAST HAD BEEN UNTAMED
A deep majestic voice started to ring in Goddess Rebecca's ears which made her recall the memories of the past.
A being whose one side dazzlingly golden light was gathered while on the other side was an aura of deathly darkness.
[You might be the creator of this world but I am the Master of it.]
[Just because you have created the world doesn't mean it is yours.]
[Me and only me is the one and only unrivalled among everyone who managed to conquer everything with my sheer will and strength.]
[You might feel wrong so what?]
[It's the right of the strong to do what he wants.]
[If any of you have any dissatisfaction about this, why don't you ask this sword of mine for an answer?]
The humiliation that was etched deep in their heart which had been buried millions of years ago suddenly resurfaced.
The grandiosity on her face vanished and her eyes lost their confidence.
Cause before him stood the man carrying the same aura of the ancient being whose body was flickering with both light and darkness.
And those deadly eyes..
It was the eyes of the person who had been bored due to standing lonely on the peak without anyone to threaten it.
...…..
Darkness and Light...
Why did one need to limit himself to one if he can learn both...
According to what Alex knew, the Law of Darkness that he had been taught by the Devil was incomplete.
And on top of that, the world lacked darkness mana so he thought that the effort of cultivating the darkness was not worthwhile.
However, after meeting the God Of Death one of the obstacles that had been in his path was cleared.
It has always been complete.
The Law Of Darkness in him had always been complete after all he was the inheritor of the God Of Death whose power was beyond the current world.
That was why he was able to gain a quick understanding of Darkness when he was hit with darkness by the God Of Darkness manifestation.
Now the only thing he lacked was the source.
He needed something to store darkness mana as his body vessels are unsuitable for it.
But that was also solved by sheer coincidence.
At the moment only Alex knew how grateful he was for entering the academy and stumbling upon a theoretical aspect of storing mana in a different way.
The dagger that was struck at his chest fell leaving an opened ghastly wound with rotten flesh.
Alex's eyes became dark and the darkness that was lingering in his body started to suck into his body.
A newly formed core of black colour started to form and rotate in his body.
A dark greenish flame flickers before him.
The Seed of Darkness which contains a vast amount of mana became his nourishment.
The vast amount of darkness mana started to condense in the core.
Swish!
Strong gales started to emerge from his body as darkness and light started to intertwine.
Goddess Rebecca who had seen all kinds of things in her life felt her worldview shattered by the man before him.
Even that being who was able to use both million years ago had compatibility to both unlike Alex.
Goddess Rebecca who saw the seriousness in Alex's eyes could feel that he was not joking.
She heard his voice again which was devoid of any emotion.
"There are two people in the world who one should be wary of."
"First one is the person who has nothing to lose."
"And the second one is a hero who had given up on being upright."
"And you can say that both cases apply to me."
'Ava who had been born as Riya is my everything.Losing her is losing everything.'
The subtle killing intent in his voice made her sure that he might do what he said.
"Alex, if it was about you I could have said everything as you are an exception but speaking about Riya may cause the law of casualties to act."
"There is a need to be an equal exchange."
"I see.Just because you need to waste a few powers to answer my question you were avoiding it."
"So, take it."
"Huhh!"Goddess Rebecca was startled by Alex's words.
"Take the Goddess Fortune."
"If this is not enough, take Emperor Charisma and Emperor Pressure."
"I don't need some bullshit luck anymore nor do I need to maintain those facades."
Alex knew that he was never suitable to become Emperor.
An Emperor had a different kind of charisma and majesty which he never had so he used to maintain a facade by those blessings but now he doesn't need it because now he understands what he lacks and can fill up for it.
"Take this power back and in exchange just tell me where Riya is."
Goddess Rebecca stared at Alex with an inexplicable expression.
Seeing his resolute look, she closed her eyes.
"Okay."
Alex's body shone and a small orb flew back from his body.
Some of the blessings that were given to Alex were taken away.
"Darkness realm."
"She is there. She is alive but since it's outside our jurisdiction, we don't know how things are there but if our assumptions are correct I don't think any harm will come to her."
"I can infer that. Since they addressed her Princess instead of harming her they will try to control her just like they did to harm me."Alex spoke and turned back.
Goddess Rebecca looked at Alex who stood there silently thinking for some time and then he turned back walking towards the entrance.
"What are you going to do now?"Goddess Rebecca asked with a surprised expression.
"I have let the weeds grow too much. Before looking for Riya I will weep out every weed in my way."Alex spoke and walked back.
Goddess Rebecca watched Alex fade back with deep worry.
Those who have lost could only know the value.
Alex who had seen Ava dying before his eyes now only wanted to spend his life with his wives till death.
He does not want money, fame or power.
Alas, fate had other plans.
No matter what there would surely be pests and bugs who would try to disturb him.
His wife's presence had calmed the beast inside him but with Riya's absence, he might have let the beast inside him loose.