"BDMP…!"
Solomon looked at his right hand slowly, feeling the new darkness coursing through his body.
It was cursed, enriched with a flavor that was beyond the normal standards of darkness.
It came with that familiar whisper of the mark in his body.
…
He clenched his hand, and the voice went silent.
Deep breaths rattled within his armor. He looked up towards the other Sages, his vision filtered through a haze of crimson.
He scanned them one at a time, taking in their hesitation to strike at him.
"BDMP…!"
One Sage was already dead before he had arrived here. They must have been very pitiful…
The rest's hearts were churning with anguish. Their souls were caught in the gravity of his presence, the cold, uncaring winds of omen that blew subtly from his back.
His breathing got deeper, more ragged, as he locked eyes with Borealis from far away.
Borealis…shivered.
The man locked his fingers tightly against his palms and the first bead of cold sweat trickled down the side of his face.
His calm broke, and he uttered a roar that reverberated throughout the palace, "GET OUT OF HERE!"
The remaining Sages looked at him and in that brief moment of vulnerability, Solomon appeared behind Adderbolt.
He felt a chill piercing through his neck as the darkness reached for it.
Stonestein charged in and rammed Solomon with his shield, budging him a few inches away.
Stonestein then turned to his comrade with a nervous gritting of his teeth and shouted, "YOU HEARD HIM! GO!"
Adderbolt nodded with a shiver and then tried to run, only for Solomon to throw Stonestein off-balance and in his path using a shockwave of screaming darkness.
The man of darkness then continued his advance towards Adderbolt.
A sickle blade plunged through his neck.
Solomon stopped amused while facing Glade, his aggressor.
"Tch…!" The man remarked with little willpower to spare.
Solomon tilted his head and it felt like the darkness stretched out a smile behind his helmet.
He latched onto the chain and gave it a brief tug, pulling the Preying Mantis towards him.
Yet Solomon intercepted him mid-flight by stabbing his fingers up through his chest, and arched him overhead to drive him into the ground.
A small geyser of blood sprayed out of Glade's mouth and he gazed upon Solomon's blood red eyes.
Inside of him…was an infinitely deep well of 'poison'.
"M-Marvelous…" He whispered.
Solomon gathered darkness in his other hand and smashed it into Glade's skull, releasing a wailing geyser that eradicated every trace of his head.
And in the aftermath, as Solomon rose like a zombie from the grave, he took a whiff of the poison laced blood spilling out of the man's body.
And let out a long, penetrating sigh, that replaced the quiet in the room with the quivering cries of the rest.
"BDMP…! BDMP…!"
Marched the drums of his heart within the fragile ears of the other Sages.
Adderbolt bit his lower lip and tried to turn away towards the door, his feet like stiff concrete.
Stonestein rose and stood between Solomon and him, somehow, his courage prevailing over the unfeeling murderous intent in the room.
With little more than an acknowledging nod, Stonestein reached into his pocket and attached a rune to the back of his shield, releasing golden chains that bound Solomon up tightly.
Solomon reacted with a dull widening of his eyes.
Borealis filled his gauntlets with his aura, which swirled like miniature cosmos, complete with stars.
Then he fired a beam into Solomon's back, burning away at his armor.
Solomon's breathing grew heavier and angered.
He locked onto Adderbolt fleeing for the front door, his incredible speed brought down to a sluggish pace through his eyes.
His sight narrowed, consuming the person in black fog.
From Solomon's back emerged four spider-like appendages that made Borealis and Stonestein pause.
One appendage fired thick shadow webbing straight into Adderbolt's back and broke his spine in the moment of recoil.
Solomon then dragged him back and shoved him in the way of Borealis' attack.
Borealis stopped immediately but the pain had built up enough that Adderbolt's heart was pumping dangerously fast.
Solomon then stabbed another appendage through his back to force the heart out through his chest, where he proceeded to feed him it.
Then upon letting the body fall, the impact with the ground forced the heart down his throat to suffocate his last breaths.
Solomon then clenched his fists and his strength, in coordination with his appendages, tore the golden chains to bits.
He then appeared before Stonestein in a blink of an eye, his presence towering over him like the celestial titans of dark myths.
His hand was raised, then in two blinks, was bound up in highly pressurized water that was then flash frozen for extra security.
Nimus' blades then attempted to break through his defenses, only to be repeatedly swatted away by the autonomous appendages.
Borealis saw the other Sages standing beside him and uttered in fright, "Stop…you must live."
Torren remarked, "If we don't…fight! No one will live!"
Solomon broke free of the ice with little effort and turned around with a mighty swing of his arm, smashing apart a few of the support pillars and knocking down Torren, Carolina and Nimus.
Vermilion stood tall and ignited the blue flames around her body, charging the darkness headlong and repeatedly bashing her fists against his chest.
Everyone's eardrums rattled through a combination of the violent shockwaves coming off her fists and her screams.
"DIE! DIE! DIE! You're not taking me out that easily…BASTARD!"
Solomon stood unyielding to her might.
The glass ceiling began to crack above them.
Her pain was immense, but she successfully burned through his armor and was inches away from grabbing his heart.
But as she went for it, she suddenly felt nothing.
Her ferocity turned to panic and confusion until she took her arms out…with her hands having been shaved down to the wrist bones, smoke billowing off of them.
From there, she had nowhere left to sink but the deepest depths of fear.
"AAAAAAA-"
Solomon stuffed her esophagus with dark webbing and then hoisted her off the ground by the neck.
With the last sputters of fire going dim, she began to cry like a newborn child.
In those tears reflections, all she saw was Solaris.
Solomon then speared her through the skull with his hand and ripped out her spine.
Carolina flew erratically around him with a dire scream, whipping up a whirlwind of ice in a mad attempt to force the darkness still.
Solomon's eyes followed her and he stretched the spine out with both hands, stiffening it into a barbed spear.
He then flicked the spear haphazardly and the ice immediately came to a stop.
Carolina now lay impaled through the gut against the wall over Borealis' throne. The impact loosened her blindfold and revealed her true eyes.
She choked and gasped on the blood dripping out of her mouth, then forced one last smile out in Nimus and Torren's direction before her body went limp.
"C-Carol…?" Nimus shuddered.
Torren put her hands over her mouth and was losing the will to stand, her skin as pale as the full moon.
Yet still, Stonestein triumphed, charging Solomon headlong and toppling him in his moment of superiority.
Then he used his shield to pin him to the ground, where he used stored seismic energy to forge a crater that shoved his limbs against the sides.
Solomon started releasing loud, screaming bursts of darkness in rapid succession. A bubble expanded out of him that slowly pushed Stonestein off.
Torren thrust her hands out in rage and turned the ground below Solomon into a deep deluge.
Stonestein pulled away and Solomon was dragged hundreds of feet down in seconds, dealing with increasingly dangerous pressure that crunched down his armor against his body.
Torren was bleeding out of her nose, but held on for dear life because of the people she had to live for…
However, her shadow began to rise behind her.
And from it, shadow appendages skewered her all over from head to toe, freezing her body in a gasping state.
It then lifted her up and ripped all the pieces of her apart, tossing them across the room.
The waters were then filled with darkness and burst into a massive black geyser, through which Solomon rose, his metal confines creaking back into alignment.
He glared at Borealis, now paralyzed from the scent of his compatriot's blood filling the room more and more.
Only to again be combated by Stonestein, who grabbed him from behind and tore out his elbow tendons tossing him back.
Solomon slammed his feet into the ground and let the darkness roar from his body, cracking down on the structure of the palace.
He then rose with a burning glare towards Stonestein, who raised his shield to continue guarding Borealis.
Solomon began marching forward with fists clenched, trampling over the bodies in his path.
Nimus stood there, gritting his teeth, trying to maintain the cool-headed persona he had all these years.
"Hey, Borealis…While we're still making confessions, can I just say one last thing?"
Borealis stirred with a hint of surprise.
Nimus clicked his tongue and gathered all his blades to his side, "I reeeeeally never liked you."
He then dashed forward with passion at his back and fired off every single one of his blades at maximum velocity, penetrating Solomon with enough force at once to make him yield.
Nimus then kept flying towards the door, the way out was just within reach…
But the moment he thought about Sarajin, he laughed at himself and turned around, gesturing his hand at the darkness.
"Heh, it wouldn't be cool if I just ran away!"
As he prepared to call his blades back, Solomon reached out and summoned a black wind to tug Nimus towards him.
He then grabbed him by the face and lifted him up.
While continuing to march towards the final two Sages, Solomon expunged Nimus' blades with darkness and then controlled them on the black winds to impale through their master all at once.
Solomon then tossed him away, and as his vision faded Nimus let off one last smile and muttered, "...Shit."
And as his body fell to the ground, Solomon summoned darkness in both hands and all four appendages and aimed down his sights on Stonestein.
Stonestein raised his shield and Borealis reached out for his shoulder, pleading with a tone of tender heartbreak, "Please…not you too…"
Stonestein looked at him, then held his shield forward, marching upon the ceaseless darkness.
Solomon released a roaring cannon of energy that obliterated everything in its path.
Stonestein braced himself and held off the energy, which splashed and broke apart more of the palace.
The paint on his shield was quickly shredded away, and Stonestein felt his knees giving in.
He punched the back of the shield to transfer seismic force and gain even the slightest bit of advantage over the darkness.
He was actively making efforts against this seemingly endless onslaught.
The energy began to cascade around him, burning away at his armor and skin.
There was silence for Borealis, as he watched his friend look back at him.
With a couple tears and a smile, Stonestein whispered, "I have always…believed in you, my friend."
Then came a visceral sound to cut through the silence, as the spear of darkness and bone was brought down to penetrate Stonestein through the side of his head.
Borealis' heart shook with dread.
The darkness calmed down, and Solomon marched through its fading form.
Stonestein still stood tall, his eyes full of blood, and his head empty.
Solomon loomed over him, burning the cold emptiness in his eyes into the man's soul.
Then he took both hands and speared them through both shield and body. Lifting him up, and then pulling in both directions.
Effortlessly ripping him in half down to the tendons, the force of this execution sent pressure ripping through the palace, shattering the glass ceiling.
Solomon's armor then soaked in the blood, taking the deepest breath possible as the sounds of glass rained down around him.
"BDMP…! BDMP…!"
He then gestured a hand out like one would when offering a glass of wine to company, and finally…The darkness spoke.
"Isn't it wonderful…Borealis Aurora? The exquisite scent of fresh sanguine in the air…"
As the last shard of glass broke, Borealis found himself nearly falling to his knees in defeat, muttering to this heartless intruder, "You're a monster…"
"I am only what the world made me to be," Solomon replied with conviction, "That's right. Gaze upon my eyes and tremble, Lord of the Aurians, for I am the conclusion of this world's story…the be all, end all, of its many, MANY consequences."
Borealis could only hope he could force rationality out of this insane monster, "Why did you kill my brethren?"
"Why?" Solomon echoed with cold, amused laughter, "To finally bring an end to the voices that chained my heart in doubt, and confirm the meaning of my birth."
"Humanity is so…fickle. They jump between different wants and needs, thinking they can only live if they remain 'good', and in the process…continue to bring themselves greater pain."
"I was no different. I too, believed that I could only achieve satisfaction by appealing to the rest call…'humanity'."
"But I was only denying my purpose. And now, I can finally see…! My heart finally pounds with vigor…!"
"Killing, destroying, lording my superiority over others…! This is what I have always craved! THIS…IS WHAT DEFINES MY VERY EXISTENCE!"
He then raised his pointer finger at Borealis, "And there are none in this world who have stood in my way more than you, Borealis Aurora."
"Once I prove my superiority over you, I shall be completed…! No longer will I be bound to my weak, given name…! I will be born from the abyss as its new ruler…! The Dark King…the eternal, the everlasting, the SUPREME…!"
He then gestured his hands out towards the corpses resting around his feet, "I have removed any and all pests that could stand in our way. So there shall be nothing holding either of us back…"
Those barbed words stung Borealis in the heart.
His breathing began to slow and calm. He rose higher, glaring at this living darkness with growing scorn.
"Those are not plague-ridden beasts you condemn with your words, monster. They are brothers…and sisters alike…Who I am proud to have stood beside!"
"Ha ha ha…!" Solomon's eyes began to glow, "Many of them betrayed your trust, stabbed you in the back with steel and words. And yet…you would honor their memory?"
Borealis swung his right arm out, "I may have been betrayed…!"
And then his heart grew heavy, "But I was blind to begin with…"
"That's right. You were comfortable sitting upon your throne at the peak of arrogance and looking down," Solomon spoke in the echoes of his thoughts, before including a scathing addendum, "So how does that make you and I any different?"
Borealis thrust his posture out and tears flung from his eyes as he roared in defiance, "You only need to gaze upon my eyes to find your answer, heartless cur!"
"False tears fit your empty words, Borealis Aurora. If you had your way, you would have subjugated this entire world. Do NOT deny it."
"I do not…" Borealis murmured, "But the picture you paint of me lacks in depth and color. You see things only in wretched black, demanding that because our hearts bear similar shades, that I must stoop to your level."
"In my grief, I may have wanted to make the world yield. In my rage, my heart may have wanted to take a life…"
"To be tempted by the darkness in my heart, yet have the power to resist it…That is the true triumph of the human spirit, and a light that your darkness can never snuff out!"
"A fog clouded my eyes, and slowly…that man blew it away." Borealis closed his eyes to reflect within himself, so that when he thrust his eyes open again, it would no longer show hesitation.
"I refuse to let myself be blind any longer!" He roared, clenching his fists at his sides, "All these years wasted harboring grudges towards one another for petty, selfish reasons has allowed an evil like you to grow beneath our feet!"
Solomon's eyes widened, and he laughed with sardonic glee, "That's right…! Borealis the All-Knowing…Gaze upon me and understand what I truly am…!"
Borealis pointed his brows downward and scoffed, "You are nothing but a hedonistic beast, thriving on the misery of others…! And a coward…who let himself succumb to the call of darkness!"
"Wrong. I answered it. This is my purpose…this is my DESTINY…! And you…" Solomon's darkness erupted out of his body and sent screams to suffocate the air, "Shall be crushed under the first step I take towards it…"
Borealis' eyes widened and the screams were silenced by his own aura erupting to fill the entire palace.
It was pure magnificence, a distilling of the entire cosmos brought down to human comprehension.
"Then come," Borealis bellowed with a calm, determined tone, "For my home…for my brothers and sisters alike, and for the peace of this entire world…I SHALL TAKE YOUR HEAD!"
Chapter 0: Roar of the Crestfallen Saint
Next Time: In Memory Of…