Aftermath

I had survived. How had I Iived when others had died. A man trained by the CEA died while I was alive. I felt like laughing.

It felt cathartic, the slight smile on my face refused to fade like the pungent metallic scent of blood. It was as if I accomplished the impossible, to live seemed impossible.

The battle was beautiful. I saw it all, while hiding under the omega's corpse.

Even though I heard talks of these powers in the taverns where adventurers shared ale, I had never thought the sight would be so mesmerizing.

The supernatural power wielded by the officer captain and the alpha was incredible, if only I had that power I could live a life of ease. 

How could I obtain it?

I was too tired to walk, my body battered. Every movement in arm brought a pain similar to burning ants crawling beneath my skin.

Pushing the limp, blood-soaked omega off of me, I sat up staring at the aftermath. 

The officers sat on the ground also, their breaths deep and heavy, glaring at the dead man in silence. If the officer captain who seemed to be blessed by a god wasnt here, I didn't think we'd be breathing at this moment. The alpha wolf would've made way with our bodies, the same way he did to the man who died.

The woman stumbled over to the man's headless corpse sprawled out on the ground and her squad followed. She reached out her hand and gently placed it on his stomach, closing her eyes she muttered.

"May he rest in the void"

Fire once again ignited around her, and it was also burning the corpse. The stench of burnt human flesh smelled disgusting,

"May he rest in the void?" I muttered. Was it some kind of religious ritual?

The sound of footsteps approached me, looking to my side it was Jack. He let out a deep breath, it was as if he had been keeping it in for a while.

"You don't know if it? He asked.

I shook my head, I had never heard of it. My life on the streets hadn't helped me with picking up common knowledge.

"Its a concept from The Luminarian that is widely accepted. The void, a place where souls of the dead are transported to in order to recycle or reincarnate. To hasten the process of transportation, it is believed that burning the body to ashes frees the soul" 

"Who is the God that accepts these souls?"

"The God's name is not known but in the Luminarian, they call this entity Garantia Termina, he who will bring about the end."

"A god who brings the end of all things. How would anyone believe such nonsense?"

The end? What an absurd thought. I didn't believe Gods had that much power, if they did why were they so restrained?

The old man smiled slightly. "It seems you don't trust my words, but evidence of his existence has already been confirmed a long time ago."

"Through what?" I scoffed.

"In the empire, there is a rift, a piece of empty space that is thought to lead to the void as all prisoners thrown in never came back alive. A broken space that is believed to be a result of his attempted descension onto the world 1000 years ago."

I examined his face for a trace of deceit or jest but he stared back with clarity. His words carried a weight that I found hard to ignore. A rift leading to the void? The descension of a God who yearned to end all things? It sounded like a fairytale told to children at night to scare them into obedience.

"How would a god attempt to descend and then fail?" I asked, my voice dripping with skepticism.

"If this Garantia Termina is so powerful, what stopped him?"

Jack crossed his arms, tapping his fingers in thought.

"The Luminarian didn't elaborate on the event. Maybe Luminaris herself intervened.."

If Garantia Termina tried to descend once, what stopped him from trying again? The story had too many holes for me to believe.

Shaking my head, I pushed myself up to my feet only to stumble back down. Jack's hand caught me by the shoulder.

"That pup really did a number on you, huh?" he jeered.

"All that matters was that I won."

Jack smiled and slung my good arm over his shoulder."Yea, I'm really glad I gave you that knife. You should hide it quickly." 

"I doubt they'll take it. They didn't even search us when we came, so it must be okay as long as it's not a long blade. I bet they think that they'll just cut us down with their swords if it comes to it."

Reflexively I glanced down at the sword jack held in hand. He also looked down, the old man's shoulders slumped and he sighed

"Kid, atleast let me dream. It's a good sword."

Looking over at the captain, the man that was once there was now just a pile of bones and ash. Her skin was pale and sickly, she was holding herself while trembling slightly. It looked distressing, she bit her lips so hard that it bled.

"Jack, you're a retired adventurer, so what's happening with the officer captain?"

The old man's eyes looked slightly distant as he spoke "That's—that's apostolic decay, I'm quite familiar with it. I've seen dozens of comrades croak because they overdraft mana from a God. She must often fight recklessly for it to be so severe. Too much foreign power and it decays your organs, especially for the lower cycles"

"And by lower cycles you mean?"

Jack stared back and as if realizing I wouldn't know, he flicked his head. "I forgot, you wouldn't know of it. When I say lower cycles, I'm referring to the power used by the woman. We call it The Ascendant Cycle."