CORPSE

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Dying, he was, over and over and over again, but with each death, he grew stronger and stronger.

He could feel his muscles tearing and healing continuously, souls feeding on skin and bones, 

but then... "ASHBA, ASHBA, ASHBA!" He could hear them. 

"NOO!" he shouted, screaming, because only he knew what was happening to his body, slamming the ground with his growing fists, over and over and over again, fists bleeding and healing, over and over and over.

 "ASHBA!" they said, as if calling. 

"ASHBA!" they continued, raising his head and looking at the fighting crowds, he could only utter small words as if speaking a warning, "ASHBA IS NEAR, No, please, don't come." 

Then, a blink—that's all he did, that's all he could do—a blink, that's all it took for the whole environment to change. 

No longer was he standing close to the stairs; he was now kneeling on his two knees, holding something, no, holding someone.

The moisture, he could feel it, a soul leaving a body, he could hear it. 

Looking down, he saw Elsa, her once beautiful nature changed, her face bloodied, her eyes colorless and shut, her body a lifeless corpse.

She was dead, and the person responsible was he who was currently holding her body by the neck, Asha.

 "NOO," he said with disbelief, how could he have forgotten, why did he forget, the first person he killed was someone who showed him kindness, "Why," he spoke with fear and silence, his hands trembling as they let her go, falling to the ground from his grasp, "why," he continued, how could he forget who he was, how could he lose control, how could he forget that he was Hades' son, how could he forget that he was death, how could he forget that he was mercy and judgment, how could he forget that "I am execution."

"Leach," he whispered, then suddenly, as if listening to his every command, a door made of stone formed out of nothing. 

This time, the stones didn't seem to detach from the ground but seemed to be created by pure magic, as if they were being formed by a god. 

On the other side, another world could be seen, red it was, bringing light to the room filled with darkness, but the people who were close enough to see this were too busy to notice. 

In the middle of that door stood a creature of darkness; its cloak so dark it seemed to absorb the light, standing there with its weapon as if waiting.

 "Does he agree?" Asha asked, his question mysterious but simple to the creature that stood before him. 

Leach, looking at Asha, turning his gaze to the lifeless woman that lay beneath him, seemed expressionless.

 "Yes, but she will be bound to your body, and her soul will be your nutrients," he answered.

Asha: "So she will be..."

Leach: "Yes, she will be undead."

Leach continued, his expression still unchanged. 

Asha breathed a sigh of relief, looking at the now-dead acquaintance that lay before him, then he returned his gaze to Leach.

 "What does he want?" Asha asked with curiosity and a dark expression.

"A vow," Leach said, sending shivers down Asha's spine. 

If Hades wants a vow, it means he wants something which can't be obtained by normal means; Hades is unable to initiate a vow on Asha because he doesn't have a soul, but Asha can initiate it in his place because he is able to make the vow with both gods and their offspring.

 "He wants power," Asha asked, as if making a statement, which only got a nod from Leach.

This was to be expected, although Hades never asked for this in the novel, it was to be expected considering Asha is asking Hades to bring someone back to life. 

What Hades wants is for Asha to make binding vows in his place; he wants Asha to make vows with god descendants, then come back to him to give him those abilities ,make him stronger.

 "I need more benefits," Asha said as he placed his gaze on Leach's obsidian eyes.

Leach, as if thinking, said words that made Asha widen his eyes in response, "He will increase your dominion over other domains," Leach said, which was stunning. 

Asha was born with dominion over the underworld but that doesn't mean all of it; it only means he owns a portion of the underworld with Hades owning the rest. 

Asha has dominion over Hell, which means he controls everything in it—the souls, state, and condition. 

Now, if Hades is offering to increase that dominion, it means Asha will have control over some part of it.

 "Which domain?" Asha asked with curiosity, so much so that for a second he forgot the person sleeping beneath him.

 "Paradise," Leach answered, which made Asha almost lose his breath.

Hades was offering to give him dominion over a small part of Paradise, a place which considered to be Heaven. 

He almost laughed in disbelief, in joy, but then he remembered what Hades was asking for. 

Hades was asking for absolute power that could potentially put him at the pinnacle of the might of the gods; he was asking for something that could make his power rival the likes of Zeus. 

It was unfair, even if he was giving him control over a small part of Heaven, but what choice did Asha have? He had taken the life of someone he never intended to; if it had been someone else who killed her, Asha wouldn't worry himself, but now, he had taken all the opportunities her life held dear, he had rendered all her years of living pointless, her birth, her first steps, her first words, everything rendered completely meaningless.

 "I agree," Asha said, and Leach, who was just standing there, gave a heavy bow in respect, a bow as if bowing to a god. 

The door that was opened disappeared, the stones suspending it turning into dust and sand, falling and leaving nothing. 

Then, Elsa's wounds healed, her blood as if reversing, returned to her body, even the blood that was spilled on the ground floated in the air and went inside of her, healing her every wound.

Her face became pale but beautiful, her skin tightening and her hair changing color, becoming white. 

It was as if she was a different person.

Opening her eyes, her pupils had become sharper, the redness brighter, resembling endless flames of Hell, but she saw nothing because Asha had already gone away. 

Yet, she could feel that something was different, raising her hand and touching the left side of her chest just before the breast; her heart had no beat. 

She was confused, then she started crying in silence because she knew one thing that seemed to be evident, "Someone killed me."

———

On the other side of the room, cameras showing everything that had happened, people who were sitting there saw everything. 

This was the first time they had seen something like this transpire; it was as if someone had made them question their own existence. 

But the grand master sitting in the back was slightly shaking as if scared, yet there was a slight smile, almost completely invisible. 

Then she spoke two words that brought confusion to everyone present, "Kill them." When suddenly, everyone in the room exploded with immediate effect, red and golden blood pouring everywhere,the grandmaster, without even blinking, just sat there with her hands over her chin, so delicate, so peaceful, so silent.

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