". . . My God."
What he saw was enough to make him go mad.
His blood began boiling as one thought began playing in his head.
The Black Dragon's voice repeating that same sick chorus.
"KILL THE SONS OF WHORES AND THE WHORES THEMSELVES, CLEAVE THEIR HEADS OFF - AND CONSUME THEIR CORPSES AFTER DEFILING THEM IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE!"
". . . Your point being?"
"RIP THEIR INTESTINES OUT, USE IT AS A CONTRACEPTIVE WHILE YOU FORNICATE WITH THEIR SKULLS!"
". . . What's a contraceptive?"
"Exactly."
Shaking his head, Rothius charged forward, but his body felt heavier with each step.
"Son, this'll hurt."
His body ripped itself when his muscles bulged a bit, and felt that at any moment would snap his bones in pieces.
Rothius lost all sense of balance as his body changed itself against his will.
It lasted for a full minute before he got a lungful of air, and found himself able to move again, however at a much quicker pace.
He found his steps lighter and faster, and swinging his sword wasn't has tiring as before, in fact, he felt as though he was swinging a mere feather.
Encountering two towering Destroyers, he readied his blade.
"I'm in a hurry to the castle. Don't get in my way."
The two simply readied their hammers, as they dashed towards Rothius, hammers ready to strike.
Rothius replied their actions with his, as he took on the hacking stance.
He knew that the simplest mis-step meant disaster, or even death.
As his opponents closed in, he moved forward, and in a swing, cut through them with a different level of strength.
Something changed within him, as the realization washed over him and flooded his soul with terror.
He loved the feel of blood spraying over his face and body.
Yet something was off. Blood was usually warm, but theirs were cold, but satisfying nonetheless.
A devilish grin formed on his face as he ended the swing, and ran forward right after sheathing his blade.
Only one wish was in his heart - that he may reach his beloved in time, and save her.
The only problem was one thing, and that was reaching the castle in time.
Arriving at the overlooking chasm, where he could see their kingdom down below, he wished himself luck.
Rothius plunged headfirst down, the wind whipping through him.
"Use my wings to break the force of the fall, kid."
"How?"
"It'll come naturally. This body is ours, after all."
It felt and looked so natural how those black wings flapped, effectively breaking his fall.
"My lips are sealed from hereon out. Just do one thing for me - KILL THEM, AND DO IT WELL. DON'T HOLD BACK."
"You don't need to keep telling me that. It's top one on my list."
The Black Dragon's laugh resonated within his head, as Rothius readied his sword yet again.
A familiar voice called out to him, and he looked at the direction where it came from.
"Is that. . . you. . . my lord. . . ?"
"Caelia!"
"This armor. . . For you. . . made. . . from E. . . Corpse. . . Dark Elf. . . ground nails and bones. . . blood and metal. . ."
As soon as Caelia uttered that last word, she limped, lifeless.
Looking at the armor, it was wrapped with a dark aura, akin to his.
Equipping it felt so natural, like it was empowering him.
"It's styled after the Yosyu armor, yet different from it."
After securing the armor's straps, he placed Caelia's corpse on one of the tables and covered it with one of the cloths lying in the workshop.
Walking away, his resolve turned grim as he felt his blood boil, his fury heating up further.
He ran towards the castle again, he felt a few gazes on him.
The sound of the bow being drawn, the arrow's tip hitting the wood, and the slow breaths heightened his alertness.
A whoosh made him jump up as an arrow nearly hit his foot, while several others hit him on the abdomen and left thigh, with one getting caught between his index and middle finger.
Landing with his other hand and both feet, he stood straight and threw the arrow back whence it came, hitting the elf that shot it straight in between the eyes, and embedded it straight to her brain.
Concentrating the Black Dragon's power to his right hand, black fireballs sprung from his fingertips.
"Black Fire Rain!"
Letting the fireballs loose, they gained size as they rose up to the air and found their targets.
Amidst the screams and the smell of burning flesh, he turned his back and continued running despite the grim satisfaction that welled in his heart.
Pulling out the arrows as he ran, he readied his blade for anything that might be his next opponent.
4 Armored Ogres laid waste to the town square when he arrived, and the streets were littered with corpses of Dark Elves.
With a roar, he raised his blade and rushed towards them, his fury reaching its peak.
Continuing his roar, and the ogres looked at him, clubs poised to strike.
Each club thundered down on Rothius, who blocked the clubs with an equally-powerful punch.
"CRY."
A blast of dark energy sent the clubs flying out the the ogres' hands.
"SCREAM."
Four large claw-like tendrils came out of his back, and impaled each at the forehead, going through their heads to the back, split to two, and latched onto the top of the head and the spine.
"DIE."
Using a phantom arm to grab his sword, he swung his arm in a wide arc, slicing their stomachs open and spilling out their insides.
Blood sprayed everywhere as the tendrils ripped the ogres apart, then thrashed around, further cutting the carcasses roughly to large chunks of meat, each making a loud splat upon landing.
Tears began streaming down his face as a maddening laugh rang through the air, as his dark powers drained the corpses of everything, reducing even the bones to dust.
His armor seemed to respond to what was happening to him, sending its own latent energy pulsating throughout its parts.
Calming down, and falling on one knee, Rothius felt a new wave of the Black Dragon's powers wash over him.
"Just a bit more. . . Agh. . ."
Slapping the knee that faced the ground, a frown formed on his face.
"Damn you! MOVE, DAMNIT!"
Shakily standing up, he took a shivering step forward, and another.
It took him a few more steps until he was able to move normally, and some more to be able to run.
As he ran, it felt like his legs, from the thighs down, began changing slowly.
His bones hardened, and the tips of the phalanges turned to clawed ones, and his muscles expand and wrap around the bones.
Each step made him faster, and put a new level of bounce to his steps, each bound lengthened.
His heart beat faster, dread and fear flooding it, the cold grip tightening by the second.
A wish kept him sane : To arrive and save his beloved Teluna before any harm could come to her.
Tears that flowed down his face stopped, as his resolve skyrocketed, fueled by warming thoughts of her kind, sweet smile.
He arrived at a broken bridge, evidently done by Orcs skilled with explosives.
Moving back a few steps, he readied himself to jump.
Sprinting forward, and jumping after using the full power of one leg, he shot forward further that he expected, and caught up with a group of Orcs armed with explosives.
Curling his right leg mid-air, upon reaching an Orc's head in-range, he kicked full-force, ripping it off along with half the spinal column, and got caught on his right boot.
Kicking it off his right foot, the head hit another square in the chest and activated the explosives strapped on its body.
Landing and rolling to keep the momentum of his jump, he resumed running towards his destination.
Upon arrival, his fear completely drowned him.
The castle was on fire, and smoke stung his eyes as he slowly walked forward, his heartbeat getting louder each time.
"Who could've. . .? Why would. . .?"
He heard an Elf laughing while pinning a wounded Dark Elf against the wall with her bow and arrow, aimed at the heart.
The Dark Elf closed her eyes in pain as the arrow pierced her heart, and pinned her to the wall, the Elf's laugh ringing in her ears.
Her vision started to blur, but she still managed to see a black trace of power as the Elf's head jumped from the neck, and blood spurted like a fountain.
Rothius crushed the Dark Elf's head to quickly end her life, and resumed walking.
In his clouded vision, enemies seemed to be red blots, while everything else seemed to be black and white.
The Black Dragon's aura blazed through and around his body, as his steps rang through the hall to the throne room.
Anger ruled all of him, blocking most of his senses as he hacked through anyone who came across him.
Heads, arms, legs, torsos littered the hallways as he walked through, wildly swinging his blade.
He grabbed a Saint as he walked, and ripped his enemy's jaw off with one hand and gouged out the eyes with the other, and threw the corpse aside like a used rag.
Next that fell before him was a Gladiator, who was skilled enough to put a slight dent on his helm, and that Gladiator had his throat ripped out with Rothius' fanged teeth.
That is, until he reached the door to the Dark Elf Queen's throne room, his beloved Telreju's throne room.
Opening the chamber doors, he was treated to a horrific sight.
His wife's head rested on the throne. and her lifeless body laid on the floor, being toyed around by 8 warriors.
A party composed of a Barbarian, 2 Lunar Knights, 2 Snipers, an Ice Witch, a Pyromancer, and an Inquisitor stood around her body, blood forming a pool around it, while her head rested on her throne.
The trigger was the sight of the Barbarian holding a still beating heart in his gauntleted hand.
"So it is true! Dark Elves' hearts are black! Look at it, and how it still beats!"
As the 8 laughed and cheered, Rothius lost his sanity, his rule over his own instincts as he trudged towards them.
Not noticing his presence, the Barbarian was impaled with Rothius' arm, his own heart ripped out and resting on the palm.
The cheers and laughter of the remaining 7 turned to horrified shrieks and screams as the Barbarian's heart was squeezed until it ruptured, spurting blood on their faces and armors.
"IT'S ROTHIUS! ROTHIUS HAS RETURNED! THE TRAITOR! KILL HIM!"
Rothius threw the body of the Barbarian he killed off his arm, tossed his helm to one side, and ate the Barbarian's heart.
He felt his soul break down, and his heart die, and his own consciousness joined the sick chorus the Black Dragon's been feeding his mind.
"KILL THEM."
His visioned blacked out and he felt his body move on its own.
Blade raised, it moved towards his wife's murderers, the Black Dragon's aura filling the air.
4 phantom arms grew on his back, scraping thr ground with their claws.
The 2 Lunar Knights responded to his actions by readying their blades.
"Flash Stance!"
Rothius responded by readying his own blade, now wrapped in the Black Dragon's flames.
"FLASH. . . STANCE. . ."
Both sides began attacking from a distance, their powers clashing in the middle, each cut creating a booming sound and strong wind.
A Sniper gave a suggestion to her comrades, re-winding her bow as she did.
"Let's make it a sport. Whoever dies fighting him will be replaced by the living ones. Last one alive gets all the money. How's that?"
The remaining members nodded, and threw their money at the floor, signifying their acceptance of the bet.
Rothius, on the other hand, reversed his grip on his blade, and dashed through the projectiles being launched towards him.
Slowly closing the distance between him and his enemies, his desire to kill bloomed even more that it seemed to fill the entire throne room up to the ceiling.
Grabbing the Lunar Knight to his immediate left, he rammed his blade through the body, and ran his blade up, splitting him from abdomen to scalp.
Stabbing the blade to the ground, he held the corpse by the arms and ripped it further, to two pieces.
He grabbed the heart from the body and ate it in front of the remaining Lunar Knight, his eyes glowing red.
Rothius' phantom arms grabbed him by the neck and ankles, while the remaining arm ripped the arms off, one at a time.
Bleeding from the stumps of his arms, he could feel his life drain away.
Rothius grinned, and moved his prey closer to take a shower in his enemy's blood.
Letting out a maniacal yet sad laugh, he could feel his tears flow down his cheeks.
He was drowning in the Black Dragon's power, yet he enjoyed it.
That feeling of having so much power that he had just set loose was too intoxicating, it was driving him beyond insane.
He could feel his body move faster, faster, more fluid.
Each drop of blood falling on him felt too good, too enticing to feel more.
He couldn't care less about how it could make him sink even lower than he already had at that point.
2 Snipers went down as soon as the last Lunar Knight's body had fallen down, their bows at the ready.
Rothius couldn't have felt happier the moment he realized that he was going to fight and murder all of them.
Throwing the ripped corpse aside, he removed his helm and tossed it aside.
He removed the armor on his abdomen, arms, and head, along with his gauntlet.
Changes were already visible on his body, from his abdomen to his hair..
They were starting to turn gray, and two small horns were already growing on his forehead.
Fangs in his mouth became more pronounced, and his pupils had turned red.
A red tongue licked the seemingly-dry lips, and darkened gums that held the fangs in place showed themselves in a dark, insane smile.
His body seemed to be a lot more muscular than it was before, and his birthmark seemed to be glowing, with the phantom arms rooted on it.
His nails have already darkened and became talons seemingly sharp enough to tear someone's flesh.
Picking up the blade off the ground, he tossed it towards the throne, where it landed adjacent to Teluna's severed head, seemingly blocking from seeing the carnage that would soon unleash itself in the room.
A volley of arrows hit his body as soon as his smiled, and got knocked down on the floor.
The Snipers began cheering as they kicked him as he lay on the ground, not even moving.
One tried to shoot another to his head, but Rothius caught it in between his teeth, and spat it aside.
Standing up, his own muscles pushed the arrows out of his skin, his red blood seeping from the wounds.
Shaking the blood off him, he readied his talons for the next battle.
A Sniper shot one at him aimed towards his forehead, but he caught it with the tips of his thumb, index and middle fingers, and threw it back at her.
The other one countered it with another arrow, and both fell to the ground, blades-first.
Letting out a low laugh, Rothius taunted his enemies as he gazed at them.
Both notched their arrows and readied themselves, but Rothius had already closed the distance to one.
He slapped the bow and arrow away from her hands, grabbed her breasts, ripped them off, and ate them in front of the now-dying Sniper as she convulsed in pain.
It was more than enough to make the other Sniper vomit where she stood, the scene too grotesque for her eyes.
"Can't look, eh?"
As she looked up, Rothius thrust his left index and middle fingers into her eyes, digging deep into her head, his knuckles almost reaching her forehead.
He curled his fingers and pulled her skull out with a powerful yank, ripping muscle and tissue.
Tossing the skull aside as the body fell down, Rothius licked his fingers, a satisfied smile on his face.
"Yum."
The Ice Witch jumped in next.
"I'll be your next opponent."
Rothius let out a mad cackle, his back arched backwards.
"Magic against magic. Let us see what you witches are really capable of."
In a flash, he dashed forward and punched her away.
She struggled to stand up, but her body was engulfed in black flames as soon as she got a steady footing, but was able to retaliate by shooting a large ice needle.
Impaling Rothius' left arm, it did nothing to lower his right.
Burning her clothes off, Rothius grabbed her by the neck.
"Always looking like that, you're asking for it way too much!"
He brought her close and licked the middle of her breasts, tracing his tongue towards her navel.
Breaking the icicle that pierced his left arm, he teased her womanhood with his left index and middle fingers, thoroughly stimulating her.
She felt desire well up in her, even though she knew her comrades were watching.
Suddenly sliding his fingers inside her, she let out a scream as his nails tore through her hymen.
"Never thought one such as you were virgins. But pain, on its own, can become a form of pleasure, no?"
He twisted his fingers inside her, slowly, teasingly.
Her moans of pleasure turned to a painful shriek as Rothius rammed his entire fist inside her.
"OPEEEEEEEEEEN WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE!"
He kept inserting inside her until he could feel the entrance to her womb.
Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, the combined pain and pleasure making her go insane.
Fluids seeped down Rothius' arm as he opened and closed his fist inside of her, his talons lightly touching the walls of her insides.
"This is my mercy. You die in utmost pleasure!"
Rothius closed his fist as he pushed into her womb, opening his hands, and ripped it out, while his other hand snapped her neck.
Pulling his left hand out of her, he tossed her lightly upwards and punched the top of her head and jaw off with both of his hands.
"I lied. Give the devil my regards."
He ripped her body in half with a spinning kick, and crushed what was left of her head with a powerful clap.
"For those who killed my wife, you bastards deserve utmost mercilessness. Both of you, step forth, and keep me entertained!"
The Pyromancer and the Inquisitor did as they were told, their weapons at the ready.
Rothius cackled madly once again, the Black Dragon's aura covering him as his eyes glowed evilly through it.
"LET'S BEGIN THE GRIM REAPER'S FESTIVAL! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
He dashed towards his enemies, claws at the ready, madly laughing as his bloodshot eyes gazed with equal insanity towards them.
"YOUGODFUCKINGDAMNEDEYESORESBETTERHAVEPRAYEDBECAUSE I'LLRIPYOURHEADSOFFANDRAPEYOUREYESOCKETSANDNOSTRIL SYOUDAMNMURDEREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERS!"
"Tch, he's lost it! He's like a wild mad beast!"
The Inquisitor swung his flail towards Rothius, who caught and crushed the extension with his teeth.
The Pyromancer bathed him in flames right out of her staff, and a phantom arm yanked it off her hands.
Rothius took it from the phantom arm, and broke it in half.
Another mad cackle escaped from him as he grabbed the Inquisitor by the neck.
Tossing him upward, Rothius jumped after him and began showering his body with punches using the phantom arms.
Each hit felt like it was crushing his bones and rupturing his organs.
The impact was more than enough to rupture organs and bones, causing them to pull and rip themselves apart, spilling his guts mid-air in a bloody shower.
Landing on the floor, not minding the blood and gore raining everywhere, Rothius slowly walked towards the Pyromancer, a grim smile on his face.
The Pyromancer grabbed the staff left by the Ice Witch, and sent another, more powerful jet of flames blowing towards Rothius, completely enveloping him.
The smell of burnt flesh and fried blood permeated the air, but the frightening figure didn't stop moving towards her.
A low laugh escaped his lips and he walked straight towards his target, never minding the flames licking all over his body.
His eyes, who previously glowed red, now shone with a bright white light.
"You won't live to see the sunrise. I wonder. . . WHAT'S THE COLOR OF YOUR BLOOD!"
With a blast of energy, the flames jumped off his body, his burnt flesh flaking off with a new layer underneath.
Rothius swiped his fingers across her face, seemingly missing it by a few centimeters.
To her horror, a large strip of her face's skin fell off with a weak splat on the ground, leaving only a thin layer of skin between blood vessels and her nose's cartilage.
He stabbed both thumbs deep inside her eye sockets, deep enough to reach the base.
Her painful screams were like music to his ears while he ripped her head off, and kicked it away.
Panting and feeling his sanity flood back, he looked at the carnage he had done as he wore his armor.
"If this is what humanity can do at its worst, then. . ."
Red tears of blood flowed from his eyes as the phantom arms slowly dissipated to black smoke.
". . . I RENOUNCE MY HUMANITY! I WILL BECOME THE NEW BLACK DRAGON!"
The Dragon itself laughed within his head.
"Well said, kid. Very well, take all of my powers!"
Upon ending that sentence, his body began changing.
His hair turned gray, and his eyes have reversed their colors.
The whites have turned black as night, and his once-blue irises had turned red as blood.
A burning sensation was felt in his chest, making him vomit his blood out as he tore his armor off.
His fangs pronounced themselves, and an eye had opened in the middle of his chest, its features the same as his eyes.
The full intake of the Black Dragon's powers had woken something primal within him.
An urge to cause chaos and destruction as his heart filled itself with every negative emotion known and unknown to man, and how it stopped beating.
Coldness flooded his body as he fell on his knees, clutching his own freezing body.
Nails black as charcoal grew sharper as the flesh on his two forearms grew metallic gray scales, right below his elbow to his fingertips.
He sobbed as red blood drained out of his eyes, and black blood replaced it.
". . . Is this the mankind I had protected all these years? Had it been for naught!?"
He looked towards the ceiling as if calling to a god, any god that would listen to him.
"If this is what humanity really is, are they not different from the monsters they so fear and loathe!?"
Deep inside his still heart, he wanted answers for the questions raging in his mind.
The urge was simply too great for him to stop himself.
Letting out a sad inhuman roar which echoed throughout the Dark Elf's kingdom, Rothius cried out what he thought was the last piece of his humanity.
". . . All is lost. Everything I once had, even my beloved wife. The price was too steep for this power. IF NOT FOR THIS DAMN POWER!"
Picking up his wife's corpse, he rested it on her throne, with the severed head sitting on its lap.
Her burial in mind, he cremated her corpse with a large stream of black flames from his hands, burning her corpse and throne to ashes.
Leaving the sword that was loaned to him in the place where the throne once stood, he turned his back and walked away.
"Rest well, my love. Rest knowing my final act of humanity is your burial."
He began to wear his armor up to the helm, and afterwards walked slowly out of the castle, his head hung low in grief, emptiness, and self-loathing.
Throwing a ripped red tapestry around his body to serve as a cloak, he spread his wings and flew out.
"Rest in peace, Teluna. Farewell, my humanity."
Little did he know that Liss was watching in the distance, holding an infant Serina in her arms.
"My lord, I will raise your daughter well."
His eyes popped open, and went outside to see the sun on its peak, with Alurrie and Seleece finishing their chat.
Looking at the distance, he saw a familiar port, the one in the village of his long-time allies, Nickolaus and Lars.
"Alurrie! Seleece! Once we set foot in there. . ."
The two looked at him, smiles on their faces.
Raising his right hand with the thumb upright, Rothius grinned.
". . . It's time for Hell on Lagendia."
As he ended that sentence, he brought his thumb down.