"Armageddon has risen from the ground with a roar."
"There is no time to mourn the dead."
"Bear the weight of the cross on your back, let the tears pull you down like boulders."
"Who cares that you're just one mortal man against the darkness."
"You're expected to fulfill your duty to the bitter end."
"Because those are the chains YOU put around your ankles."
Chapter 0 (Dark): Finale at the Beginning
Sarajin followed Solomon through the sky to their battleground.
Familiar territory passed beneath them, acting as the only moment to collect any thoughts before the confrontation truly began.
Solomon's body was exuding an unsettling calm. He was no longer trapped in his own misery, pondering the purpose of life.
This could have been a happy moment for Sarajin, but not in this context.
Too many corpses were left in his wake. Close friends…and enemies, gone, never to speak again.
Sarajin's thoughts were scattered to the wind, he couldn't even guess why he was following after Solomon.
There was no time to really think about it.
In the blink of an eye, they had arrived.
That one lake of blood. Of course.
Ophelia's mark…the place a promise was made.
Solomon trespassed upon it like it was normal ground, each footstep splashing blood against his grieves.
Sarajin hovered over the dark sanguine pool with bags under his eyes and his limbs limp against his sides.
Solomon brushed his hand out and as he turned around, clutched it tightly before his chest, "Can you feel it? Her heartbeat still remains…"
Sarajin lowered his brows part way and landed at the edge of the pool before walking towards Solomon.
The blood was cold and made him shiver down to his soul. He saw the bodily remains on the ground and all his eyes chose to see was the Ten Sages' body parts spread about.
And then, he looked down, and saw his mom's face looking up at him with hollowed eyes and a stiff smile.
His vision faded for a moment and when he looked up, Solomon had appeared before him riding on a black gale.
With his eyes burning cold he said to him, "This is where I put an end to it all. I will toss every ash of remembrance to the wind, and complete my birth."
Sarajin jumped back and hovered his hand in the direction of his sword, hesitating with a gulp to draw it.
Solomon marched to his left and raised his hand towards the air, holding the sun around his fingers before closing it tight.
"You look towards the sun and see light, and warmth…It makes you comfortable. I gaze upon it…and I see something I can crush with ease."
He then gestured his hand out from his side and remarked, "You can feel it now, can't you? How insignificant even the lights in the sky feel compared to us."
Sarajin uttered a dry sound and then began to grab hold of his hilt, his hand shaking.
Solomon raised his head back and murmured, "I suppose there's nothing left to say between us now, is there?"
"I expect great things from you, Sarajin…"
He appeared behind Sarajin with his hands raised full of darkness, "Do not disappoint me!"
Sarajin whipped around and drew his sword as the hands came down, cutting against his hands as he leaped away.
The blood erupted in darkness and split the ground in cracks.
Solomon then stood and brushed the blood off his hand while giving Sarajin a moment to steady himself.
Sarajin then ran in and swung against Solomon's armor, igniting sparks in the air.
Solomon then widened his eyes and backhanded Sarajin with a burst of energy to send him tumbling through the air.
He then levitated up and energy surged from his hands like electricity. He tore the ground up with miniature claws of darkness and punched the chunks in Sarajin's direction.
Sarajin twirled around and diced them up, but the last one hit and blew him out of the sky towards the edge of the pool.
Solomon pulled his arms back and raised a wide chunk of the ground to slam into Sarajin's back and stiffeend him upright, where he then used a black wind to tug him closer.
Sarajin tried to cut him again even harder but the scratch was easily mended and Solomon grabbed hold of his face, pounding him with a series of air shaking dark blasts before slamming his skull into the ground.
He then slowly let go, letting the sheer gulf of his presence overpower him.
Sarajin had difficulty opening his eyes and standing back up. Every bone in his body ached…
He grabbed his sword in both hands and brought it down upon Solomon's helmet like a cleaver. And as the metal dug its way through Solomon glared at him and muttered in contempt, "What is the meaning of this?"
He then backhanded him again with more emphasis, making the blood lake split in two towering waves before crashing back down against Sarajin.
Sarajin rose and Solomon appeared directly in front of him, scooping him up by his poncho and throwing him over his head, repeatedly bashing him against the ground.
"Fight back! I demand you fight back!"
The poncho began to tear, much like Sarajin's heart.
After Solomon had a disappointing fill of this beat down, he held him aloft and muttered, "Fine, then I'll just break you until you snap."
He let go and left him suspended until he wound up a punch and blitzed it into his gut. The pressure collapsed upon his fist and then released through Sarajin's body to shatter the sky like glass.
Sarajin gagged and began to lose consciousness.
In the recesses of his mind, he saw himself, Auris and Justek sitting in a garden, blossoming from the ruins of their broken world.
And Carmine was there. Brine too. So were all their friends.
His mom even provided the food…
Where did everything go wrong?
Why…
As his imaginary self embraced this dream, a figure walked up behind him and bonked him on the head.
"Hey!" They shouted in a forceful, youthful voice, "This isn't the time for daydreaming Sarajin! Get out there and kick his butt!"
Before he could turn around and get a look at them, he awoke back in reality and the middle of his body hurt like he was stabbed by a club.
He stood right back up with his heart racing and body sweating, glaring over at Solomon with enough force to make the man chuckle deeply.
"That's more like it…" He uttered before increasing the intensity of his attacks, tearing up larger chunks of the ground outside of the blood pool and piling them on top of Sarajin.
Sarajin fired himself through the middle of the rocks and lashed a wave of pressure at Solomon, who had to raise his hand to cut it into a harmless form.
He then closed and turned his fist, making dark spheres of energy rise out of the blood and detonate upon his hand's release.
Sarajin spun around and released enough cutting force to divert the explosions away from him, while Solomon flew through and held his electrified darkness before his face.
Sarajin cut through the space between them and managed to knock him back, then followed up with two quicker slashes to his armor.
The scars were getting deeper, but left Solomon wholly unsatisfied, "You're still only fighting with your blade! I want to see it ALL!"
He then smashed him across the face with his fist, cracking the air around him before Sarajin went flying far away from the blood pool and into a rock spire.
After that collapsed on top of him, Solomon removed the rocks with darkness and smashed them all back down, repeating the process over and over until the quakes could be registered by the lands far off.
Solomon then raised both of his hands and fused the rocks into a black meteor filled with red cracks, "KNEEL TO OBLIVION…!"
He swung his hands down with such force it made the meteor descend like it was piercing through an atmosphere.
Sarajin was telling himself he needed to get up and stop this, but the motivation escaped him.
He stood nevertheless and sheathed his sword, drawing it back out with all his might to split the meteor in two and leave the halves crashing harmlessly around him.
Solomon then marched towards with his eyes burning with rage and his arms consumed in the blackest darkness, "I did not rise just to have my destined adversary half-ass this battle…!"
He spread his arms out then let out a thunderous clap to summon two massive hands that squeezed Sarajin down.
Sarajin pushed against them with his elbows until his sword could be swung enough to cut through them.
However, Solomon appeared above their divide and blasted him into the ground with a torrent of screaming ghouls.
On impact, the ground split into many cracks half a mile long.
Solomon then grew a massive sphere of darkness until the other side was pressing down on Sarajin, deepening and widening the impact in the ground.
The cracks grew outward rapidly and began to teeter on the edge of Argent Heaver territory and the back side of Pulsa Minoria.
But by then the darkness exploded, expanding the energy into an uncontrollable swirling mass of white, violet and bleeding red.
It collapsed and swallowed Sarajin into its center as it vanished, where Solomon proceeded to drop beside him and chop his throat, making him slip briefly back into unconsciousness as he hit the ground.
Sarajin rose back to his feet with his knees clattering together, and Solomon descending before him with his aura pitch black and rising with intensity.
"This is pathetic. When Borealis Aurora died he managed to do so roaring in defiance, but you can't even muster a whimper!" He then gestured his hand out and bowled Sarajin off with nothing but the wind, "What are these sword swings meant to represent? You displayed more power when you fought that bastard half-breed!"
"Why can't I fulfill a single promise…?" Was all that was on Sarajin's thoughts at the moment.
"I've failed everyone…nothing's gone right…"
"I've just jumped from one pit into another…"
Sarajin continued to stand. How? Why? He didn't bother figuring it out.
He was still holding onto his sword, but it may as well have been a dull knife.
There was no conviction in that blade, none of that fire.
Tears rolled down his cheeks as the faces of those he disappointed flew by him, carrying on melancholic winds.
Solomon fell before him and let out a deep, aggravated sigh, "When Borealis perished, do you know what he uttered in his final moments?"
He gestured his hand up and mocked the dead with laughter, "He said you would stop me."
"Imagine that…putting all your faith into someone who has steeled their heart to never be tempted to spill blood again."
Sarajin's heart flinched and his body got a chill. He looked up at Solomon as the man continued to care not for the dead at his back, "Borealis Aurora was a fool, and by extension it appears…so are you."
"Borealis…believed in me?" Sarajin whispered to himself.
Solomon raised his hands and shrouded them in thick darkness.
Sarajin tightened his hands around his sword and began to slowly rise, "Maybe…there was a meaning behind everything after all."
"I'll figure that out later…right now, I can't let Borealis' expectations go unanswered…!"
His eyes flared open as Solomon's attack threatened to swallow him whole, "I have to fight!"
In an instant he whipped his sword through the darkness and struck Solomon with a powerful fire wave that only grew taller as it dragged him further along to the edge of the crater.
Solomon grabbed the fire and was stunned out of his wit's end as it made him sweat.
He erupted into laughter and forced his energies against the flames until they fizzled out, leaving him with his palms singed off and smokes of darkness rising from the scars.
His eyes' glow deepened with crimson and he started laughing, "Wonderful…! This is the power I've wanted to see-"
Sarajin appeared behind him and swung straight for his back, only for him to turn around and grab hold of the blade.
Sarajin let go and flipped over him, smiting him with a lance of lighting before landing down and calling his sword back to take a swing at his front side.
Solomon tried to fight through the millions of volts surging into his body but ended up having a finger lobbed off as Sarajin cut into the front of his armor and sent him hurtling up out of the crater.
Solomon stalled with levitation and then surrounded himself with dark spheres, hurtling him after Sarajin as he ran up the side of the crater and launched himself after his opponent, striking him further away with a string of large slashes.
He managed to dodge out of the way of the projectiles and knock him away in another direction.
Eventually, Solomon lashed his right arm out, dragging up a deluge of darkness that completely halted Sarajin's momentum.
He then launched through the darkness and blasted Sarajin with energy followed by striking him across the chest with a meaty downward punch.
Sarajin pointed himself at the ground and drilled into it, carrying his momentum back around to rise and crush the jaw of Solomon's helm with an uppercut.
Sarajin then stopped and swung his sword overhead, capturing the electricity in the forming storm clouds to smite Solomon's head.
His helmet shattered and he crashed upon the ground, bracing his feet deep into the stone and refusing to let a single joint in his body yield.
He paused to call forth the fragments of his helm and place it back together over his head.
Sarajin meanwhile sped at him so quickly he was leaving afterimages surrounding him, making it difficult to discern who was cutting Solomon.
Solomon swept his arms out and blew the real Sarajin out into the open, before swinging his hand up to send him speeding skyward on a chunk of rock.
And then he summoned a giant fist to smash into him and drag him back down.
Sarajin positioned his feet to cushion his landing and put his upper arm strength into shoving off the impact of the fist.
Solomon then marched towards him, swinging his fists indiscriminately and punching large swathes of the ground apart.
Sarajin eventually locked Solomon's fist against his blade, where he punched out with the other to try and break through and after repeated attempts, managed to start pushing Sarajin towards his knees.
Sarajin electrified his blade and even with all the volts surging through his body, Solomon continued with no reduction of strength.
But Sarajin was not through yet. He converted the broken ground behind him into metal and made it pile onto Solomon magnetically.
Weight wasn't the concern, it was putting enough of a grip on his shoulders to stall his fists.
Then, Sarajin rose with a large cut across Solomon's chest, jumping with a twirl to deliver a follow-up.
Solomon broke free and clamped his hands down on the blade, making the electricity discharge through his chest like an arrow.
He then raised him up and slammed him down. Sarajin braced his feet on impact so Solomon tried again and again.
Sarajin timed it so he'd pull his sword out of his grasp as he tried to lift him up, then went and stabbed him through the shoulder.
Solomon then grabbed hold of his blade and mocked him, "Here, let me show you where you need to strike."
He then jerked the sword to slice through where his heart should be and let go, making Sarajin stagger with a bit of shock on his face.
But he looked up to see Solomon's wounds healing with rot stitched between him, his hand gracing the side of his head as he pulled back and bellowed with laughter, "It's pointless. Destiny has favored my path. I am unkillable."
"He's become like a Rot Walker…?! But how…" Again, more questions to answer later, if needed…
Sarajin lashed out a few quick waves of fire and then put some distance between them, "Auris hasn't caught up, something's keeping her busy…"
He then grabbed his blade in both hands and took a deep breath, "I'll have to try and figure out how to draw upon the power of aura on my own."
Solomon gave him no breathing room with the ferocity of his attacks on full display.
He flung two dark orbs to arc around to Sarajin's sides and then thrust through the center to punch him in the gut.
Sarajin chose to block with his sword but that left the orbs free to crash into him and explode.
Solomon then pushed his force out harder and shoved Sarajin straight through a small mountain.
Before the debris fell,, Sarajin grabbed them and set them ablaze to fire at Solomon.
Solomon crossed his arms and levitated forward, summoning dark fists to smash the meteors with ease.
Then upon reaching his foe he tried to clap him between his hands.
Sarajin thrust through and stabbed him in the chest, but only managed to infuse his sword with raw power.
Sarajin clicked his tongue and then ignited the blade whole, dragging Solomon to the ground, melding the armor into it.
Sarajin took these precious moments to get some distance only for the rupturing ground to throw him off.
Solomon showed him what sheer power could truly do by obliterating the surrounding area with but a wave of his finger.
Sarajin went tumbling into the fissure then steadied himself and flung the boulders at Solomon.
Solomon razed them to dust with black winds, riding so high on his arrogance that he flinched when a steel rod was forced into his gut.
Then a few more followed across his limbs.
And Sarajin appeared behind him and flashed him with ice, causing the metal to get extra stuck in his armor and slow his muscles.
Solomon lashed his hand out at his foe and assailed him with a wailing blast of dark spirits.
Sarajin braced his arms to guard against it and then slashed out towards Solomon's head, hitting him with a flurry that managed to push him back.
Solomon held against this might and pressed forward with his hands slowly pulling out each metal rod and bashing them across Sarajin's body.
Sarajin grabbed the last one and plunged his sword into Solomon's gut twice, reaching closer to the neck for the second strike.
Solomon tried to go for his head and Sarajin ripped his sword out and flew back.
He then clicked his tongue and began to sweat, "Nothing…! Can I even use it…"
What other options were there at this juncture but to keep trying?
Sarajin took a deep breath and tried to visualize the power outside of him instead of within.
Until then he summoned more fire and wind to throw Solomon into a towering inferno, using the hurricane gales to bring the heat up to white hot levels.
Solomon pushed through the flames bathed in pure black and then lashed his hands out, adding the fire to his darkness.
Sarajin swung at the beam to split it out into space and then Solomon punched him in the chest.
A rib broke and Solomon grabbed hold with both hands and flung him through a series of mountains.
Solomon warped to each top that got cleaved off and threw them where Sarajin had landed, culminating in kicking through all the remaining debris with his arms crossed to strike Sarajin in the gut.
Sarajin coughed up some blood and his vision faded slightly.
He pushed through anyways and shoved Solomon off, attacking him with a weaker strike across his chest.
Solomon then tried to wail on him, failing to break through his foe's agile parries.
Solomon narrowed his eyes with ire and then backed off to thrust his hands out and surround Sarajin in black and violet electricity.
Sarajin couldn't cut it, and in a moment it spread to trap him in a diamond cage.
There, Solomon amplified the power to rock Sarajin with a mighty surge.
"AAAAUGH…!" His scream pierced through, making Solomon smile.
Sarajin dipped into his pocket and trusted the Gaia Temporis to warp him out of this cage. And then his pain along with Solomon's surprise allowed him to strike him with a powerful slash from behind.
The two then stumbled forward and caught their breath.
Solomon turned around and flicked a bit of dust off his armor.
"All this power at your fingertips and it doesn't make you feel anything?" Solomon mocked him with grueling words of temptation, "My heart beat continues to grow louder and louder! I am ready to feel a thousand deaths at its cruelty for this one chance at living!"
He then summoned a dangerous amount of darkness in his raised hands, "But you WILL join me, I COMMAND IT!"
He slammed down and obliterated their surroundings in a deafening flash of violet energy.
Sarajin went flying miles away across the ground, and Solomon pursued to grab him mid-air and shear a fissure through the ground with his skull.
The skies darkened by the time he raised him up and smashed him against a twisted spire.
He then pressed his knuckles against his throat and made him gag. Sarajin lost the grip on his sword and grabbed onto Solomon's fist and forced his fingers apart.
"That's right, struggle with all your might…There is none who can save you now. Our fight…is ours alone!"
And such certainty needed to be silenced immediately, deafened with a piercing shriek.
The sky above them began to bleed, alerting them both to the territory they had encroached upon.
For gods and kings to dare to approach here invited the Devil to awaken from its slumber once more, and descend from its resting place with a thundering landing behind them.
Solomon narrowed his eyes and threw Sarajin to the ground to focus his attention on this beast.
"I have made myself clear, shrieking curr…Seems you must be taught obedience."
Sarsjin grabbed his sword and rose, now forced to deal with two threats on these battlegrounds.
The domain of superiority would soon find who would next seat upon its throne…
Next Time: Silence of the Beasts