Chapter 158 - Rage and Resolve
(Play Drakenguard 2 OST - Growing Wings)
Lost.
Loneliness.
Despair.
Coldness.
Nico felt all of these emotions and more, in great quantity as he just kneeled there in the middle of a grave filled with a species who bore a cruel, unjust fate. He could feel the winds blowing in sorrow of their passing, of the injustice which had befallen him. The place hardly had any of its beautiful luster anymore, not in his eyes anyways. His hands, frozen in place where they had once held He Lin's corpse after it had eventually disappeared thanks to the Spell he had cast wearing off. His eyes looked blank, like two dark voids as he stared at seemingly nothing, though if anyone were to ask him, Nico would not have answered the question of what he had REALLY saw for all this time.
After all, all he saw were phantom images, hallucinations of the Village as when he had seen it the first time. He hallucinated the Elves going about their merry lives, happy and content with their lifestyle even if it had been one brought about by a cruel fate. A fate of being powerless, unable to stand up to their oppressors and thus being forced to hide. He hallucinated the areas where he met various members of their race, hearing phantom echoes of their laughter and their cheery smiles. He saw the children playing with each other, laughing happily under the watchful eyes of their loving parents. Of teenage girls simply gossiping and giggling, making jewellery out of the wilderness for their friends. Possibly even love interests, if they had them.
Those hallucinations served to bring back the feelings that Nico had experienced with those Nature Elves, of all the mix between joy and confusion, delight yet bafflement, and tranquillity mixed with anxiety. Oh, how he remembered just being cautious around them at first, of how he saw them as potential threats in the beginning. Threats which hadn't ben his priority to kill since he had decided thanks to Biko to get information out of them first. It had been why he had come here after all, aside from bringing He Lin back to his home after almost eating him. A harrowing experience which Nico would not be forgetting easily. But, after that talk with Qing Ye, he couldn't help but become more confused, lost ad unsure what to do all the while experiencing the ways that the Nature Elves lived. He got exposed to their happiness, their purity... something which they could not have hid one bit if they tried. They had been so unlike what he had known that Nico didn't know how to properly act around them. If this had been any other Spec Ops, they would have had no qualms with burning this place themselves.
Then, the phantom imagery shifted. The phantom trees and houses became massive of fire, burning with the cruel, maniacal laughter of the Mercenaries which had came. Mercenaries whom Nico could have stopped if he had known they would come. The once happy faces the Nature Elves had turned into ones of fear, despair, rage and resentment as they struggled to defend themselves against an impossible opponent. He saw the images fall, with the Mercenaries slaughtering the males with ruthless, brutal efficiency, their corpses desecrated without care by their wretched killers, unable to protect their homes thus dying without being able to rest in piece. Things only got worse from there, as the females were treated as nothing more than perverted playthings, tools to satisfy their carnal desires. He could hear their shrieks and cries of pain, mixed with some moaning, as they were deflowered and killed without any kind of mercy.
And He Lin had called him a SAVIOR... no, Nico felt like that word would hardly be fit to describe him, after what he had done. He could only despise that name all the more.
All in all, Nico could only see this vision through his own mind, repeating itself over and over as if to constantly hammer home the cruelty and injustice which had happened here.
Injustice he could have prevented...
But he hadn't.
After what had felt like an eternity, Nico slowly looked down, noticing for the first time that He Lin's body no longer rested on his lap. His hands simply remained where they had been when He Lin HAD been there, almost trying to reach out to something which was no longer there. As such, when Nico finally saw the reality that he had gone, his hands fell onto his lap, almost like a lover when she gave up on their significant other coming back. Looking down at his lap, Nico remembered something He Lin had told him... something about his last request to him regarding his body.
To eat him.
He Lin had OFFERED his body to Nico, to let him eat his corpse after he had passed on. Just… as he thought about it, when the hell did anyone just, offer their body to another like that? Nico tried to think of one such instance, but he could hardly come up with one. This might be one of the first ever times someone actually WILLINGLY offered to be eaten by a Ghoul, to said Ghoul. Blood was literally like the very 'essence' of life itself, the vehicle which carried the very souls of the bodies they inhabited for a set number of years. To take the blood of another, well, some say it was not unlike taking another soul into themselves. That was why that, according to some cultures, it was accepted that there was a HUGE difference between OFFERING one's own blood to just TAKING it by force. Nico himself had taken countless lives, he had devoured so many in his existence, both human and non-human alike. Because of this, Nico had found himself used to the idea of taking their flesh for his own nourishment. Never, not even in his wildest dreams, had he thought that he'd encounter someone who would willing offer their bodies to him like He Lin had… it just didn't happen, it was against the very laws that he understood. Though, considering his past few experiences, perhaps not having any expectations at all would help him stop being surprised by all of this…
As such, those thoughts served to finally snap him out of his stupor, breaking the hallucination and allow his fists to be clenched together. He clenched them tight, hearing the sound of the leather when it encountered such a force grinding on it, but Nico paid it no heed. 'Sorry He Lin... but I cannot comply with that request of yours...' the teen thought to himself. Not only because the corpse was no longer there to be eaten, and if any Ghoul stumbled across it, he'd rip that Ghoul to pieces before they could even TRY to devour He Lin like that. But also because, well, it wouldn't sit right with him, eating the corpse of a dead child. For once, his species didn't matter to him anymore, all Nico could see was a young boy whenever he imagined He Lin's corpse.
Just the THOUGHT of someone devouring He Lin like that, after his final moments, sent numerous waves of hatred and malicious wrath through his system. He was a demon, and also a Ghoul, but Nico would be damned if he allowed himself to devour the corpse of a child. Even more so if he knew that child, it just didn't agree with him or his own pride, and he'd feel like an absolute shithead for the rest of his life if he had. Not only that, but if he did, then he'd be no better than the many assholes whom he had put down, a lot of them being Cannibals. Some of them had even been Ghouls who targeted young kids specifically, which had earned them much more of Nico's Ire. As a result, the redhead took GREAT pleasure in ripping them to shreds, so he felt like he'd be contradicting himself should he have devoured He Lin's corpse like that. Instead, he decided to bury him with his people, allowing his body to return to the earth. If he could, Nico would have took out the Nature Spirit Core from his body as well, but at that point it had already merged with him, so that had been impossible.
Was this... was this what HE had been talking about back then?
Nico wasn't sure anymore, hell he didn't even know what to think at this point. This guilt and despair within him felt so suffocating, so consuming that he couldn't think straight. He could feel the presence of the Nature Spirit Core within him, so he knew that it had worked. Slowly raising a hand, Nico gently touched his chest, where his heart would have been and where he could feel the presence of the Core the most. This core... he would forever see it as a reminder, a reminder of what had happened here. Of the tragedy falling onto a race of creatures who didn't deserve it, not one bit. It would also remind him of his failure... and the lesson that he had finally begun to learn: that it wasn't right to kill by one's race, but by their actions.
Slowly standing up, Nico turned on his heel and walked out of the grave site in his eyes, he couldn't stay here any longer, if he did then Nico felt like he would lose his mind to the despair crawling through his system.
(OST - END)
After finally leaving, did he start looking into what had happened to his body thanks to He Lin's core merging with his own, no matter how he felt about it.
This Royal Nature Spirit Core ad been way more potent than Nico had initially thought, when Qing Ye had told him it would award him additional powers, she had not been kidding. This had been where his senses had told him the resistances to the elements came from, the Royal Nature Spirit Core pretty much inserted the blood of a Nature Elf into him as if it were a Nature Elf itself. This blood merged with his own, which allowed it to spread into his Ghoul side as well. As a result, Nico's body found itself forming an EXTREMELY high resistance to the elements, as well as impervious to all ailments instead of just fire and poison. He could bet that only the purely strongest of elements would stand a chance of injuring him at this point, if he had this when fighting the four beasts then he'd have had a WAY easier time with its toxins. Even so, he could still feel like whatever damage to his lifespan, something which would have happened thanks to that soul poison and soul attack he had somewhat survived, had been healed instantly, his lifespan now filled with 50,000 years worth of vitality.
Though, that had been NOTHING when compared to the benefits given to him by the Nature Spirit Core upon it fully merging with his body. Not only did it indeed ensure all that resistance he had gained became powerful immunity, Nico also found within himself the ability to infuse these immunities into his blood, allowing him to potentially be able to transfer them to other people. Though, he mentally made sure to adhere to the warning He Lin had gave him in that they would only be able to become immune to one element at most, as he didn't feel like learning the consequences of going against this specific rule. Aside from that, he also felt something akin to… well, information, being stored within the back of his mind upon it's merging, information which, from what little he could dig up with his senses, to be regarding the 'elemental affinities' which He Lin had spoke of. According to him, Nico had three different elements he had an affinity for, one of them being fire. Nico didn't know the other two, but he DID have an idea as to what they COULD be…
Still, the circumstances which he got these new upgrades made them feel more bittersweet than anything.
These abilities… they came with the price of stepping over what could be amounted to a literal genocide, so many had to pay the ultimate price for him to even have the opportunity to GAIN these abilities. If the Nature Elves hadn't been in such a situation, then Nico would have never had the chance to gain such potent powers in the first place, hell he doubted that he would have even wanted to when he had learned of their kindness and purity. Traits within them so powerful that they didn't even fear his Ghoul side when they discovered it, in fact they just innocently played with his Rinkaku and even commented positively about his Kakugan. They pretty much had similar reactions to the members of the party Nico had traveled with, bonus points for the Nature Elves there. Still… they pretty much got annihilated, just for these powers by those Mercenaries… just how the hell can anybody call this fair?
That was the thought which floated constantly through his mind whilst Nico trudged through the streets, his hood up to cover his features whilst his coat had been fastened together, resulting in him moving more like a figure used to moving in the shadows, an assassin, through the common populace. It was an early morning at this point, but there were still a few early risers coming about. Honestly, thanks to the merging of the Core, Nico felt like he could pull multiple all-nighters at this point, not to mention that even if he didn't, the redhead doubted that he'd rest easy knowing what had happened to those innocent creatures. People whom had done no wrong, yet got axed off regardless… Was this the only time it had happened? Or had there been other races which had suffered wrongly by their hands during their mentality of 'they're Abnormals, they're the enemy and thus, they deserve to die'. Thinking more about it, Nico became convinced that this may have indeed been the case, and it disgusted him, it made him feel like an utter wretch. How many innocents had he really killed? How many more would have to die? Those questions hit him hard and fast, but never got answered.
"Did you hear, it seems the Abyssal Black Swords recently made a move..."
The sound of a couple Agents talking to each other filled Nico's ears, prompting him to pause mid stride when he heard that it was about the same group of Agents whose members Nico had killed in an act of hatred and wrath not too long ago. Judging from their appearances, Nico suspected these Agents to have been around for quite some times, so they likely had some experience under their belts as well as no small amount of combat prowess to have survived this long. Not to mention that they were sitting in the outside section of a café, whilst Nico stood on the opposite side which had been separated by a fence with a small line of bushes. Enough for him to remain unseen by the two Agents, who would have no clue that Nico was eavesdropping on them. What he heard though, nearly changed things for both sides…
"Yeah, I heard they had eradicated an entire village of Abnormals recently, though they didn't get many spoils…"
"Really? Aw, fuck man. Abnormals usually sell for a lot, especially their materials. We could have used them to further our war efforts."
"Meh, good riddance regardless, I say. It just means they did their jobs and butchered the ruthless bastards like the dogs that they are. They deserve it in my eyes, and I doubt I'm alone in my opinion."
"What were they called? I can't remember, there's just too many of their stench in this world for my taste, they should all just die already…"
"Doesn't matter, they're all dead anyways, no use in questioning things now. Lets just move on and continue ripping those fuckers to shreds on our next mission. Maybe we can have some fun on the side, if you know what I mean."
Both the Agents conversed naturally, completely unaware that they were being eavesdropped on whilst commending the Abyssal Black Swords for their 'latest mission' whilst condemning the Nature Elves. All the while, Nico's features, hidden by the darkness of his hood, became increasingly furious with what he had heard. His teeth gnashed together, his eyes flashing crimson whilst his inner Ghoul screeched and raged. He felt his Demonic Power reacting to his emotions, reflecting his own rage whilst the Red Rage Ring and Green Hatred Ring enhanced those feelings. His hands clutched into fists so tightly that they actually DID bleed whilst Nico wrestled with the urge to go over there and utterly rip those assholes a new one. Mostly due to the fact that, unlike him, they had never seen an Abnormal which didn't deviate from the norm. They didn't have the same experiences he had, nor would they have the same feelings towards this that Nico had. It just wouldn't have been possible unless they witnessed everything themselves, that was what his rationality told him.
Still didn't mean that he liked it, as Nico hurriedly left the area he was in to avoid losing it and attracting unwanted attention.
By the time that the evening appeared, Nico felt more exhausted in the mind than he had let in a long goddamn time.
The reason? Throughout the entire day, he had wrestled with not only his own complicated thoughts on this current matter, but also had to restrain himself from ripping into people who called the Abyssal Black Swords 'heroes' for 'defeating an Abnormal threat' that supposedly would have been 'too dangerous to do anything else otherwise'. From the Spec Ops Agents, the Guild Agents, adventurers, even the civilians within the whole of Leanbox. In fact, if the other residents of Gamindustri had heard of it, Nico would not have been surprised if they had similar reactions. Either disinterest or a lack of care about what had happened to the Nature Elves. All that bullshit had been fed to him whenever he listened in on the populace, it was almost like they had nothing else to talk about other than those damned Spec Ops Agents. There, that was something he'd never thought he'd say…
It all got worse when he realized that they weren't even wrong to say all these things.
Since, in their eyes, they WERE the heroes.
They WERE the ones who supposedly 'helped' by killing a large amount of Abnormals.
They DIDN'T get much out of it, which simply raised their reputation a little in the eyes of the public.
Instead of being condemned for causing the genocide of innocents, they were being PRAISED for it.
Through it all, he couldn't have reacted to them if he tried. Nico could hardly contain his disdain and loathing for those damned Mercenaries now… along with the majority of the civilian population. His hatred, his wrath and desire for retribution. Yet, to be unable to VOICE these feelings to anyone, resulted in his frustration being taken out on himself, something he honestly found was quite the common occurrence since he had begun his life as a Spec Ops Agent... though, as he thought about it, he wondered if it had taken place even before then? Nevertheless, the fact that this was the reality that he had found himself witnessing, the fact that he now had to open his eyes to the truth that people have been showing him, it... it really put things into perspective. It almost made him lose himself to his inner turmoil, which wouldn't have been good cause at that point, combined with all the negative emotions Nico had been feeling both around him as well as within his soul... it had caused him to quickly leave the Capital lest he explode and destroy the whole damn place. It had been WELL within his power to do so, and it had been OH so tempting to just 'let go' like how he had so desperately WANTED to...
But, Nico didn't, he didn't want to kill off the entire capital for it would negatively impact Leanbox's CPU, Vert, not to mention that he detected her presence in the Capital, so if he DID destroy it, he'd likely have destroyed her as well...
Not something which he would have allowed, either.
As a result...
The current Nico right now, simply sat on top of a tall peak on MS Mountain, far, far from Leanbox's capital. The peak had overlooked a vast space below, easily hundreds of meters as far as the eye could see. Because the day had been slowly turned to night, the male could see the sun setting in the distance, and when he did... Nico couldn't help but feel like the darkness of the night had perfectly symbolized with his current feelings. Thanks to his choice of location however, Nico knew that there would be a sizable monster presence at MS Mountain. Any Monster which had fled Halo Mountain when shit went down would have come here, mingling and mixing together with the monsters here. With his current mood, though, he constantly radiated a powerful, DEADLY demonic aura, coupled with the fact that his Ghoulish RC Cells had begun circulating through him meant that NOTHING would be coming within a hundred foot radius of his position. Thus, he would be free to do whatever he wished... which right now, was to watch the sunset and try to calm down...
Which was failing epically, as he clutched his teeth and slammed his fist into the peak beside him. Almost breaking it had he not mitigated his strength at the last second. "Damnit!" Nico shouted out into the heavens, pretty much scaring any beast below his level of power away from his position... if there were any, though. "Shit, shit, shit! Fucking hell!" The teen ranted on and on to himself, with nobody being the wiser as his pent up emotions exploded within his chest, causing them to erupt out of him followed with waves upon waves of demonic power. Thinking back on it, this situation with the Nature Elves reminded him of the water trial, how he had been so quick to judge the Fishmen as enemies only to be rebuked by that guy. The look of rage on his face back then... Nico felt like he himself was mirroring that guy's expression right now. The Abyssal Black Swords were what he had been, and now he found himself in that guy's shoes back in the water trial. Comparing the two incidents, Nico reflected on his actions during that trial (as well as everything else regarding Abnormals), and growled in self-loathing.
"Why?! Why the fuck?! Shit, Goddamnit, those fuckers just HAVE to be praised as heroes, don't they?! Hah, don't make me laugh, they're nothing but scumbags who mass exterminated a race who did nothing wrong! Fuck, just hearing their names makes me want to vomit!" Nico raged, his waves of demonic power increasing in quantity and quality over time. "Why?! Why did it have to be that way?! Why the fuck did those people have to die like that?! Won't anyone do anything about this?!"
'Nico... you already know the answer to that question... and all the others.'
'Biko...'
'It is unfortunate, but this is the way of the world. You have said it many times yourself, the strong survive and the weak die. That is the way this world works, and yet whilst you have seen many harsh examples of this truth... this particular incident hit you the hardest due to how it was so closely connected to you. You couldn't help but see yourself and your comrades within them, thus you grew fond of them despite knowing that they could die very easily. As a result, you are going through this internal turmoil because of your quick connection to them. Power is great, it is capable of ensuring one's safety, but unfortunately people also rely on their connections to survive. It is an underhanded, dirty method which keeps the user's hands clean whilst others do all the legwork, but it is another form of skill nonetheless. Odds are, those connections were used to bring about the Nature Elves destruction, and by who I think you know...'
Biko's voice trailed off at the end, but he didn't need to say any more, for Nico had already figure out who the grand mastermind behind this plot had been. His eyes narrowed intensely as Nico gritted his teeth and clutched his fists over his lap. 'Yeah... There are several factors, but I believe that someone connected to Count Mott is the cause of this. For one, the Abyssal Black Swords are sponsored by that guy, records in the Spec Ops Archives show this alongside some personal dealings between the two. It can be safe to assume that those two are close associates of each other, as they hardly deal with other Nobles nearly as much as that Count. Not only that, but they would have gotten the information from the only servant of his who had been at the Auction where I had found He Lin, and that HAD to be Gelmudo. That implies that somehow, that man followed me and He Lin when I rode us back to his village, but how that could have been remains a mystery. Not even Urthemiel had noticed him, which speaks volumes about his ability to hide himself.' At that point, a bittersweet chuckle escaped his lips, his eyes dancing with mirthless amusement as he thought of something. 'Heh, its kind of fitting, isn't it? Count Mott's quite stealthy in the political world, manipulative too, so his servants would obviously have those traits too...'
'Indeed... and because of his actions, not only are the Nature Elves gone, but because of their natures the Abyssal Black Swords which are full of bastards who deserve to die, they are being hailed as heroes for exterminating a great threat. The populace has no care for those they consider monsters... something you yourself should know all too well, Nico. Its why your Ghoul side has become such a classified secret that the Higher ups guard so zealously. What we've seen right now... it is nothing more than another example of how utterly disgusting, ugly and wretched this world called Gamindustri truly is.'
Yeah, wasn't that the truth? Nico understood this truth, or rather, he had thought he did before. He had seen a LOT of fucked up shit in his life, so much so that he had thought he'd gotten used to how utterly sick and twisted the human heart could be. Murderers? Psychopaths? Deranged lunatics? Nico had seen pretty much every crime imaginable, not to mention no small amount of unspeakable horrors committed by humanity, so him having this thought process couldn't be considered arrogance. However, this incident? It had went and proven him wrong yet again. It showed him how there were practically zero lengths that humans weren't willing to go to eradicate what they perceive as 'evil' as long as it existed.
Yet... even so... He still couldn't help but feel like something had to be done. Something had to be done against those damned Mercenaries, and it had to be done as SOON as possible. Thinking about how they were reaping their so-called 'glory' for 'killing a bunch of dangerous animals' made Nico feel sick and furious at the same time. They didn't deserve such praise, they didn't deserve to be recognized as damned HEROES! No, not in his eyes! They slaughtered innocents who hadn't done anything wrong, they had ruthlessly butchered, raped and caused an entire species to commit suicide! They freaking FORCED a young CHILD to die in order to be with his people! Yeah, something had to be done, but what?! What could be done in order to fix this?! Nobody would believe him if he spread the word about the Nature Elves not being like other Abnormals, their expectations had been too solid. Not to mention that he didn't believe in any of those people anyways, if they could have the audacity to ignore what those Mercenaries have done just because they had done some 'heroic' deed, then they weren't worth Nico's time. But still, something had to be done, but what?
'OH, YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT, KING!'
All of a sudden, Nico's thoughts halted as he gasped, all the while his consciousness got pulled inside himself, resulting in his vision growing black...
Blinking his eyes open, Nico found himself once again within his Inner World, standing in the middle of the expansive desert with next to nothing in sight. However, There was something different about it this time, something Nico clearly saw when he looked around. The whole landscape looked off, with chaotic storms covering the skies above. Thunder and Lightning danced through them like thousands of soldiers racing into battle, with the clouds making up these storms mimicking what he had seen during his time in the Khornate Demon World of Bulwark. It was almost like an exact replica, something which he honestly felt kind of fit his current emotional state right now. Not only that though, but there were countless Tornados, Cyclones, and other chaotic natural disasters scattered throughout the desert, with thousands of furious roars filling the air all around him.
"This is..."
"YA FINALLY HERE, YA IDIOT KING!"
Turning to the source of the voice, Nico saw to his surprise, his own Ghoul Persona standing before him... alongside Biko as well as the childish version of himself. They stood there, together, and were giving him looks, looks as if they were expecting something from the redhead, although he didn't exactly know what that something would be. Well, it felt more like Biko and his child self were giving those looks, it was his Ghoul Persona which looked at him like he was one big idiot, though then again what's new with that front? Though, there was no Okada in sight, probably doing his own thing or watching these proceedings with a bit of popcorn. Either that, or flirting with Erebus, whose to say? "You three...!"
"YOU REALLY ARE AN IDIOT KING, SO I'M GOING TO BE NICE AND SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU: SO WHAT IF THE NATURE ELVES HAVE BEEN AXED OFF, WHO CARES? ITS OT LIKE ITS THE FIRST TIME PEOPLE YOU'VE GROWN FOND OF HAVE BIT THE DUST EARLY IT HAPPENS ALL THE DAMN TIME! HELL, THE CREDIT OF SUCH THINGS WOULDN'T GO TO YOU, BUT T SOMEONE ELSE, NOT LIKE THAT'S NEW EITHER, IT HAS HAPPENED SO OFTEN THAT YOU'RE USED TO IT ALREADY, WHY CHANEGE NOW? WHO CARES, YOU SHOULD BE USED TO IT BY NOW, THOSE NATURE ELVES WERE WEAK ANYWAYS, YOU SAID SO YOURSELF, SO WHATS ALL THIS FUSS ABOUT REALLY? IT DOESN'T TAKE A GENIUS TO SEE YOU'RE OVERTHINKING THINGS WHEN THE RESPONSE TO THIS IS FUCKING SIMPLE! JUST DO WHAT YOU DO BEST, YA GODDAMN WIMP!"
Hearing his Ghoul Persona say those words ignited an additional fury inside Nico's heart, a fury born from outrage more than just long-term rage like he had felt before. He simply couldn't believe the audacity that this version of him had, saying all that shit. How dare he! This asshole sure as hell had a lot of gall to do that, but as Nico made to say something back to his Ghoul Persona... something about his words suddenly pulsed inside his mind, giving him pause.
All of a sudden, the male detected something amiss here, something about what the Ghoul Persona he had said bothered the redhead, and not in any small quantities either. 'Wait a minute... there's a few things off there: one, why the hell did he just refer to them as Nature Elves, their real names? From my past experiences, he never does that to anyone else, not my comrades, not even my mom. If anything, he merely refers to people aside from myself using degrading nouns like weaklings or cockroaches. There's been no small amount of profanity being thrown at those people too, by this guy's hand... Second, it almost feels like he wants me to do something...' After a moment of thinking, just as he felt his brain about to collapse from the confusion...
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… SNAP!
...Oh.
Oh!
OH!
All of a sudden, Nico found something clicking in his mind, like a string which had been binding him had been sliced apart allowing him to think on a whole NEW thought process. That thought process, allowed Nico to reach a whole NEW conclusion, one in which he couldn't help but smirk a little towards his Ghoul Persona. "Ahhhh, I see... so, you really DO have a heart under all that madness, eh?" He responded, a teasing glint in his eyes.
Something which caused his Ghoul Persona to glare at him.
"WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, YOU USELESS KING?!"
"Its honestly quite intriguing. The fact that we encountered people who accepted the fact that we were part of the existence known as a One-Eyed Ghoul, not even caring about the possibility of being devoured. They merely asked us about it, talked to us, and actually complimented it a few times, which was rare enough for you to take noticed. Enough for you to stop degrading them with those alternative names and actually SPEAK their racial name instead." Nico replied, his smirk slowly widening bit by bit with every word he had said. "Why, I bet that you can remember the faces of each Nature Elf by name now, can't you? Looks like I wasn't the ONLY one who was affected by their purity."
Nico's words serve to put the Ghoulish Personification to silence, as if he refused to answer in favour of just glaring heatedly towards him. Nico however, noticed that there was a lack of edge to that glare though, especially when compared to their previous talks, something which Biko (whom had remained silent through all of this) also noticed. For a moment, the white version of him began to tremble, seemingly about to explode...
After over what felt like 50 hours worth of profanity (which also involved confirming Nico and Biko's hunches) later...
A sigh escaped the redheads' lips whilst he crossed his arms beneath his chest. "But anyways, in all seriousness, what you say isn't exactly false. If anything, its pretty much the truth in its bluntest form. This is simply one of those times when the weak were dominated by the strong and made their bitches, something which we've all seen many times before. Therefore, we shouldn't be so worked up about it..." he began, keeping his cool and his tone level, until the end when he trailed off. This lasted for... about approximately 4 seconds, before everything began to crack. Before the other Personas knew it, his cool and collected demeanour shattered like glass, exposing the infernal rage burning within as he opened his eyes, his anger-fuelled emotions shining forth from within. "But still, it doesn't change the way I freaking feel about it! Those assholes are NOT going to get away with this! Nuh uh! No way!" he yelled, shaking his head furiously.
"UGH, GODDAMNIT, ALRIGHT FINE I'LL FUCKING SPELL IT OUT FOR YOU!"
At hearing that, the fuse within the Ghoul Persona exploded, causing him to yell that outburst out in a fit of frustration, catching both Nico AND Biko off guard.
"YOU AND I BOTH KNOW NOBODY'S GONNA GIVE A FLYING FUCK ABOUT WHAT YOU WANT TO SAY! THEY'RE JUST TOO STUPID TO REALIZE THAT THEY'RE BEING PLAYED BY THOSE PANSIES WITHIN THAT STUPID MERC GROUP! THE GUYS HAVE THEIR PENISES UNDER HOSTAGE, AND THE GIRLS WITH THEIR VAGINAS! OUR OPINION WILL NOT BE HEARD BY THOSE FUCKERS, YOU ALREADY KNOW THE EFFING REASON WHY! IN THAT CASE, THERE'S ONLY ONE COURSE OF ACTION WE SHOULD TAKE! YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN, SO STOP DILLYDALLYING, MAN UP AND FIGURE IT OUT ALREADY! OTHERWISE I'LL POUND IT INTO YOUR THICK-AS-HELL SKULL UNTIL THAT NOGGIN O'YOURS FINALLY FIGURES IT OUT!"
Hearing those words ringing though the atmosphere, Nico found himself dumbfounded, creating a tense silence in the area. For a moment, Nico remained blank, unresponsive as he tried to think of what his Ghoul Persona was trying to say exactly. Its not like he was being very direct about it, preferring that Nico figure it out himself. Plus, like he had once said, this guy was the manifestation of his instincts, so thinking logically wasn't really his forte. That would be more on his and Biko's specialty, although right now the male wondered about that claim as he struggled to figure out the meaning to his words.
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Wait, instinct? All of a sudden, a sense of curiosity overcame him as, once again, a new thought process happened in his mind. His Ghoul Persona came from his instincts, and his instincts came from countless battles, hatred, wrath and other negative emotions. They told him to kill, butcher, maim and slaughter everything that threatened him or his comrades. Thinking along those lines, he mentally placed himself in his Ghoul Persona's shoes, looking at the recent events from his own perspective... and then it happened.
An answer dawned on him, causing Nico to go wide-eyed from the revelation, whilst his mouth opened without his consent. Slowly, his mouth began to move as the words got uttered from within, almost like the faintest of whispers. All the while, his eyes looked like the sunrise was beginning to happen within them as alook of realization dawned on him. "... You mean, me...?"
Did this guy mean what Nico thought he meant?
That he should...
"AHHHHHHH, FINA-FUCKING-LY! NOW THE KING GETS IT! YES, YES-YES-YES, THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! WAS ABOUT TO BUST A MIGRAINE OVER HERE TRYING TO GET YOUR USELESS ASS INTO GEAR, GLAD WE'RE GETTING SOMEWHERE ALREADY! YES, THAT'S THE THING I WAS TELLING YOU: GO DEAL WITH THOSE FUCKERS YOURSELF! IF NOBODY ELSE IS GOING TO DO IT DUE TO BING TOO WIMPY, THEN WHY DON'T YOU DAMNED DO IT?! YOU HAVE THE MEANS, YOU KNOW WHERE THEY ARE THANKS TO THOSE SHIT HEADS YOU ATE, YOU HAVE THE POWERS TO DO SO, WHAT'S STOPPING YOU? OH THAT'S RIGHT, YOUR OWN PANSINESS!"
The moment that Nico showed that he was finally beginning to understand where this was going, his Ghoul Persona looked like he had been about to bust a nut from the relief and joy. He even went on a tangent, erupting into a mass of words which flew out of his mouth alongside some bits of saliva, yet those words resonated deeply within the young redhead. The more he thought about it, the more Nico began to realize the truth behind those words, if there really was nobody that would stand up to this injustice, and there surely wasn't, then why not do it himself? He had the knowledge from those memories recorded into his mind, so he could just dig up the information and find out where their camps were, so there wasn't anything to really stop him. Heck, he didn't even have to worry about his superiors anymore, not with how they didn't have a hold over him anymore (not like they even knew that just yet), so in essence... he had found himself in a position he had NEVER expected to find himself in a million years:
Free, unrestrained, and ready to WRECK UTTER HAVOC.
'Yes... yes, this would be excellent...' Nico thought to himself, this idea bringing up a whole new set of thoughts into his mind. Rebellious thoughts, which did not stop even if he wanted them to. 'Since nobody's willing to put down the 'real' assholes in this situation, I wouldn't mind doing it myself. Hell, if I'm completely honest, all that politics crap isn't my style anyways. There's no way that I'd ever be a capable politician, but there's no need for me to. All I have to do in this world, is... to kill.' the teen realized, raising a hand to his chest and pressing it down where the spot he could feel the essence of the Nature Spirit Core was located. Memories of his time with He Lin and the Nature Elves, as well as what he had learned in the Trials, resurfaced in his memory, only adding fuel to the fire.
Then, at that moment, Nico recalled the words He Lin had whispered for his alternative wish for him should he decide not to eat his corpse:
Make them pay.
It didn't take a genius to figure out what the young dead child had meant when he'd requested that, any who didn't figure it out would be labelled as idiots compared to the rest of them. He Lin had been a good kid, a kind and honest kid with a nice heart. However, back then when he had been at death's door, Nico couldn't even begin to imagine what he must have been feeling deep inside. Pain, regret, anger and frustration hardly did those feelings justice to him, since he would never get the chance to avenge his people, a right which definitely belonged to him. Heck, if he were alive Nico would have GLADLY helped him out there, but instead he hadn't been able to do so due to lacking the strength to achieve said goal. So, he had done the next best thing: empower the one who had the power to do so, and then make the request...
Nico wouldn't lie, when he had heard those words, he swore he had started hallucinating as He Lin's visage in his mind turned into something else, something he didn't quite recognize completely, but he did notice a few things: a humanoid shape lying on some metal floor, blood everywhere, staining some sort of hair in its taint, and lastly a feeling of both helplessness and fury mixed together with sorrow, anguish and frustration... just like how he had felt at the moment.
At that point, something within Nico SNAPPED.
His eyes then sharpened, a spark of flame igniting within Nico's light blue orbs. 'But, this time... I'll do it not because I'm told to, but because I WANT to. I want to kill their entire mercenary corp, I WANT to utterly OBLITERATE them from existence. This is.. For the first time in years... I get to choose, and goddamn it am I going to DO it! I'll not let them cut my resolve, I'll protect who I want to protect, I'll kill any who I want to kill, i'll be my OWN master for goddamn once! If they are near any Demon-controlled areas, I'll simply destroy them too. I honestly don't give a crap about the political situations in Nations, all I care about are myself and my comrades... everything else is secondary to me.'
Yes... that was the way he wanted to live from now on.
THIS would be how he would define his future choices.
This would be how he would hold his head up high and live without regrets.
If Nico wanted to do something, then he'd damn well do it, to hell with what any of those assholes thought about him. Its not like everyone will suddenly start liking him, so why should he cater to their whims? They try to harm his precious comrades, or goddess forbid his mom, then the edges of his blades will be the LEAST of their worries. He'll put in 110% into everything he wanted to do, to hell with what people thought of him! Yvoire? Pft, didn't matter to him anymore, he didn't need to justify himself to that man. He already had been developing plans for him, and if he refused to listen again, then tough Nico would just have to go about it his own way.
The fact of the matter was, that up till this point Nico had been living according to the whims of others. He had been the dog of the higher ups in each nation for something which had been out of his control for a long time, years even. But, what kind of life was that? No way was it one worth living, that was for certain in his mind. If one treated him with respect, then he'd do the same, someone badmouth him, then he'd tear them a new one. And if someone, ANYONE, dared to mess with those whom he considered comrades... then nobody would EVER find their bodies. Yes, these would be his principles, his OWN ones. They would be his ways of living and his PRIDE.
Everyone would die sometime. but one's own beliefs were the essence of immortality! As long one adhered to their beliefs, then they would never truly die! They'd exist on for eternity!
Thoughts like those filled his mind, and he felt something inside of him begin to change... to shift, reform and harden. He felt like the chains which had bound him to those who had oppressed him finally get severed... permanently this time. The beast in him? It roared and howled with victorious joy, shooting up from its former prison and through his very soul... and Nico gladly let it.
One could start calling him an edge lord right now, cause his thought process DEFINITELY began to align in that direction... well, if anyone brought it up he'd just have to own it.
Looking back to his Ghoul Persona, Nico's hardened gaze focused on him resulting in a surprised look from the white copy. "Alright then... looks like NICO has some killing to do." he stated, his lips twisting upwards into a smirk. A smirk which would NOT be unbefitting of a demon, were it not for the fact that he even added a monstrous quality to it, resulting in an expression which just SCREAMED sinister, promising no small amounts of pain in the future.
Though, if he were honest, his Ghoul Persona couldn't be any happier as he perfectly mimicked that expression.
"HEHEHEHEHEHE... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YES! FINALLY, YA GET IT, KING! FINALLY, YA LOOK LIKE SOMEONE WORTHY TO SIT ON THE THRONE, LIKE SOMEONE WORTHY TO BE THE PET HORSE TO! SEE, ITS NOT THAT HARD, ALL YA HAVE TO DO IS USE THAT NOGGIN O'YOURS AND EVERYTHING BECAME CLEAR!"
"Oh, there's still more that we have to do, first..." Nico continued, causing his various personas to blink at him owlishly. Momentarily, they became confused, wondering what it was that Nico was getting act. Though, they soon began to understand when Nico pointed towards them individually. "Demon..." he began when pointing to Biko, then shifting his finger over to his Ghoul Persona. "Monster..." he continued, before finally settling onto the childish him (who had been silent during this whole process) "and whatever the hell I was before... All of these titles people have used on me, labelling me from them. I've been called a Demon, a Monster, a freak take your pick and I'll have been called it at SOME point in my life... well then, from now on... I don't give a damn anymore. Let them call me whatever they please, I only care for one fact: Monster, Demon, all of them are simply me, nothing else. I am Nico, that fact will NEVER change. Do you three get what I'm saying?"
At this point, a look of shock, surprise and bewilderment formed on the child him's face, before it got replaced by the look of unbridled excitement. "Are you saying that... you accept us?" he questioned hopefully.
Nico, at this point, grinned at them, his eyes shining with positive emotion for the first time all day. "Heh, its much more than acceptance. I still don't have a damn clue about who I am at this point, but if I'm frank I don't really consider it a big deal. If I recall it, then that's that, I'll face whatever my 'true self' is. Judging by what we've gone through so far, its only a mater of time at this stage till it all comes back to me anyways, so its not like I need to rush or anything." he replied, before towards them. Eagerness had wrote itself onto their faces, only two of them expressing it more than the other though, as they walked towards him too.
This was it, a major turning point for him. Nico understood it best of all, no matter how deep one could see into his psyche, nothing would match his level of understanding. At east in this topic anyways. Nobody better than him understood that his mind, had been fractured, weakened and damaged through countless years thanks to the traumatic situations he had born with. Nobody would have helped him due to the higher ups efforts, and nobody would have sympathised due to their prejudice against Monsters. As a result, his trauma caused him to think that his powers weren't part of him, that they were separate beings with their own personalities and traits. That thinking wasn't right, but at the time it was the only way that his mind could cope with his situation without shattering into a mess of insanity. It had just been him and his Ghoul side at first, but now that he was also a Demon instead of a human, he had that to contend with. Because of this lack of acceptance, he didn't feel as connected to them as he should have, which caused him problems. Problems which he hadn't even realized since nobody even gave a damn to correct them.
That would have to change. Seeing what happened to the Nature Elves opened his eyes to a whole world of truths, ones which he would no longer deny.
If he wanted to avenge the Nature Elves, then he would have to 'get his shit together'.
"You are going to embrace us? Seems to be quite interesting, Nico. The moment that you do, you will be just as connected to what we represent as we are, and we shall be the same for you. A complete synchronization, as it were. I believe THIS will be solving more than a few problems for us... as well as induce a few side effects."
"WHO CARES, LETS JUST DO THIS SO WE CAN GET TO KILL ALREADY!"
Nico chuckled at the almost childish eagerness his Ghoul Persona had shown to be sporting, all the while from where their hearts were on their chests, what looked like pure white Tendrils erupted, launching themselves towards one another. The moment that they touched each other, it formed a triangle, which pulled the three even closer to one another. "Oh yeah, I also figured out a name for you..."
"HUH?"
"Byakko: combined the 'o' of our last names with 'Byakuya' meaning white night. Kinda fits you, what you being mostly white but with a sclera as black as night,"
"HEH... NOT BAD, AT LEAST IT AIN'T ANY OF THAT 'SHIRO' NONSENSE LIKE FANS OF THAT ORANGE HAIRED KID DID!"
Those were the last words stated by Nico and his Ghoul Persona, now named Byakko, as the four collided with one another...
Opening his eyes, Nico found himself back in the real world, sitting atop the mountain peak.
The scenery around him had well and truly been taken over by the shadows of night. The skies no longer had any traces of sunlight to them whilst the stars glimmered brightly in the night skies. All around him, traces of carnage could be seen: the ground around him had dozens upon dozens of scorch marks, with some looking like they came from miniature nuke explosions. These scorch marks looked to be companion to large, as in LARGE, amounts of charred grass, which had turned into piles of soot scattered all over the place. A HUGE portion of the Mountain side no longer existed, having nothing but a gigantic hole in it which looked to have been from something of enormous heat. What that was, Nico had a few ideas, since he knew of a FEW things hot enough to melt through an entire mountain side.
Nevertheless, Nico didn't pay much attention to anything revolving his surroundings at this time, as he had much more... important, critical even, matters to attend to.
Closing his eyes, the young redhead got into a meditative stance before looking deep inside himself, checking his body over to see if what he had done back in his Inner World, had worked or not. His answer had been FAR from disappointing, as when he checked his Demonic Energy reserves, Nico felt them respond to his will. He felt them respond MUCH easier than they had before, he didn't even need to think about it or will it. It had been like the chaos within him had finally acknowledged him as its master, not even when he generated his own artificial anger from his various Satanic Treasures did his powered react negatively. It almost felt like there was a guiding hand, pushing his power in the direction he himself wanted to. Nico in his mind, doubted that he'd have any problems with it now or in the future thanks to this.
Then, the redhead shifted his focus to his Ghoul side, in which he found even MORE discoveries. Thanks to... his actions within his Inner World, Nico found that his Ghoul Side seemed to be constantly circulating RC Cells through his body, instead of just keeping them in his Kakuhous like it normally did before. They flowed naturally, like a gentle river, but upon his will, they instantly hardened like teeth, which resulted in Nico feeling the benefits usually associated with his Ghoul side increasing his physical attributes. This likely meant, that now that he'd embraced his Inner Ghoul, his RC Cells would always be circulating through him instead of being just 'contained' within his Kakuhous like they were prisoners in a cell. Thus, his RC Cells would INSTANTLY activate their powers the moment that he willed them to, leading to a quicker formation of his Kagune.
This all confirmed one thing for him: that accepting himself for what he had become, to finally form his own ideals and rules, had been EXACTLY what he'd needed.
Nico did NOT think himself foolish, even with everything that had happened, thus he didn't expect ALL the problems he had with his Ghoul side to be fixed, but whatever problems he encountered with it, Nico would face them head on instead of just denying it like he had been up until now. Seriously, if he didn't have any humanity, then what was the point of him being human? Why restrict himself when it came to being his own master? Sure he can make comrades, sure he CAN be a good person, but if the time came then he would DEFINITELY become the beast that tore apart anything which dared to threaten those he considered close to him. these thoughts filled Nico's mind, making him break out into a large smile, his eyes shimmering with unrepressed joy as he hopped into the air, going to about 300 feet, before shooting down to the ground and landing with the grace of a panther.
'Ahhhh, its so good to feel more 'whole' now...' Nico thought to himself, grinning happily as he stretched his arms leisurely above his head. He practically MOANED when he felt a few 'crack' sounds come from his arms, before he heaved a sigh whilst letting them hang at his sides. 'Now then, since my powers now feel much more connected to me than before, it obviously means that I have indeed accepted them into myself. That'll make things easier for me in the long run, no more fighting myself just to remain 'in check' as people apparently call it...' the redhead thought, frowning before he unleashed a small chuckle.
A chuckle which soon vanished however, when he recalled everything regarding the Nature Elves. 'Now then, since nobody's gonna avenge you guys for the horrible ends you suffered, then I think I'll GLADLY do it for you. Abyssal Black Swords...' The redhead thought, his eyes sharply narrowing like twin blades as they began to glow a sinister red. His body began to radiate Demonic Power whilst heat filled his surroundings, a sign that his DPU Transformation would be happening in the next few seconds. 'If I don't reduce your group to nothing but a single bloody smear, then I'll NEVER rest in peace again! Time for you fuckers to go to hell where you belong!' Nico thought, his lips twisting into a furious scowl.
At once, his surroundings began to change whilst he mentally accessed the power of the DPU which resided within. The entire area around him began to darken, at least in his general vicinity as black flames gradually rose from the ground, resembling the jaws of hell opening up to swallow unlucky souls to be tortured for eternity. This lasted only like a millisecond though, as in an instant they roared to life, wrapping around him like dozens of infernal Tendrils and forming a fiery sphere. The Sphere persisted for a moment,, before it split apart with both halves falling to the ground beside their contents, vanishing soon after and leaving no traces of their existence.
Though, the person they had covered had indeed gone through one HELL of a major transformation.
Instead of Nico's original DPU Form, the redhead looked more like an eldritch knight from hell, arising from within those abyssal depths to claim his victims and drag them kicking and screaming back for eternal torment. His body got covered in a skin tight black latex suit from the neck downwards. His body's Armour had also changed, as his head now got covered by a pure black helmet, with several black horns protruding upwards, 2 larger ones and 2 smaller ones. The Helmet had areas showing his eyes whilst sporting a V shaped jawline, like a spike while two empty sockets showed his crimson DPU Eyes. Aside from the suit, his neck remained bare, whilst his torso got covered in black slim Armour made from multiple layers of plating. The shoulder Armour looked bulkier and bigger, with multiple plates, super sharp edges curved spikes pointing upwards. More lean Armour covered his arms from below the shoulder Armour down to his hands, with larger forearm Amour over said body parts. The legs looked to be covered in this slim Armour as well, ending in sharpened boots which, if they kicked, looked like they could stab someone. Behind him, Crimson Soul still had his Tail, only now it looked more black and skeletal, like an extension of the human spinal column with a sharpened, narrowed blade-like Tip with the Tail's length rivaling his height. As for his back, Crimson Soul had Wings of flame still, but these Wings were made from pure Crimson colored flames, shaped like the wings of a Demon that angled downwards.
Looking down at his new DPU Form which he had gotten thanks to Zelretch's trials, Crimson Soul held his hands and experimentally clenched his fists, unclenching them afterwards. 'Guess that's my new form's transformation Process, instead of a pillar of orangish red flames, I get concealed in a sphere made from my true flames...' The transformed teen thought as he summoned Soul Edge into his hand. Not only that, but Crimson Soul also felt something... else, something odd. There was this strange, yet familiar feeling of foreign weight behind him in places where only ONE type of thing should occupy whenever he released it. Glancing behind him, Crimson Soul witnessed something which would have sent his human form reeling. 'Hmmmm, now THIS is intriguing..'
There, sprouting from his individual bodyparts, were his Bikaku and Rinkaku Kagune, just seemingly frozen in place like they normally would when he didn't have a command for them. Raising a hand to the left side of his head, the young DPU ran his hand over it, feeling the telltale signs of veins to indicate that his Kakugan had activated. Must have meant that his eye now looked like some kind of mix between his DPU eye and his Kakugan. 'Looks like... this is the ultimate result of me properly accepting my Demon and Ghoul sides: they are now capable of being fused together in unison. Looks like my DPU Form's Tail is mixed with my Bikaku, but then again it has similar functions to it so counting it as another Tail wouldn't be too farfetched...'
Memories of what happened with the Nature Elves resurfaced, causing Crimson Soul to shake his head and narrow his mismatched eyes, a deadly, devilish and sinister fire starting to burn within their depths. "Now then... according to the information Biko recorded, the camp for the Abyssal Black Swords will be located deep within Abnormal Territory, figuring that would deter any intruders. Its only been a day, so I doubt they will have done much, this information tells me they will be celebrating their harvest still whilst reaping the benefits of the Nature Elves. Even if its too late to save their remains, vengeance shall descend upon them." he muttered under his breath, flaring his wings as he got into a floating crouch. A low tremor echoed around him, his helmet shielding his eyes in shadows when he doubled over, before with a single flap of his crimson Demon wings, Crimson Soul went FWOOSH! Shooting up into the skies at speeds which broke past mach 3. Just shy of Urthemiel's speed, though he felt like that would change in the future.
Though, one day he hoped to be able to go up to Mach 20 like his Uncle could...
'Just you wait, guys. Those swordaholics are gonna get an unwelcome visitor...'
With the moon shining in the night sky, the stars glistening as they accompanied it, one would not expect it to be accompanied by the promise of massacre. It certainly wouldn't be what these people at the camp belonging to the Abyssal Black Swords... would have expected.
The entire camp looked to be buzzing with joyous celebration, cheers and howls of delight filling the atmosphere as the residents all stayed within the central area, where there was a massive bonfire filled to the brim with Demonic corpses of a bunch of Northmen who thought it wise to try and raid their camp after they had returned from one of their most glorious conquests. It had been a decent strategy, attack the camp just as its tired, weakened and weary soldiers returned from an epic battle... or so they had thought. Since those measly Abnormals put up such a pitiful resistance against them, not only were the men not that tired at all (most of them seemed to have the 'glow' forming from sexual release...), but they also hungered for a good fight to replace the one they had thought they'd have gotten when ransacking that village.
Surrounding the camp was a fence made out of wooden planks, doused with anti Abnormal perfumes which would keep them away by emitting disgusting pheromones to them, causing them not to try and get near them. Behind the planks were walls of stone, which they had constructed behind them in case someone tried to ram through expecting only minimal resistance. Around the camp's interior, were dozens of tents with their own little decorations, pretty much a standard Camp by Leanboxs' Standards. Currently. most of the Mercenaries were gathered around the centre, laughing uproariously whilst holding tankards filled with various alcoholic beverages. Some would be dancing with their comrades, others would be telling jokes and others would be playing card games. Pretty much a celebratory occasion, if the feast they also had on the side hadn't been from the few intact corpses (their Cores harvested albeit leaving said cores without their complete efficiency) that they had liberated from that Village.
But, that wasn't what would be the focus here...
"Thus, our business venture has been concluded."
In the back of the camp, 3 men were talking to a man with a hood. All of them had been male due to A: their body structure, and B: the sounds of their voices. The three men looked to be sweating bullets, nervously awaiting the hooded stranger's departure so they could rest easy. This stranger of course, they had learned long ago not to mess with him. Last time they had tried, not only did they get their asses handed to them, but a large portion of their group had mysteriously vanished, with signs pointing to an Abnormal attack. Though, each of them had their suspicions about that...
Speaking of whom, the Hooded Stranger clad in a brown cloak with his face shrouded in darkness, looked down at the sack containing the Cores, just below 10 in number. Nobody would be able to tell what expression the Stranger had been making due to the shadows, but if they were to guess then these men would think that the Stranger would have been disappointed by such a small haul. Something which got confirmed a moment later when the Stranger sighed as the sack vanished, most likely into his inventory. "It is a shame, but indeed it has. Disappointing that you only got so few, but that is to be expected. From what you've told me, these beasts seem to have been prepared for their discovery, like having practiced drills for when fires erupt." he mused below his breath, although the men before him could tell how displeased he felt.
"We apologize sir, if we-"
"Don't, what's done is done, and you three did your job. It cannot be helped if those freaks were prepared, Abnormals are named as such for a reason, its been proven countless times over the last 500 years. In any case, here's what I promised." The stranger interrupted, clicking his fingers and having a sack appear in the centre man's hands. That obviously identified him as the leader, if the massive Axe on his back, his various scars and gruff appearance weren't enough of an indicator. Gently, the men pried the sack open and saw no small amounts of Credits stored inside, and for those who were wondering, Credits were shaped like pieces of paper with the four Nations Symbols on them, each one having a shadowy portrait of their CPUs next to them. "You boys should know the process by now: we never met, we know nothing about one another, and don't speak a word of what transpired here. Anyone asks, silence them."
The three men nodded their heads in understanding, having heard this speech before. They would never show their annoyance of having something like this being a chore to them, since this guy wreaked of danger in their senses.
With that done, the man nodded, before he bent his legs and jumped upwards, shooting into the skies and flying off towards some random direction. Only the fact that it was away from the Camp registered in their minds, allowing the three men to exhale in relief. "Thank goddesses he's gone..." The leader muttered under his breath, though his two subordinates had heard him. "That guy always gives me the creeps."
It would not be an understatement to say that, in his eyes, the leader saw that hooded stranger as a threat worse than any kind of Abnormal. Not just due to his mysterious demeanour, something which unnerved him simply due to his Spec Ops lifestyle basically pounding into him the lesson that dealing with the unknown can sometimes be a death sentence. There wasn't much mystery now though, as the man had seen fit to divulge some sensitive information to him behind closed doors, who he had been associated with. As such, knowing who this person was connected to, the Merc leader BURNED it into his brain, in order to not offend this person otherwise... well, a lot of shit would befall his group. Especially with the rumours of strange occurrences happening close to that guy's territory. The other thing which unnerved the Merc Leader was how this stranger with powerful connections, had an inhuman aura around him, similar to an Abnormal but worse... quite much like a Demon now that he thought about it. Spec Ops were better suited to fight such forces since fighting against overwhelming odds was kind of what they did on a daily basis, but it would take more than a few of them to take down Demons. Their stronger members likely wouldn't have as much trouble, but they had been stretched thin on different fronts, making relying on them kind of fruitless.
Thus, whenever this stranger contacted him, the Merc Leader would NEVER let his true self show in favour of wanting to stay alive. If his men acted up however, he'd just say that he didn't know them, make up some false accusation which would result in that guy's death at the stranger's hands.
He'd done it more than a dozen times now, and it worked out so far.
"Well, not to worry boss Maximillion, now that 'nobody' is here, we can just focus on what we should be doing: getting utterly fucking plastered for a job well done!" One of his subordinates commented, attempting to placate the leader with the upcoming chance to partake in their festivities. "Heck, we may even get lucky at those brothels we visit frequently, I hear some of them want to ride your balls if you know what I'm saying." he added suggestively wiggling his brows at the end there. A couple nods came from his other subordinate, eagerness shining trough the perverse gleams in their eyes.
Their leader, Maximillion as he had been named, turned to them slowly, his earlier worries vanishing into the wind at the prospect of hitting the brothels with his men. Call him whatever one wished, but the chance to frolic around without a care in the world with those sluts was pretty much the best thing ever in his mind. He agreed with a lot of the Nobles in their opinion of the female gender, hell he sometimes fantasised and masturbated to thoughts of pinning the CPU and Oracle beneath him then having a threesome with them. Oh, how delicious that would be, hearing their cries and moans of mind-numbing ecstasy as he boke their wills to resist him, turning them into his loyal sex slaves for the rest of time, then having them 'service' his men when they got too stressed from work. Now THAT felt divine, to him. Thanks to these thoughts, a perverted and sadistic smile formed on his lips. "Yes, you two are right. Once we've had our little victory celebration, we'll go on a brothel spree to fuck bitches and get money! How does that sound, lads?!"
"Whooo hoo! Fucking time, yaaaaaaaay-!"
FWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHH!
In a single moment... everything ceased to be as it was.
All around them lit in up a sea of black and red, heat surging through the entire camp and pretty much setting everything alight. Tents, walls, stone, the bonfire, everything began to get greedily devoured by the instantaneous surge of infernal heat. The source of this heat came from the very centre of the fire, where the Bonfire had once been as a stream of black fire with a red outline, a crimson red which reminded anyone who could see it (since the heat was pretty much melting them alive in an almost deliberate slow manner) of the colour of blood descended from the skies above. The blackness however, resembled the darkest of nights, and even then it could be considered even darker than that as well.
Any who saw its entry, only had a couple seconds to witness though.
The moment the stream crashed into the centre of the Camp, did a huge TORRENT of similarly coloured flames roar into existence, rising up in a circular motion around the Camp's boarders and shooting up to the heavens in the form of a wavy inferno. 'SCREEEEEEEEEEEEE!' Sounds filled the air thanks to these flames which got mixed in with the startled, agonizing and tortured cries of the Mercenaries caught within the flames. An explosion of heat slammed into him from all directions alongside a powerful pressure, and almost made the leader feel like his eyes were melting inside their sockets, forcing him to cover them with his hands.
Though, Maximillion gritted his teeth to bear the brunt of the heat, whilst his subordinates weren't so lucky. Flames literally layered themselves all over them, causing them to scream out in intense agony as they got burned alive. No mater what, they couldn't do anything to stop these flames from devouring them whole, like they were predators and they their prey. Those who had once been celebrating their recent victory, began to slowly get burned alive by these newly emerged flames, not just his two closest subordinates.
'These Flames...! Shit...If I don't hurry up, my goose is going to be cooked...!' The man thought whilst gritting his teeth as his mind whirled into action, already having decided on a course of action. He wasn't someone who had survived over countless battles against all kinds of evil Abnormals for nothing, as he kicked it into gear before he could get devoured by the flames. With that thought process in mind, the Leader put a hand over his eyes whilst the other lowered to his chest, patting on it and getting surrounded by datastreams. By the time they disintegrated, the man emerged to be covered in large, bulky black armour reminiscent of a humanoid Rhino. A Visor covered his face whilst he held out a hand, summoning from his Inventory his signature weapon: A Halberd with a blade shaped like a V as long as his height of 6 foot 8.
Just at that moment, the flames suddenly up and dissipated, a great wind passing through the area. They didn't leave a single TRACE of their presence, disappearing just as fast as they had appeared to result in the Leader looking around. He tried to see if there were any survivors from this sudden ambush from the flames... only, much to his shock and horror, he found the entire camp to be... none-existent. "Wh-Wha…?" he exclaimed, almost taking a step backwards at the sight. His eyes were shrunken into pupil-sized dots whilst his jaw dropped behind his Armour's visor. His Armour had immense fire resistance, which was what had saved him, but the rest of his forces? Not so lucky, there had been LITERALLY nothing let of them. He could only see a simple charred area which had once been his pride and joy, now reduced to absolute nothingness.
Finally, his eyes laid their gaze upon the source, the ball of flame floating in the centre where the Bonfire had been. Only, he just made it to where he began witnessing the sphere split itself in half, both halves falling to the ground and disintegrating upon contact. This revealed something in which quickly made the Leader's instincts SHRIEK at him to defend himself, resulting in him pulling up his Halberd in a defensive stance. That thing: what he could only describe as a simple black, humanoid... thing, an abomination, a perverse form of life which floated just off the ground as if mocking the ways the Goodesses were meant to move. Way more sinister than any of the Khornate Demons or other Abnormals he had killed in the past. There were very few things in which the Leader could admit to himself that he feared, but the being before him, clad in that abyssal black, wicked-looking Armour whilst holding that huge sword that looked like it could easily cleave an entire fortress in two, could count as one. Just its form sent chills down his spines, not to mention the dark, sinister gaze in its burning red eyes that looked to be about to blow up like nuclear Warheads nearly caused him to wet himself... not like he'll admit that part however.
Just a nanosecond after he raised his Halberd however...
SHATTER!
CLUTCH!
"GAH!"
A sharp gasp escaped his lips when the man felt a large, black armour clad hand shot forth like a blur and grasped onto his throat, mercilessly crushing the metal underneath meant to protect it... just after his Halberd got shattered by a single well-timed swing of that massive sword. His form jolted, dangling helplessly like a fish caught on a hook when the hand lifted him off the ground to the being's eye level. In that moment, the Leader's wide, trembling eyes gazed into the burning crimson orbs staring back at him, and in that moment... the Leader swore he could see every kind of sin he had ever committed, all the murders, all the rapes and every plot he had ever devised, being replayed from an outsiders perspective in those orbs.
The sounds of movement reached his ears, as the Leader barely managed to pull his gaze free from the bewitching glare the being sported, towards the space behind him. The creatures large wings, demonic in their design, flared sideways whilst that infernal Sword constantly had black and red flames swirling around it like a double helix, only intensifying its domineering visage. Slowly, the two floated upwards, as if ascending towards the heavens whilst the Leader tried in vain to regain his breath, the hand clutching his neck not giving any form of leeway. All the while, it allowed the man to briefly look past the Wings, to see the Tail which was sported behind his tormentor.
That just nailed the final nail in the coffin, that this thing could not be anything human.
Finally, the two reached about 100 feet in height, so the being stopped right there. The being then held the Leader closer to him, so their foreheads could be close to touching whilst leering at the Mercenary Leader in his grasp. The Leader tried to kick the creature away from him, not even considering the drop he'd make if he was released, but that only served to make the being swing it's Tail at him... causing his leg to get completely severed from his body. "GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed, howling upwards into the heavens watching this scene with their ever-impassive gazes. All the while, the Leader barely managed to gather enough of his strength to speak, and when he did speak it came out in ragged gasps. "Who... the fuck... do you.. think... you are?!" He yelled, glaring with a mix of pain and fear towards the two crimson orbs leering at him. "Don't you think.. that this... will be tolerated... by my... benefactors?! Your home... whatever family... friends, lovers... all of it... will be destroyed... in retaliation... for this!"
"Don't CARE."
For the first time, the being spoke, and when he did, the Leader nearly wet himself from fright... again. The sound of that voice, so dark distorted and sinister, along with sounding like multiple voices speaking at once, gave him no small amount of chills. He could barely keep himself together, focusing on the pain which blazed from his severed leg. "Do you... KNOW why I did THIS? Do you KNOW... what your CRIME is?" The being questioned, although the Leader felt way too much pain to respond properly so he just opted for a confused glare.
Something which irritated the being, resulting in the grip on his neck tightening. The man screamed some more, rivalling a shrieking fangirl, when he felt the tip of the creature's Tail touch the socket where his leg had once been, setting it alight with those flames of its to cauterize the wound. The being didn't want them to die just yet, oh no there was WAY too much it wanted to make this scum suffer for. "YOU... you BELIEVE that YOU are in the RIGHT...? That YOU would remain FREE from your ACTIONS... just because PEOPLE favour YOU…?" The being snarled in the Leader's face, holing its other hand up and igniting a fire over its palm. "THAT is... the PEAK of ARROGANCE... thus, YOU shall PAY. Pay for the SIN... of causing MASS GENOCIDE... of COMMITING grave INJUSTICE against THOSE who CANNOT fight BACK... those who did NOTHING wrong. The WORLD may call you HERO, but YOU will be nothing but SCUM in my EYES... your actions DOOMED them... THUS, you will NOW... SUFFER!"
With that said, the Being shot his burning hand over to the man's groin, faster than lightning by the way, and grasped forcefully onto the man's manhood. He gripped it with such force that if he just applied one tiny bit more, his balls would have been crushed to nothingness. Though, the Being saw no need to do THAT though part of him wanted to... that part however remained satisfied with the addition smell of burning balls accompanied by its scorching flames. Alongside the man's screams (the Being having loosened its grip so he could hear them), the searing heat generated by his actions reduced the armour there, as well as the armour coating the Man's waist and remaining leg to nothingness. If he were in his capable mind, the Leader would have realized that this meant the only reason why he had survived the first attack which had pretty much destroyed his entire camp, killed all his men... had simply been the whims of the flames' master.
That would allow him to foresee the even worse fate intended for him.
Leaning forwards, the being allowed a small, sinister and cruel smile to spread across its mouth whilst it whispered into the man's ear directly. Ever HEARD of the SAYING... an EYE for an EYE...? How about... YOU experience it... WITH your BODY?" it whispered, its soft voice betraying the cold, devilish malice polluting its tone resulting in no small amounts of chills going up and down the man's spine.
Ever so slowly, the hellish flames consumed the man's manhood, agonizing him whilst reducing him to the mantle of an Eunuch in one of the most torturous ways possible. Drool escaped the corners of his lips while his eyes trembled, his mouth hanging open in an 'O' shape whilst spasms and tremors ransacked his body without remorse. The sounds of fire burning flesh filled the atmosphere, as well as the smells of flesh being charred to a state beyond a crisp... as well as the sorrowful wails of the flesh's owner whilst the cause of this owner's pain only stared on without showing an ounce of the inner delight it felt seeing all this. If anyone asked it, the being would not be able to describe how gleeful the man's screams made it, nope not one bit.
Once the Being felt nothing in his grasp anymore, it retracted its hand, allowing both it and the Man to witness the Being's handiwork. Now, where there had once been one functional reproductive organ, nothing remained, not a tiniest hint of his manhood remained, nothing but a scorch mark which would serve as the flames 'mark', the mark which would signify their abyssmal work. Though, if one were to look at the expression on the Being's face, they would easily see how dissatisfied it seemed to be.
Not enough...
There was not enough suffering from this scumbag amongst the human race.
In its eyes, there had to be more, and it knew JUST how to get that suffering.
Pulling back its hand and dismissing the, the being held that hand between the two of them, before proceeding to crack the index finger with an audible CRACK sound, causing the man to twitch erratically as if his very body recognized that sound to be a sign of future pain to come. From out it's back, came a series of 6 long, black Tentacles, ones which looked large enough to pierce through and fill a grown ass man's abdomen. They looked to be constantly spasming too, like they were always moving to the point where visually perceiving them would be one HELL of a difficult task. These Tentacles, each slithered through the air towards the man's sole remaining leg... and the proceeded to chop it up into tiny pieces like chopping a carrot on a chopping board.
CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP-CHOP!
Each chop served to increase the pain exploding through its prey's body, his howls of agony filling the atmosphere in great volume. Not only that, but in a desperate struggle to try and break free and clutch his legs in pain, the Leader clenched his teeth and tried to throw a punch at the being's face. His mouth twisted into a large, demented grin when this happened, thinking that this... demon, this freak, abomination, wouldn't be able to defend himself against a surprise attack from its prey. However, that grin soon got wiped off its face when the Being's tail shot upwards, wrapping around the limb and firmly locking it into place. His twisted grin turning into on of shock and horror made the Being grin in a similar manner, in an ironic twist of fate, especially when its Tail abruptly twisted anti-clockwise, breaking the entire arm in the process.
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
More screams got released from the man, who tried to clutch his arm but the Tail grasped his sole remaining limb too, holding it to the side whilst each of the Tentacles took their turns whacking away at the limb, with the being's free hand holding into it by the hand to stop it from moving. Of course, the onslaught of slamming attacks with the force of a large mountain easily caused the man's screams to reach new heights, tears beginning to run down his cheeks like two overflowing waterfalls. "PLEASE! LORD! MASTER! PLEASE, SPARE ME! I'LL DO ANYTHING, PLEASE!" He cried, his mind utterly breaking from the sheer pain and pressure he had found himself under.
At hearing those words, the Tentacles froze in place, none of them making any moves on the broken arm as if they had been encased in a block of ice... Save for the spasming that they did. All the while, the creature looked over towards Maximillion whilst tilting its head in a faux innocent manner. "SPARE... you...?" It mused, almost seeming like a mix of surprise, confusion and bafflement... before it erupted into a chuckling fit which sounded WAY too disturbingly similar to a cute innocent elementary school girl with long black hair wearing a red dress who ruthlessly people. "Ufufufufufu… THAT'S rich..." It stated, before its amusement vanished into the wind whilst pulling the man close to him so their foreheads touched once more. "Now LISTEN here... THAT is EXACTYLY what all... those COUNTLESS innocents... YOU have PERSONALLY... slaughtered FELT... when you had... THEIR lives in... YOUR hands. But... But what DID... you DO? Why should... I do ANYTHING... you say? WHY... should I SPARE your... PATHETIC, miserable LIFE?" The being whispered, hot rage oozing from his tone like a magma waterfall.
To respond, Maximillion made to say something, but then the being tightened its grip on his neck, choking the air out of his throat as well as his words. "NO... I THINK not... I know a... MUCH better WAY... of DEALING with YOU...!" It said, before clicking its fingers as black and red flames suddenly engulfed the man for a few seconds, and in those few seconds Maximillion howled in intense agony, feeling the flames licking away at his flesh in the first second thanks to their heat melting away and disintegrating his Armour. Almost like they were eating away at it like a bunch of ravenous bloodthirsty Abnormals. This lasted only a few seconds, but to him they felt like an eternity, until the flames dissipated to reveal him having been stripped completely bare. All forms of clothing having been eaten away by the flames which left him as naked as the day he was brought into this world. Oh, how unfortunate that day had been...
In any case, it was time to get to the finale. First off, the Being let the man's arm go, replacing its grip on it with that of one of its Tentacles. This allowed it the free hand to form some black and red fire, elongating it and reshaping it into the form that it desired. In seconds, it held in its armour clad hand a meter long, 10 inch wide Javelin, one with a harpoon-shaped tip with jagged edges. It had been made from condensed, solidified fire, thus emitted a light feeling of heat to its touch... though that 'light heat' if it touched a human would have singed them horribly.
Just like it planned.
With a swift tossing motion, the armoured Being tossed it down to the ground, the Javelin's rear tip embedding itself into the ground leaving its main end facing upwards and gleaming menacingly. One could almost see the laughing, howling faces of many vengeful-looking eyes and mouths within the fiery javelin, as if it were the manifestation of wrath itself.
Looking down at it, the man wondered what this beast intended to do wit such a thing instead of just impaling him with it... until he figured it out moments later and his face went white with pure horror. The grip on his neck tightened the moment this happened, blocking his ability to scream for the time being, almost like the being wanted to save those for when things REALLY got dicey... like when it flew down and SLAMMED the man right down on top of the Javelin's tip, which shot right through his asshole and up his backside.
Only THEN, did the man find the ability to scream return to him, and he took ull advantage of it screaming like a little girl up into the heavens above. Screams which got mixed with two things: the horrible sounds of his insides being set aflame, and the maniacal, downright psychotic laughter that echoed from the Being's mouth whilst it leaned backwards, relishing in delight at the GLORIOUS sounds it heard. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YES! Yes! SCREAM for ME! Yes! Yes! YES! THIS is YOUR punishment! Your SIN! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!" Once its laughter died down into a fit of disturbingly girlish giggles, the being grabbed onto his right shoulder, and whilst relishing in the man's whimpers, pushed him downwards to force the spear deeper into his ass. Cue more screams which resonated throughout the surrounding environment.
After about 10 minutes or so, though, the being's giggles vanished as it looked upon its handiwork, the man known as Maximillion having been impaled on his own ass via a Javelin made from its fire, with one arm broke, no penis anymore and one arm broken. Looking him over, the being began to think, why did it feel like I was lacking something? Its own Tentacles soon answered tat by grabbing the sole remaining arm, twisting it then having one of them same into the elbow to break it, resulting in the sound of bones shattering. For good measure, they each sliced through the man's body, leaving shallow cuts which got set alight seconds later, cauterizing them and leaving horrendous wounds on the man's person which would torment him for the rest of his final moments. Then, to add icing onto the cake, the Being covered its hand in fire and shoved it into the man's mouth, utterly charring it and rendering him unable to speak. It followed this up with putting that hand over his eyes, melting the eyeballs within to permanently destroy the man's ability to see, enjoying his agonized cries all the while.
Not like he'll need to, his vocals would be needed for screaming soon, anyways.
"There... THAT should DO it..." The Being muttered under its breath, cupping its chin with a thoughtful gaze in its crimson eyes. All the while, the now broken mess of a man struggled to look upwards, spitting out some blood during the process, and managed to level what strength he had left into a weak glare. One which the Being caught, which prompted it so chuckle in amusement. "Oh, DON'T worry... YOU will have some COMPANY on the PATH to HELL soon ENOUGH... but FIRST, I think SOME guests will be ARRIVING soon..." it stated, and if he had any strength left then Maximillion would have wondered what he meant by that. But at this point, it didn't seem to mater anyways, his body had been damaged beyond repair, even if he was saved at this point he wouldn't likely want to live if the alternative was to no longer be a man.
Soon enough however, the sounds of pounding feet slamming ono the ground was heard, prompting the Being to slowly start floating upwards into the air. All around the vicinity, dozens of Abnormals of varying shapes and sizes emerged in the distance, each having their own unique shapes and sizes. All of them had one thing in common though, their jaws constantly released saliva as if they were hungry dogs looking over a delicious pack of meat. "Whelp, LOOKS like The PHEROMONE Bombs I planted AROUND here did THEIR job... ENJOY some DELICIOUS Karma... SOUL on their WAY to HELL..." The Being spoke, an evil, dark laugh escaping its lip whilst it left the area, leaving Maximillion to his fate of being devoured by the rapidly converging Abnormals.
His dying screams soon followed.
