I cordially invite you to comment and express constructive comments on my work. I will be grateful and wish you a good time while reading my work.
So this is how it ends? Adam Taurus, once a proud revolutionary and now a mentally exhausted outcast, thought his back and chest were pierced by his former mistress's broken weapon. Was it supposed to be like this? Am I to end up like this, killed by a traitor and her Human lover?
He felt humiliated by this moment, and it's hardly surprising if you look closely at his biography and what happened a few moments ago. Born to unknown Faunus, Adam grew up in the Dust mines of the SDC, where, without proper care and with minimal food, with terrible sanitation or hygiene, he had to work hard every day. In the end, the only reward for his hard work and seeing his many dead brothers and sisters was the stigma he received on his left eye at the age of 13.
Now, however, history seemed to repeat itself in some cruel twist of fate. After many years of hard work for the brothers and sisters he swore to protect, and for whom he sacrificed everything he could become, along with conscience or old morality, which in the fight for full freedom and prosperity of his species, began to be just another of many obstacles for him . Not being willing to do literally anything for the good of the Homo Faunus species was just something that prevented him from doing what was necessary. At least that's what I thought then.
Regardless, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was a slave once more, this time for the cause of Faunus and enslaved by his brothers, sisters, Sienna, and all the decision makers in White Fang who had sent him on dangerous missions over the years. Throughout the years, since he was received and accepted in the White Fang, Adam obeyed orders without even the slightest hesitation and was always ready to carry out the next ones, even if it was to take place right after the most difficult and absorbing in terms of both physical and mental aspects.
However, when I saw that the fights against Humanity were not enough, I decided to take power and be able to conduct a better, in terms of quality, fight. His mind was seething with anger and red cracks appeared quickly in his eyes. I was initially accepted as a High Leader, but when the first disaster struck, these ungrateful traitors lost faith in me. In me! A man who spent all these years devoting his whole day to the cause!
After a few steps he fell to his knees, his head practically dangling and his gaze dully turned to the waterfall and the huge cliff into which Adam's sword had fallen earlier. He was shocked at how life had treated him so far and how it was all going to end. He, once a steadfast and confident male, was now basically broken and reduced to being a shocked, dying calf. He was the shadow of this great warrior with a fiery soul and unwavering convictions.
'A child prodigy, destined for great things and now given the opportunity to fully realize that destiny.' Adam remembered with some regret how Sienna had once described him, and how her soul must be amused or disgusted and disappointed if there was anything after this whole circus called life and the dead were allowed to watch the living.
He convulsed slightly as his eyes widened as he began to fall into the icy water where his sword Wilt had previously been thrown. However, on the way, as if fate wanted to mock him even more, he collided with a rock and finally his completely inert body spun in the air, as if performing a 360-degree rotation around its own axis.
When he fell, he felt no regret for all his achievements, which in his worldview were the murders of SDC employees, Atlas soldiers, or important board members or directors of individual departments of the Schnee Dust Company. What Adam himself was most proud of was a single and perfectly coordinated operation of his authorship several years ago, which consisted of attacks on SDC warehouses, air, sea and land transports, killing several key people responsible for transporting and storing the corporation's supplies. The result was a paralysis of Dust distribution throughout Remnant and mass panic in all realms except the Menagerie. Meanwhile, SDC's quotations on the stock exchange fell by more than 20% a few hours after the plan was implemented.
Adam even smiled as his unprotected Aura bones broke on impact with the rock. He felt no pain, he was too absorbed in his own thoughts to feel any stimulus from the outside world. But then, he felt a movement under his gray jacket, it was a strange and egg-shaped locket hanging around his neck on a black cord, with strange patterns that led him to think of a deformed human face.
"Take it, dear boy, it's the only valuable thing I have that may be of use to you in your darkest hour. I won't have much use for it now that I'm at the end of my strength and unable to use this artifact." Adam remembered the words of an elderly female Faunus - a fox Faunus if memory serves him correctly - whom he had met on one of the SDC mine raids many years ago, barely clinging to life, clearly closer to the end of the road than the beginning. "Take this child, with ambition in your heart and a dream, and truly I tell you, this Artifact will help you regain your strength and fulfill your dream when your whole world starts to crumble and everyone abandons you. It will give you the strength necessary to regain everything you've ever lost, but the price will be exceptional. Nevertheless, with your unlocked Aura and bloodlust, I have no doubt that you'll be willing to pay the price."
Adam didn't have the opportunity to ask the old woman anything else, however, because she died a few moments later, and it seemed that these words would definitely be her last effort. But the question is, was it destined and determined? Or was it just one big case? Did he influence his own destiny at all, or was it all the work or plan of some being or beings infinitely greater than himself at any time?
Finally, he fell into the water, actually quite a large stream, as cold as the climate of Argus and Northern Anima. His body shivered, but again, his overthinking brain and mind didn't register it. As if none of this mattered to him anymore.
Everything I've worked so hard for all these years has now crumbled before my eyes and because of my mistakes. Instead of murdering all my henchmen who enabled me to take over White Fang, I should have tried to regain their loyalty through words. A grim, but no doubt somewhat justified laugh echoed in his mind. I should have focused on the present, on what I was striving for, not on the pathetic traitor and his loved ones. But now that I'm dying, I can afford all these bitter and long-overdue conclusions. If only I had followed what I wanted...
At that moment, both his eyes widened, both the healthy one and the one marked with the SDC logo. It was as if a genuine shock had seized him in just one moment. But what was my dream? It's been so many years since I thought about it, and it's as if everything I ever wanted was from this point on just an old dream, the content of which I've long since forgotten.
Adam was so lost in thought and concentration that he didn't notice - couldn't really notice - that his blood, though mixed with water, had reached and touched the medallion, triggering a reaction that would change his destiny forever.
"How interesting!" Adam felt at that moment as if hundreds or even millions of different voices were speaking in his head, and all distorted because of their multitude.
What? Adam began to think, but he was too exhausted from the loss of blood when the exhaustion combined with the loss of blood finally reached his brain. Who are you and what the hell does that mean?
"You, related to us by fate, choices, time and circumstance,you received the privilege of reaching our realm, which is above the mortal realm and before the pure divine realms!" The same voice rang out again, and then Adam felt that unique, yet unforgettable feeling of entering another plane of reality. It was like when he was a young child and basically lost in the face of a merciless and oppressive world.
When he opened his eyes in a sudden and unexpected surge of strength, he noticed that reality and the environment around him began to undergo incomprehensible deformation and change. The best example of this was the fact that the water did not hinder his vision, and the rocks, earth and everything around began to take on a dark and strange at the same time overtones.
The rocks at the bottom began to crack, stretch and take on a dark blood color. Meanwhile, from between the cracks created in this way, huge and black bones began to protrude, often cracked or deformed in a completely grotesque way. They might look humanoid at times, and completely inhuman or even unrealistic at other times. The water suddenly disappeared, but Adam still had the feeling that he was under some form of translucent crimson liquid.
The landscape created by such a distortion of reality was dark and disturbing to say the least. In the black sky there were strange and blood-colored constellations of stars. The sky also seemed to be full of grayish purple clouds. All this gave this strange place, or rather domain, an aura of mystery and anxiety. Adam himself felt that he should not have been here, or that he should look for any escape route as soon as possible. At least that was what all his instincts, honed by many years of hard fighting, often to the death, told him.
Suddenly, his body, which had been suspended above the ground, dropped, and he rose from the ground with a slightI groin and pain in his legs. However, his eyes widened once again that day as he saw that his wound and pierced heart had stopped bleeding.
Is this all some kind of pre-death hallucination or something?The question wasn't aimed at anyone in particular, but a conclusion on the subject came up pretty quickly in Adam's mind. No, real hallucinations would be much more chaotic, disordered and lacking much logic. The mere fact that I am able to logically arrange everything inside my mind and still think seems to rule it all out.
Admittedly, Adam was never a very analytical Faunus and rather a confrontational type, impulsive and, in the worst situations, reckless. Hence his reckless pursuit of Blake and irrational behavior in the Battle of Heaven Academy. Nevertheless, the Bullish Faunus was more than capable of analyzing his surroundings and thinking logically if he deemed it necessary in a particular situation. These unpredictable circumstances were one of those situations.
Then, however, Adam's panicked and confused gaze fell not on what was in front of him or below him, but also on what had been in front of him all this time. It was an eclipsed sun, from which a bright and bright light always seemed to emanate brightly purple liquid, thus creating two waterfalls constantly flowing down.
Then, at first like one, hundreds of thunder boomed in the distance, and it wasn't long before lightning began to flash on the horizon visible to Adam, dripping with dark energy. It was getting closer and closer to his current position every second. From second to second, the bullish Faunus was getting more and more anxious and stressed, until finally all these lightning discharges were so close to his position that he had to cover his eyes for a moment.
To his surprise, after a few moments the lightning seemed to calm down and the echo carried on for a few more moments, as if the whole thing were really just one big and closed space. But Adam felt as if the whole domain wasn't natural in the slightest, carved out by the raw forces that ruled this world at its core. Instead, he had an almost certain impression that all this was created by forces that transcend nature many times over, and perhaps even all existing civilizations on Remnant.
Then, another strange feeling seized him, some strange and unseen presence for all these years was approaching, but it was still something surprisingly familiar. It was like those moments when he faced the most powerful of the Grimm creatures, in many battles.
As it turned out very quickly, and to Adam's considerable surprise, his premonitions once again did not disappoint him in the most spectacular way, when four powerful lightning bolts of the same color as the rest of the previous ones struck the ground in front of him, and along with it there was a blinding flash, as a result of which Adam instinctively closed both the healthy eye and the damaged one, basically unfit for further use and not providing him with any visibility at that moment.
However, when the flash disappeared after a few seconds and the Bull Faunus could open his eyes again, four different figures, emanating different types of light, appeared in front of him. The four were different from each other in virtually every imaginable way. And yet, Adam still felt as if they were all connected together at the same time, in some unimaginable way.
"You, united with us by fate, decisions and time, have come." The tallest of the four spoke, a man with raven skin, sharp facial features, dressed in black flowing robes, and holding a golden, spherical scepter in his left hand, emanating a kind of bright yellow light that gave him even more royalty. His voice was proud and dignified, as one might expect from a monarch or ruler.
"You have arrived in extremely interesting times. A time of fire, despair, terror and steel, as we predicted." This time it was a hoarse voice full of menace, another man who stood beside the one with the scepter.
It was almost as tall as the previous one that spoke to Adam. However, his unnaturally white skin was covered with hundreds of scars that emitted a bright purple light. He was broad-shouldered, athletic, and it was easy to see, though he was wielding a great two-handed sword in his right hand, with a blood-red round ruby mounted near the top of the hilt. This sword was held by him only in his right hand, by a strong grip, and was directed towards the ground. What this man wore, however, was massive in size full plate armor with a crimson cape. A strong red emanated from him.
"Verily, many sentient beings will perish during these interesting times, but death is natural with all changes." This time, a disgusting-looking woman with a body eaten by insects, but covered in intimate places by a dark purple robe and empty eye sockets, spoke. Instead, it emanated a dark purple light that gave an aura of mystery. Her voice, however, seemed frivolous and almost nonchalant, as if all the predicted death and destruction meant absolutely nothing to her and were just an interesting addition to the vast scheme of things in the world.
"But that's always the price of war, chaos and progress." This time there was a trembling and uncertain voice that belonged to the last of them.
He was a scantily clad man, extremely thin, with dark circles under his eyes and no stubble. His only clothing, which was limited to covering his most intimate parts, consisted only of white and torn rags. He also didn't seem to be someone particularly powerful, imperious or cunning, nor did he have that specific aura around him, but Adam still found him to be at least disturbing, undoubtedly more powerful than himself.
"The question is, will you, Adam Taurus, be able to accept the price that is necessary to participate in changing this world, for better or for worse?" The former spoke once more, looking at the young bullish Faunus as if from above. "For nothing in this world comes free, and even the birth of a new generation must mean the death of the old."
Adam looked at each of them several times with considerable anxiety, and constantly felt that he was dealing with people many times higher in terms of power than he had ever been. All this assuming they were Humans at all By instinct, he wanted to grab Wilt's hilt, but after several attempts to clench his fist and raise the sword to the strange four, Adam saw and remembered that Wilt had been thrown into the depths of a rather large waterfall and then floated down to the lake. Blush only remained as his only available weapon and by the way a blade scabbard. Without thinking, Adam grabbed Blush and aimed it at the four of them.
Seeing what is different but at the same time similar in one and the same matter, outward appearance and specific inhuman presence - which they all spread around themselves - they began to laugh at his actions. However, it was the man with the scepter who spoke and addressed it verbally.
"Do you really think beings like us can be hurt by something so pathetic compared to our power?" He asked succinctly and raised an eyebrow, but then added. "No, you don't have the slightest illusion about that. You sensed that specific feeling that accompanies our presence in front of you, and your reaching for the rifle is only the result of survival instinct."
Adam's right hand, in which Blush was present, trembled for a few moments, then the bullish and hitherto confused Faunus managed to control his ever-increasing emotions and anxiety and lowered the weapon. He had many questions for them, but one was in his opinion the most important, the most fundamental for the further course of events.
"Who are you actually?" He asked, although he was not a religious man, the sight of a certain dark purple energy in some of them made him think of the description of the God of Darkness.
All four laughed at the same time, and their cumulative cackle seemed like the laughter of many millions of other beings. Adam felt quite a chill about this, and he didn't like the direction it all seemed to be going.
Losing control over White Fang, previously be betraying the girls I loved with all my heart and for whom I was ready to sacrifice everything and burn this pathetic Human's world order to ashes, and yet now defeat at the hands of her, her new mistress, and take me to some alien and incomprehensible, from my point of view, young Taurus thought and winced as his cruelly tried Human mind produced more all of them are to be my end, my death, then I have not the slightest doubt that it will not be a quick death, but instead a long, unpleasant, slow agony.
Basically, after everything that had happened to him in his painful life, after being born as, basically, a slave in one of the SDC mines in Solitas, after losing his parents, in one of the mining disasters, after being branded by the guards just for being tried to get more food for himself and his peers of the same age, including more recent events, after all, Adam Taurus was undoubtedly a pessimist who was just waiting for the moment when fate would bring him another knockout, cruel blow. This time, perhaps even mortal and ending something once and for all, to those in the mind of the Bull Faunus himself, it seemed only a constant agony, begun on the day of his birth.
"You ask us who we really are, but you already know that yourself, young bull." The one with the scepter spoke loudly. "For although for many millions of years we, Bringing the Chaos of Change, have been more focused than on the fate of the world, and in accordance with the will of the God of Darkness himself, focused on predicting the future and determining its most probable path, we are not blind to the contact of one of mortals with this artifact, the Seed of Darkness, one of the last remnants of the one that gave us the possibility of eternal life. Therefore, a rather modest list of fairy tales has been created about us, some of which are quite popular among you mortals. My favorite example, 'About Sacrificing Everything' A story centered around the man, the powerful but proud and proud king of Vacuo, who, after losing power in a great rebellion, tried to commit suicide along with his family, friends, remnants of his former wealth and any remaining loyalists or self-esteem. Luckily for him, he had a Seed of Darkness with him, which soaked up the blood that was leaking from his veins. By giving us all the souls he killed, he was able to make up for everything he lost, most of all power. And as he had a desire to command and rise above all mortals, he became the Alpha Grimm Falcon. The power he received enabled him to reclaim all of Vacuo again, father new heirs, and engage in a long as well as cruel war with the Kingdom of Vale. A war that ended only with his death, at the hands of the then king of Vale and the heroes accompanying him. In fact, it was so, but the moral of the fairy tale has been shallowed to "
Adam's brain had a hard time processing this information, and naturally, upon hearing something like that, a strong denial arose in him almost immediately. "God of darkness? Do you appeal to these superstitions about the supposedly infinitely good and reasonable God of Light and his destructive brother?"
His words were basically dripping with derision and the purest irony imaginable. To say he was never particularly religious is an understatement. In fact, all fairy tales, legends or religious tales were for him only the fantasy of people intoxicated with opium, amphetamines, marijuana or any other kind of drugs that only Human or Faunus writing this could have at hand at the time. As for the religion itself, although he never told anyone about it, he had always been an absolute Antitheist since his emotional and mental maturity, and he abhorred the very idea that anyone could believe, let alone worship, an entity imaginary by, in his the first impostors. A being that, in their infinite kindness and power, condemn the living to hell, fighting Grimm Creatures and loss of loved ones or slavery in more than just physical ways.
"Indeed, you are right, young Taurus." The man with the scepter answered him, but then decided to answer his earlier question. "But if you doubt or don't remember, let me remind you that I am Overlord, because through change I can effectively wield and adapt to new circumstances."
Next, the dry warrior spoke. "I am Vanquisher, because with the power of chaos, I conquer and change the status quo, even when defeated."
The nasty woman with her ravaged and almost completely devoured body spoke next, but before that she bowed with the grace and elegance of one of the upper classes. "I, dear Adam, am the Reaper because passing and death are necessary for change to occur and new life to be born."
The last, jittery and emaciated man introduced himself timidly and with his trembling voice, which at that moment only seemed to take on even more uncertainty and fear than just a few moments ago. "I am Pauper because everyone starts small and small. Likewise, change starts with small things and then builds up into an ever-expanding avalanche."
But when he finished those words, Reaper spoke to him with what seemed to form into a smirk on her mostly fiery face. "Congratulations, Pauper, it looks like you've finally been able to say more than incoherent groans to anyone."
The emaciated man only blushed at her words and began to quietly thank Adam, thanks to his sharpened and with a much better than human sense of hearing, he was able to easily hear the brief banter between them, which from his perspective seemed to bring to mind a pack of long-time and good friends.
"Enough, that was inappropriate of you." The Overlord extinguished the sparks of further discussion almost immediately with his authoritative and decisive voice, and the two compiled without the slightest objection. "Now, however, it's time to get to the point, that as Bringers of Chaos of Change, we were created many millennia ago by the god of chaos and change, the God of Darkness. Although transformation would be a much better term here. But to put it bluntly, we are in fact the Ancients Grimm who survived the collapse of the old world and its transformation into the Remnant."
"Old World?" Adam asked, surprised, though not confused or lost, because after so much shocking variables and information that one day, nothing could surprise him anymore. "Although I have read the work of some Faunus researchers who have claimed from artifacts found centuries ago that there must have been another civilization millions of years ago, I have never taken these hypotheses seriously."
One of Adam's passions has always been history and learning about it, especially the so-called Faunus Rights Revolution, also known as the Great Faunus Rebellion, and all the other rebellions of his race against Human oppression, but he also devoted some of his free time to studying other segments of history. A supposed ancient civilization that would have existed for millennia before Vale, Vacuo, and other modern kingdoms was one of those how could I believe it when no one had ever explained how they would disappear from the surface of the Remnant.
"This is true, however, centuries ago, before a new, magic-free human race was reborn in a long evolutionary process. Humans existed and the gods supervised them. We, on the other hand, were the first four humans who sided with the God of Darkness and all that For this oath of loyalty and eternal service, we were rewarded with great power beyond what was possible for the old human race, but in the process we lost our humanity, our capacity for compassion, or our moral agenda and we transformed in the first Humans Grimm. However, human beings as mortals still existed and died, sometimes prematurely." The Overlord continued and his voice went from commanding to quite an attractive mix of solemnity and pensiveness that gave everything a more interesting air. "One of them, in the time immediately preceding a great cataclysm, , lost her beloved to an illness, but could not accept it and as a result tried to manipulate the gods to bring back to life a person who was basically her whole world to her. Of course, the gods, including our lord, saw through her ruse without difficulty, but they acted unwisely in consequence."
"Are you talking about the decision of the one who gave you this power?" Adam was a bit taken aback by this type of word choice on his part, but to his greater surprise, the four of them nodded as if they were one and the same mind. "It is quite surprising to me that you would speak out against someone of such great power."
"Ah, so you took the revelations better than we thought you would, which is a bit surprising, but very good." This time Reaper was the one to speak up. "Nevertheless, although we serve the God of Darkness, the lord of change and chaos, a capricious and malicious being, it still does not mean that he is provided with his own opinion and they regard it as the first and only source of truth. In fact, he values our opinions, especially on the subject of humanity, for we were originally human and we perfectly understand human passions, desires and passions, although we no longer feel them.
The Overlord nodded affirmatively, but his calm face then took on a tinge of obvious distaste, or rather something close to it. "Indeed it is, and we are grateful to our master for this understanding. All despite the fact that he and his brother, the God of Light, in response to this woman's attempted manipulation, both cursed her with a curse worse than death for a person wanting to meet a loved one again, the curse of immortality."
"Immortality?" Adam frowned on one hand, but on the other his lips showed an expression of obvious surprise. "But why would they do something like that?"
"Because they never understood and probably never will understand ordinary people, more emotionally unstable and violent than they ever were." Vanquisher said, but as he used to be serious and stern, at this point he was showing something akin to grief or fatigue, but not physical. "The fact is, however, that an angry and revengeful woman convinced the representatives of the old human race to openly rebel against the gods, which ended with their destruction. The cataclysm brought by the gods ended with the almost complete annihilation of the old human race."
"Almost all, what do you mean?"
"Let's just say that the woman who inflicted this terrible punishment on humanity by the gods was prevented from resting by the sheer malice of her brothers. However, at this point the gods could no longer undo the judgment and consequences of their own decisions. Turning to us, we were not destroyed by the cataclysm, for we were in our master's domain at the time, and he valued our advice and company too much to get rid of us." The Overlord continued the story, gaining Adam's attention once again.
"However… Instead of killing us or giving us free rein, he chose to create a separate world, or rather the plan of existence, for us and left it up to us to decide whether to allow other beings to enter here or not." Pauper continued this time, but his trembling voice didn't add much meaning to it all. "We decided to do it, but under certain conditions, which you managed to meet when you came to our attention. From then on, from the acquisition of an artifact created from our magic, everything was inevitable."
"Indeed, it is so, our brother, united with us by fate and circumstance." Reaper interrupted him with her alluring voice, and she brought the whole thread to an end. "The artifact you acquired a few years ago has this dependency that no matter what you do, no matter if you get rid of it or not, it will always lead your life, choices and decisions to collapse and lose everything you have worked for all your life …"
"WHAT!?" Adam screamed and in an instant aroused his hands clenched into fists. "So it's all because of…!"
"Yes, it is indirectly our merit, but for now I advise you to remain silent and listen to us." With a sharp wave of his hand and slightly raising his voice, the Overlord was able to silence him without any problems. "You are not here for nothing or for our entertainment. Your life and achievements so far have also not been reduced to ashes due to our whim. No, everything that took place was to lead you to the same path as dozens of women, men, and of both sexes among the Faunus race before. Grinding before your birth, young Taurus."
"However, now is the time for you to make a final and binding decision, which is the main reason for your presence here." Reaper chimed in, then her left arm lifted, and cumulated beams of dark energy flew out of it, which then hit several points of the ground in front of Adam.
Just then, the ground began to take on a sort of pure blood, and out of it all, after a short while, humanoid figures began to emerge. Initially, all of them glowed in different colors, mostly snow white. Only later, these humanoids began to take on much more distinct shapes and features.
After a while it became possible to see their differences, they were both Humans and Faunus, but in a few of them, Adam was able to recognize and vaguely associate them. It was hard not to, especially when he recognized some of them as victims of his sword, shotgun, or even his hands. Slaughtered, cut, shot or even strangled through him to death and without a shadow of mercy.
All of them, and the crowd summoned in this way even numbered thousands of people of different races, complexions, hair colors or body builds, turned towards Adam and, as one, rushed towards him with expressions as pitiful as pleading.
"Please save us!"
"We just want it to end!"
"We beg you, die and let us leave this world in peace!"
It was only the most distinct of their words that reached the keen ears of Adam, who in some fear took a few steps back, as if his life depended on it. However, as it turned out very quickly, when the first of them tried to touch him, he was immediately pushed away by Adam's aura, which automatically and without his command reacted to it. The same happened to several dozen more who tried to touch him, but were also repelled by the crimson aura of the Bull Faunus. Meanwhile, with a questioning and confused expression on his face, he turned to the four Ancients Grimm.
Adam didn't have to wait long for an answer. "You have a choice, young Taurus, even now, on the verge of death. You can accept the offer of making a fact with us and sacrifice all those souls that are contained in your aura even now, and despite the lack of magical abilities, gain a piece of it and a new, much more powerful a form that will allow you to lose your humanity or the last moral inhibitions resulting from what remains of your humanity. All of these will allow you to focus on your innermost purpose, but you must remember it, it is absolutely necessary."
"But everything comes at a price, and in this case, it's the sacrifice of the souls of everyone you've killed over the years." The Overlord continued, with the same unflinching and haughty expression as before, "All of them that you have killed, the reason for which don't have a matter, will then be transformed, or rather their soul will be used by us."
"For what purpose exactly?"
"To power our great army of Calculation Grimm." The Overlord answered him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Smart Grimm, able to quickly calculate and analyze their situations, which help us determine the most likely variations of the future, near or far. However, the souls used for this transformation cannot find peace at all, on the contrary, in their case this process means torture, suffering, basically endless."
"Did the same thing happen to you in the beginning when you went through these transformations?" At Adam's question, they all nodded without even a second of doubt or hesitation. "And what about me?"
"Well, so far every single one of you mortals, whether Faunus or Human, has also experienced excruciating physical suffering." Reaper gave a nonchalant answer to this question in her speech and facial expression. "However, this is not so surprising, because a certain and quite a large part of the structure of your body is transformed, just like certain ... details, which, however, primarily concern your soul, and which will change."
"What exactly?"
"As we mentioned earlier, the loss of humanity, conscience, or whatever moral inhibitions you have, which you don't have much of now anyway, and don't even try to deny it, is an obvious fact for anyone who has seen that look of yours, making it clear to us how you are very psychologically devastated by living in this cruel world." The Overlord explained calmly, his eyes never leaving Adam's for a moment. "The alternative before you, O you, related to us by misfortune, is death. True, here in our domain, time, space-time, and even the laws of physics are bent at our will, and no more blood will flow from your wounds at this point. However, there are two variants of your death, or the energy of darkness eventually penetrates your being, all that you are, not even leaving your soul behind. Alternatively, eventually the time warp effect will wear off after a while, and you'll eventually bleed out. A pitiful end for a pitiful creature, but not for you, brother."
"I have killed so many." Adamfelt like the little and doomed boy he once was, he mumbled the words plaintively, tears slowly spilling from his eyes as he watched his bloodied hands, staring at the apparently out of nothing blood beneath his feet, belonging to all those Humans and several Faunus he had killed over the years. "Does he still deserve the right to live after all I've done?"
"Adam?" One of the bodies, cut across the chest with dark skin and the characteristic features of a tiger Faunus, spoke. A female in the same robes he had seen her in the throne room when her life had ended at his hand.
"Sienna?" His voice was trembling, and tears almost flowed from his blue eye, and the one that was pale and damaged from a wound long ago. "Is that you?"
"Adam, so it's you." Then, sight golden-eyed Faunus women turned to his chest and her eyes widened? "What happened to you, Adam? Who did it and what happened after I died?"
Bullish Faunus' lip quivered at her words, while his hands began to shake as well. "Sienna, I killed you, betrayed White Fang, and everything we had achieved over the years turned to dust! All because I was too impatient and convinced that increasingly radical actions can only bring better and better results without proper preparation!"
Sienna, at that moment, did something the young Faunus did not expect, hugged him and took him in an almost motherly hug.
"Adam, calm down, your actions don't matter anymore, because from what you're telling me, they're just in the distant past at this point." Sienna tried to calm down the broken and mentally exhausted bull Faunus, who was on the verge of tears at that moment. "I guess something happened that prevented you from realizing your plan of total war against all mankind?"
"The traitor appeared once more, this time at Haven Academy, when we were about to blow up the campus and signal a great uprising against humanity, as happened in Vale." Adam explained calmly, all these facts, although they were undoubtedly a bitter, extremely bitter pill for him, he had already swallowed it long ago. "Because of my own mistakes and bitterness, I made the biggest mistake of my life, and instead of negotiating my leadership with those who brought me to power, I massacred and butchered everyone who stood in my way. This is the shortest way to get to my present position."
"Adam, I don't hold a grudge against you for what you've done..."
"How can you not?" His eyes widened in this overt and quite obvious shock, but he didn't get a chance to elaborate on that.
"Mainly due to the fact that I've been dead for a long time and no one can guarantee you that at this point it's an authentic expression of Sienna Khan's will or soul." She answered him quickly and continued without giving the slightest option for polemic. "Nevertheless, everything you've done so far, all the mistakes that have brought you to this point, have been the result of just one thing."
"What, Sienna?"
"The fact that you lost sight of your goal, your dream, which so many years ago had a decisive influence on your decision to join the White Fang and which for many years drove you to change the situation of our Faunus brothers and sisters." "You probably don't remember now, but when we were much younger, I asked you about the dream you have. Your answer stuck in my mind because it was absolutely sincere and straight from your heart."
Adam looked at her with slightly narrowed eyes and slightly reddened eyeballs. "What did I tell you then, Sienna?"
Tiger Faunus made sure that her old friend and once most faithful ally in the organization was looking straight into her golden lenses before her answer finally came out.
"That your only wish is to have power great enough to unite everyone under you, regardless of race." Her voice was as if full of passion and confidence, which in Adam's case had crumbled a few moments ago after seeing all the victims of his actions. "I remember this broken, but still yearning for a better future for all, boy who with zeal and self-confidence told me that if he only had enough power, he could literally subjugate the entire world, Humans and Faunus, and unite them in a just world where everyone would be answerable only to you."
"I was different back then, Sienna, you know that as well as I do." "I had this inner fire that inspired me
"Nonsense!" Tiger Faunus shouted briskly, like a military instructor to new recruits, and the tone caught Adam's attention and put all his instincts on high alert. "It's just an excuse that was undoubtedly born in your head after you suffered your last defeat. But if that were the case, would you go after the traitor?"
"How do you know that?" Adam was surprised that she was aware of this part, especially in view of her previously professed ignorance.
Still, Sienna didn't let him get a word out. Not at this crucial moment. "Are you really just that, a broken and willful young adult who folded in the face of a major setback just at the beginning of his long journey? Or are you more than that, the first king of all Faunus and all mankind, who you've always wanted to be? Answer no longer matters to me because I no longer belong to this world because of your actions."
However, Adam did not notice and could not see that at one point this 'soul' of his mentor and long-time friend was at some point deprived of her eyes and her skin began to take on an aggressively dark shade until her body gave the impression of at least half consumed by flies and maggots, but there was no sign of these creatures.
Bullish Faunus's gaze at that time was focused on something else, on all souls who died as a result of his actions. Apart from Sienna, all of them seemed to express only one desire, to end their torment, which was evident both from the content of their constantly repeated words and simply poor - for lack of a better description - expressions on their faces. Some of them were simply missing one or more limbs, while all the rest were just completely torn apart to the extent of yes considerably that it was hard to classify them as Humans or even Faunus yet.
After a while, however, Adam's full attention was once again focused on the soul of his former friend and mentor, as her body - or rather the body in the form of which her soul manifested - fell limply on the personifications of the souls of all others killed by the Bull Faunus. This time, however, Sienna's body was devoid of the signs of its former decay, and the only sign of her being dead was the gash inflicted on her by Adam, in what turned out to be the beginning of his downfall.
She talked about my dream, to unite all humanity and all Faunus under my and one banner, which will ensure a just world for he looked once more at all the tormented souls, killed by his blade, shotgun or even his hand, am I still able to implement it at this stage or after all this? Do you still believe in your own abilities and agency?
Wanting to look at the four Ancients Grimm who had once been human, he found none of them, as if literally no one had ever been there. And when his gaze rested on the point where the eclipsed sun had risen a moment before, something else appeared to his eyes, a completely different view. It was a mighty fortress on the plan of an eight-pointed star, in the center of which was half the size in width, but still extremely majestic and towering above the rest in height. The palace, with many different segments and made of white stone, numerous ornaments and decorations, which, however, were difficult for Adam to clearly describe from such a distance.
Nevertheless, this childhood image of the seat of a true ruler, bathed in a luminous and beautiful sunlight at the same time, was in fact a mixture. All because of his many memories and the many mansions he encountered in Atlas and in the other four realms, which, however, were etched in his memory so deeply that he could not get it out of his mind and probably never will. Nevertheless, all that he saw began to finally form and pupate, literally before his very eyes. The fortress with the palace seemed to be as plastic as plasticine at that moment, and in this state, this landscape began to transform.
"Stupid kid!" There was a voice that Adam had no trouble identifying as Sienna's, but this time it sounded venomous, angry, and fiery, like when the two of them had been on particularly tough missions where the entire original plan had been thwarted by unforeseeable events. circumstances. "Once so sure of himself and now reduced to just an emotionally unstable and indecisive fool. Either you can trust, let go of your self-pity and move on, or you have no place among the living. The choice is yours, and I warn you that you won't have a choice for much longer."
Adam looked down, and though he no longer saw his old mentor through all the tormented souls he had killed, he felt the need to respond to those words. "But can I trust myself after all these mistakes? After all, when my hardships, sacrifices and sacrifices have been thwarted by a traitor, her brides and my hasty or completely wrong decisions?"
His gaze fell once more on the moon and the image in the glow, which this time had no order or form. Rather, it all seemed to be woven from hundreds or even thousands of different visions, images, and creations of Adam's mind. Nevertheless, at some point the bullish Faunus's mind seemed to become agitated, and then one particular construction came to mind. Not a palace or a castle, but a whole city, the product of his many sleepless nights as a teenager.
Huge and marble columns, often constituting foundations or supports for those who are huge and overwhelming in terms of size, for the psyche of those who have never seen anything like this before. Huge buildings made of graphite, such as massive walls, city arches, aqueducts, residential and administration buildings, gigantic market squares, factories or skyscrapers, and stone scaffolding added to the most impressive structures, which on the one hand were supposed to improve stability and strengthen the constructions and, on the other hand, make buildings even more magnificent.
"Tauroria." Bull Faunus whispered in delight the name he had long ago decided to give to this image, as his eyes flooded with tears of pure delight turned to the central and most magnificent part of the city, the citadel, with numerous ornaments alluding with their motifs to the bull, and all that animal represents.
"So wonderful." Adam stared at the illusion presented to him as if he was hypnotized and the outsider might have thought that this Faunus was trapped in the world of his ambitions. "This is even more wonderful than I imagined."
Then, a dark violet light flashed in front of this majestic image, and a moment later the Overlord reappeared in front of the bullish Faunus, as theatrical apathetic with a movement, and with a deep movement of the folds of his robe, he pointed behind him to a glorious vision.
"Look brother, your vision can come true with one decision." It was clear that this Ancient Grimm had the full attention of the Bullish Faunus. "Make a decision, sacrifice all those who are already dead, and you can regenerate yourself at their expense, regenerate if you will, and once again become a wonder child to all. Use the dead to make up for what you've lost!"
The vision and the prospect of fulfilling a long-forgotten dream, but on this occasion extracted from the deepest bowels of his mind, basically almost determined his decisions in this matter. The prospect of regenerating, saving his life, but above all, fulfilling his dream of a world that is just for everyone, in which he himself will take care of the well-being of all the living, was too beautiful to resist.
"Just one word from you, an expression of your will, and you will be faced with the possibility of gaining not only the power to transcend the limits of this world, but also the possibility of changing it." The Overlord continued, but his words, although they fell on good and extremely fertile ground, which was undoubtedly Adam's aching heart, he did not react to it, and the vision presented to him seemed much more attractive to him.
"One word from you and everything will be changed and you will be a child prodigy again, at the peak of your intellectual and mental abilities." Overlord's words were as enticing as they were uttered in a manner no less dignified. resist the temptation to gain power and become a child prodigy once more? "All at the cost of those you killed, specifically their souls and the meager shadow they left behind. Those Humans and Faunus who tried to stop you, on your glorious path that would bring this desolate world."
Adam, at that moment, felt a surge of ambition and strength, not physical, but mental instead. Ever since his position as High Leader of White Fang was undermined and reduced to rubble, Bull Faunus has never felt so powerful, for he has never before had the ability to grasp such power in his hands.
If someone had an insight into his thoughts at that moment, he would see the process in which the mind, broken and furious at the whole reality around - literally the whole - begins to reassemble into a cohesive whole. Consuming doubts and guilt over failure or past actions. Instead, a warrior, a leader, a great swordsman, and a brave bull, he regained the old fire of ambition and dream that had motivated his earliest moves to a position within the White Fang.
Adam looked still filled with excitement and as if with fire at the souls, or rather the representations of the souls of all those he had killed and who begged for the most part to be spared their suffering. However, the young bull Faunus looked at them indifferently, and their pleas for mercy evoked sheer contempt for him. Especially when he looked at the Faunus traitors who refused to follow his orders and basically deprived him of his power over White Fang, not to mention the hated by Schnee Dust Company employees, whether they were the directors of various company departments, security employees or others who, in Adam's opinion, contributed to the captivity of the Faunus race by the SDC, in their case by being passive to the fate of his brothers, thus giving tacit consent to slavery.
He glanced fleetingly at Sienna, whom he had found among them all, and with only a sad smile of acceptance on her lips, she nodded at him, then closed her eyes and prepared herself for what was about to happen. It was basically already decided, both he and she were well aware of it.
Adam then looked straight into the eyes of the Overlord, beside whom the other three Humans Grimm also gathered. The others stared at young Faunus with undisguised excitement while their basically leader and the eldest among them remained haughty, aloof from everything that was going on here and despite everything he said, despite all this long offer made to Adam, all this to Overlord, it just seemed like one of many situations that could go one way or the other, but it didn't matter to him.
"I sacrifice them." Adam felt his blood quiver as he uttered these words, and at the same time the landscape began to change.
The sun began to emit a dark purple light mixed with an aggressive crimson, and a moment later there was a light explosion there. Adam had to close and cover his eyes as a result of the irritation caused by such a powerful light explosion. But when his gaze rested on the eclipsed moon again, he let out an almost scream in surprise, for he saw hundreds or even hundreds of thousands of pitch-black figures with eyes that emitted and emanated a blood-purple and aggressive light. The shapes of these creatures were really various, humanoid, when equines, birds are just a few of the hundreds of different forms that these mysterious creatures had. There were also those with eight tentacles that looked like octopuses.
From one perspective, it would undoubtedly be a terrifying sight and arousing understandable fear, all these imaginable forms straight from the most primal and natural horrors. Looking at it from a different perspective, including that of the bullish Faunus, all these black beings seemed to take on and be a certain expression of all the beings that existed on the remnant. Those that once existed and died out, and those that still exist, move on the surface of this world. As if someone responsible for the creation of these black creatures wanted to some extent pay homage to every living creature possible on Remnant, both Humans, Faunus, and the rest of the animals.
However, doubts about their purpose were dispelled very quickly when several of them began to pounce on the souls of those killed by Adam. One of the most aggressive ones, they literally tore every soul they encountered, but to the surprise of the young Faunus himself, there was no blood or guts, and instead any damage inflicted on soul 'bodies' in this place seemed to emanate the same light that A person's aura while alive. However, those who never unlocked their aura simply emitted a bright white light.
As for the actual process that took place, those torn apart were then taken by other black figures, whose bodies at the moment began to remind Adam of the Grimm. However, there were also less aggressive characters who, instead of tearing to pieces, simply took the given soul representation in an embrace, then took it to the eclipsed sun. One such person who was not torn to pieces but taken by often humanoid figures, undoubtedly servants of the Ancients Grimm, was Sienna Khan herself, who simply calmly accepted the fate chosen for her by Adam and had no intention of protesting.
Both her former mentor and her apprentice exchanged quick glances, obvious goodbyes, this time proper and forever, without the same tension that had taken place in the throne room of White Fang's headquarters. It was a farewell marked strongly emotionally for both of them, but one that ultimately had to take place at that moment.
Sienna, like the rest of the souls, was captured by the dark creatures with their characteristic eyes, and then taken along with the other souls towards the dark sun. From a distance, it was not visible, but it was enough to look and Adam's acute senses revealed to him that all these souls and black beings penetrate, or rather are drawn into the interior of the eclipsed sun.
"Goodbye Sienna." Adam said at one point with a melancholic tone in his voice as he recalled the times of learning under her watchful eye, and tears began to gather under his eyes en masse and the bullish Faunus sobbed with obvious sadness, but in no way did he regret his decision. "It's not that I enjoyed the betrayal, it's just that in the previous and this case, it was the best decision possible. Firstly you stood slowing down the development of the White Fang, and now your sacrifice is the only sensible way for our ideals of fighting for a better world for Faunus to survive."
Of the four Ancients Grimm that watched and listened to him, only Reaper decided to make any comment, or rather comment on Adam's words. "Such a touching, such a strong emotional attachment to the mentor, and yet he perfectly understands how important it is to end one life so that something new can arise from the ashes created in this way."
The whole transport of souls to the surface of the eclipsed sun lasted a few minutes in total, and when the whole process was finally over and all black beings returned to the place from which they came and the souls were absorbed there, the whole process began to reach its climax. A few moments later, a mixture of bright red and dark purple light was asleep in the eclipsed sun, like veins covering the entire surface. It didn't take long, however, for the sun to be completely covered with this world, veins spilling over the entire surface, only to concentrate in a few seconds on a single point, and then the energy accumulated in this process discharged in the form of lightning shot out and within seconds struck straight into Adam's heart.
Bull Faunus roared in pain for a few seconds, but moments later his body went limp, devoid of any power from his nerve center. For a moment, Adam felt the pain as the energy spilled over his entire body, penetrating his veins and nervous system until it hit his heart and stopped it. So it wasn't long before the male fell to his knees and lowered his head to the floor. Thus, he found himself in a state of semi-consciousness and could not feel or see how the energy that had hit and pulsed in his body a moment ago began to spill over the next two meters and form a shiny cocoon with black veins around it, or in this particular case, rather to spread a cocoon around it. The whole thing lasted no longer than the previous events, and a few seconds after it ended, the inside began to fill with a scarlet and emanating magical liquid, which seemingly seemed to strengthen it, but it only seemed that way for the first few seconds.
When only a few seconds had passed since Adam's body came into contact with the water, his skin literally began to boil with magical energy and dissolve, as if his whole body was only made of ice cubes. His hair began to fall out and melt as well, his nails as well, then magical liquid poured into his body. Any veins, teeth, bones, digestive system or other internal parts of the young Faunus, all began to literally dissolve and mix with the magical essence. Adam himself, contrary to what he was told earlier, did not feel any pain in connection with all this, and all due to the fact that the Overlord himself chose for him such and no other method of transforming the Bull Faunus, which caused a slight consternation among theAncients Grimm.
"Why did you apply transformations through a cocoon of darkness?" Reaper asked him while the other two looked at the Overlord, waiting for an answer. "Why would you show him this illusion and basically deprive him of his free will to make that decision?"
"Is it so hard to guess my motive from the logical sequence of causes and effects, based on your knowledge of my modus operandi?" The Overlord asked them in response, but it became clear to them that this was a rhetorical question that he did not expect an answer to.
Despite everything, Reaper took the subject further anyway and made it clear that she had no idea and neither did the other two. "Until now, since the transformation of the last of us, you have always used the method of transforming those claiming to receive this power through a vortex of dark energy that tears apart and re-forms every unit given to this process."
"Yes, that's what I did, as you can see, Reaper." His answer was somewhat impassive, and as if it were not uttered by someone who was emotionally involved in something that many could simply describe as a cruel, immoral or downright evil act.
However, the former representative of the fair sex did not even have the slightest intention to give up and continued. "Why did you make this exception now, when the world of Remnant, the world of mortals, is currently in chaos and going through changes that nothing will be the same after?"
"He..." It was at this point that Reaper pointed to an energy cocoon where the only remnants of Adam were his clothes, but even these had undergone some color change as a result of contact with dark magical energy. "He's one of the reasons why all this change is happening. Each of us, at some point in the history of the world before its destruction, made significant post-transformation changes, and then of our own free will entered this domain, this astral plane, and yet it has already participated in a great change…"
"He participated, he was only part of this change, but still it was not his initiative and it was essential to his downfall, degradation and current metamorphosis." The Overlord interrupted her, then looked straight into the eyes of the repulsive and terrifying Ancient Grimm. "His role in this change, a pivotal role, is still yet to be played at this point. On the contrary, he still has a big role to play, especially with the powers he's just gaining."
"Perhaps, but that still doesn't answer the question of why did you actually give him the transformation method he did?"
The Overlord began to feel something akin to a slight weariness at that moment, so he decided to succumb to her persistent asking, knowing that at this point she wouldn't let go of the line, as she always did when Reaper insisted on something. "Because I'm going to leave his mind unexperienced by the usual dose of pain that leads to it usually drives the transformed person insane, or at best leaves them traumatized. Simply put, I intend to use him, his ambitions, passions and visions to realize something that has been on my mind for the last few decades since the end of the so-called Great War in the mortal world."
"Plan?" This time the question was asked by Vanquisher, the hitherto calm, dry and distant warrior raised his eyebrows in surprise, and a moment later he and the Overlord made eye contact. "I was convinced that it was our primary duty, by the will of the God of Darkness, to analyze, anticipate and accurately determine the most likely potential scenarios for developments on Remnant. Although so far our efforts have often missed the history of what was left after the work of the gods' brothers, we have a clear order from our god and superior not to interfere directly in the course of history..."
"Directly." The Overlord interrupted him in this rather laconic way, then proceeded to explain his intentions towards Adam Taurus in a bit more detail. "However, divine command never forbade the creation of a suitably prepared champion, armed with the knowledge, power, cunning and vision necessary to end this parody of the conflict between the Grimm Queen and this ill-intentioned and reckless fool."
Pauper also added a few words on his part, quite timidly. "Well, it is as you say, after all, who in their right mind would decide to make a rash move, which is undoubtedly the distribution of a large part of the power among four more or less randomly selected to be the wielders of this magical energy."
He had caught the attention of the other Ancients Grimm and was somewhat intimidated by them, but he continued to talk and had no intention of stopping, not at this point. "To play with the will of our god and master is risky to say the least and may be our undoing, but it may also bring about the resolution of this endless marital conflict."
"This is true to some extent." Vanquisher nodded in acceptance of this point of view. "Nevertheless, if the God of Darkness were to return and discover our involvement in the eventual end of this feud, we might have to discuss this action and explain our motivations in a way that would be tense to say the least, to say the least."
"I am well aware of this and I assure you that in this case, I take all the negative repercussions of such decisions on myself, because all this is done by my will and I made this decision as your more or less formal leader." The Overlord effectively stopped further discussion on the subject and to some extent lessened their fears in the event of the possible return of the God of Darkness. "Nevertheless, and I will say it directly now, just once, I am convinced that our stubborn, but until recently broken by life, brother has a dream, will, visions, strength and cunning, all strong enough to finally end this fight between the Witch and the Wizard, once and forever."
Reaper now understood the crux of his decision. "That's why you gave him the least painful change, so that he would retain his full faculties, become like us in our glory days, and never lose sight of his purpose again."
"So you finally understand the reason for the decision you made, I'm glad to hear that." The Overlord was equally dry and condescending to her, but kept as calm as Reaper, who had grown accustomed to it from millennia of his way of speaking. "However, whether he ends this conflict and then unites all who survive under his rule, or whether he decides to exterminate both Humans and Faunus, is completely indifferent to me. For me, all that matters is ending this conflict and bringing our master back to this world, even if it means destruction."
At this point, he gave up continuing this conversation and, flying towards the ground, quickly approached a glowing cocoon, inside which the energy of darkness finally began to form a humanoid shape, but at that moment devoid of horns or any more individual or characteristic features. The Overlord, however, did not pay much attention to it at that moment and instead focused on the majestic landing, with the accompanying movement of the folds of his magnificent robe.
The hand of the oldest of the Humans Grimm rested on the top of the cocoon, and then he began to stare more carefully at the transformation that had been taking place for several minutes. It might have seemed an insignificant and whimsical gesture, but it wasn't. In fact, at this point he made a magical connection with Adam's soul energy, which he did only a few times during this procedure. In this case, however, he was going to feel the fullness of his feelings, and he was not disappointed by what he saw in the deepest depths of his mind, heart, and will, not the Overlord in the slightest. He could almost feel that, until recently, a young Faunus, he is now full of unwavering determination, will and clearly sees his visions, far-reaching results.
"Excellent." The Ancient Grimm whispered as if it was going to be something extremely intimate for both of them and would remain only for them, without involving anyone, not even the other three of them now fighting. "I sense all your emotions, you really are a true bull, steadfast again and now also endowed with great power that you deserve no more than all living mortals for a lifetime, at all. The fact that you will get all this, this opportunity, does not mean that you deserve it, just as mortals do not deserve to live just by being born, breathing and polluting the world. What you do with this power is of little importance to me and is solely in your hands as well as within your vision. If you see fit to destroy this world, along with all Grimm and their controlling entity or mortals, then that will be a fitting fate for this world. If you decide that you want to be a hero and try to destroy the Grimm and their mistresses, that will also be appropriate. But if by this power you choose to create a world and a society that is answerable only to you as supreme ruler, it will be no less and no more appropriate than the previous decisions."
The Overlord then withdrew his hand and, without another word, began to watch the climax of this transformation approaching. Seemingly devoid of individual features, humanoid shapes created from dark energy, now began to take on characteristics more characteristic of Humans and Faunus. Fair but slightly tanned skin, blue eyes, fingernails, facial features, black horns and a masculinity mark of quite impressive size that would put to shame not one or two 'alpha males'.
At this point, however, the similarities between the old Adam as Faunus and the new Adam as Human Grimm ended. His lips took on a dark purple hue, and his hair, instead of being red, almost crimson, took on a decided and strong black-purple shade instead. A few moments did not pass, and Adam's characteristic horns simply repulsed him from his head and dematerialized seconds after this event, thus losing the Faunus Trait. Also, the scar on his left eye, a reminder of his long stint in the SDC mines, was gone, replaced by a good eye and the skin on his cheek and eye area as smooth as the rest of his body.
Not even another ten minutes passed before the once bullish Faunus, left in this state, began to transform again. This time, however, he was surrounded by a black liquid emanating dark energy, which then covered his entire body and when this process came to an end, another transformation took place. Quite prominent abdominal muscles and muscles on his arms began to grow quite profusely, while his hands and feet began to transform into what after a while took the shape of hooves. His head was also transformed into a much less humanoid one, his ears grew larger, and a pair of dark scarlet horns, emitting the same light, sprouted from his head. On the other hand, at the back, slightly above the height of Adam's buttocks, he grew a rather large and black tail at the same time.
Overall, the process of another transformation took about three minutes, but Adam eventually acquired a new form, or at least a new optional form. Now he looked like a powerful and muscular bull, but he was at least twice the size of normal males. It was at least 5 meters high and over 9 meters wide. However, it grew again, so that its size at that moment easily exceeded 10 meters.
As a result of this latest expansion, the cocoon in which it had been present until now turned out to be far too small to fit there. Finally, after another, and this time, slight growth, specifically after covering Adam's body with a white armor that perfectly adhered to his body, the cocoon broke and the liquid inside spilled onto the nearest ground. Adam himself, however, remained unconscious for a few more moments, and during this time the remaining part of the dark magical power was absorbed into his body larger than that of an ordinary human.
After a moment, the eyes of this huge bull flew open, as if he had just been snatched from the embrace of death and returned to the world of the living. The rapid inhalations and exhalations that accompanied his awakening only added much more credibility to it.
With his awakening, it was easy to see his final characteristic in this form as a Grimm, glowing eyes whose color was a chaotic and constantly changing mix of reds and purples, which seemed to consist of a chaotic and emanating flame of the same color. He looked around the space around him, then stood up, and in the meantime, with a loud sigh of pure surprise, he noticed his metamorphosis to this particular state.
"What happened?" He asked, but while at one time he would undoubtedly have started screaming and hysterical, his new approach to emotions and basically lack of any greater and deeper emotional sensitivity made it quite easy for him to accept the new state of affairs, but mostly he only wanted to know the limits and specifics of this new forms. "Why did I turn into something that looks like a bull but is not."
"This is one of the many perks you get when turning into a Human Grimm, a new form that expresses your soul, brother." The Overlord answered him calmly, then a small and cold smile appeared on his lips, and his eyes seemed to flash for a few seconds. "In your case, it is a bull, an expression of power and determination, worthy of someone whose dream was to destroy the world and create a new one where everyone would be accountable to you and your righteous rule."
Adam nodded his big head in understanding, then transformed and transformed back into his humanoid and still naked form. To be honest, defining how he was able to do it was on the one hand extremely simple, child's play, but on the other hand it wasn't that at all. It could be mentioned that it was only because of his will to change that this happened, but in fact it was not, or rather such a statement would not be accurate enough.
Adam did it in a way that could rather be described as instinct, as if the whole procedure and awareness of the transformation had been carefully and in detail implanted in his memory. For an outsider, something incredibly strange, but for this Human Grimm, it was not something surprising or shocking if it became obvious to him on the way of this transformation.
As for the person most interested in this whole transformation, he stood shamelessly, completely naked, in the middle of this dark land, with his eyes fixed on his feet, the present position of which fell on a surface covered with a transparent and, as a result of the use of his metamorphosis, completely deprived of its former magical glow. . Nevertheless, a moment of thoughtfulness was enough for him to raise his right hand and stare, and he began to move, clenching and unclenching his fingers. It wasn't long before he looked over at the Overlord, who was staring at their new brother.
"However, I have one more question that just came to my mind a moment ago. What happened to others who undoubtedly made the same sacrifice as I did?" The question, specifically its origin and literal spawning a moment ago, was more than true.
"Their fates have varied over the decades and entire millennia, but as for those who lived closest to the present moment, some fulfilled their literally minor ambitions and had no major impact on the world, others were killed at the hands of Queen Grimm, who tried to drag them to her side but failed in the process." Overlord's answer was essentially devoid of great detail. "Still others have lost their minds, as a result of the standard and painful procedure of transformation, much of this group has been killed by the wizard who has been given the curse of reincarnation by the god brothers until his mission is fulfilled which is to unite humanity and call back to this world gods, but I doubt he'll ever succeed, given the certain tendency among humanoids to divide and fight, sometimes on the flimsy of reasons."
Adam couldn't disagree, but his mind was occupied with another issue. "I wonder how it will all end up? Although I feel my vision, its rightness, and I am more than determined to implement it, I still do not know if my actions will not do more harm than good for mortals. Besides, I don't know if I really have any influence on my decisions and fate anymore?"
"As I mentioned to you earlier, you may as well exterminate the populations of this world, and that will also be appropriate for them all. Nevertheless, the fact that you are considering the potential consequences for your future subjects is in fact the ultimate proof that your fears are unfounded." The Overlord answered him, calmly and matter-of-factly. "As for your second question, first of all I have to refute the view formed about the postulate of free will. In fact, society, social class or living conditions shape who you are and it is beyond your control, none of us could. Can a thief be held responsible for the fact that he decided to steal from hunger and lack of prospects for development? more so, external factors also depend here."
Adam nodded, finding that a fairly logical explanation that actually matched what he had always felt, almost instinctively.I and my generation, as well as the entire living population of this world, have always been told that we ourselves are fully responsible for our decisions, choices or what happens to us. But how could I accept such an explanation if I had always felt, through studying the arcana of history, that all events were connected. That people, regardless of race, make decisions based on the reality and living conditions that surround them. Now that this was explained by such an old being who undoubtedly had the ability to observe the world, not one but two, he must be right about that. However…
Though reborn as a Human Grimm, he still had many questions, but the Overlord successfully prevented him from answering them. "It is high time you left this realm, for Remnant awaits you as your future kingdom, your realm. By losing your emotions and humanity, you have gained a unique opportunity to stand above mortals as their absolute ruler, who will bring them peace and prosperity. However, whether you take full advantage of this opportunity depends only on you, your consistency and ability to take advantage of the situation, but it is due to your own experiences that you have surely realized."
"Absolutely." Adam grunted thoughtfully, and after a few seconds gave his full attention back to his eldest brother. "If you have nothing more to say to me, then I will leave this land knowing very well my ultimate goal."
Young Taurus was about to ask to be teleported back to Remnant, to the place where he had almost died. Nevertheless, Reaper had a few more words to say, much to the surprise of the Overlord and the other three of her brothers.
"Just one thing, my new little brother." She replied a bit predatorily and with her mouth twisted into a smile, which, however, was contradicted by the expression of her eyes, devoid of any human emotions. "You'd better put something on, it would be unfortunate if the people of Remnant saw their future ruler completely naked."
Her gaze then fell on the point between Adam's thighs. "Although I have to admit your birthmark is quite impressive and if anyone says size matters then they should see your column and acknowledge you as my king."
Once upon a time, Adam would undoubtedly have blushed at this comment and undoubtedly felt a great deal of embarrassment. But now that his old feelings - including the feeling of shame - were gone, he didn't feel embarrassed, but rather he was extremely indifferent to everything. That's why she only gave her a fleeting look before he grabbed all of his significantly dyed clothes along with boots, a scabbard-rifle Blush and bowed to his trinity of new brothers and sister.
"Thank you for guiding my destiny in this direction." He spoke to them respectfully, but still the note of his voice was basically almost completely devoid of any deeper emotion. "I may have suffered a loss, but I have gained power and a valuable lesson that I will never forget. Now, however, take me back to Remnant, where my life was to end."
"It will be as you wish, but I must ask you, are you absolutely sure of this, brother?" The Overlord asked him, and the twinkle in his eye made it clear that he was taking this completely seriously. "We can take you anywhere in the world, so why back to Argus?"
"Because my sword is still there, which was quite a challenge to create and took me a long time to forge this blade." Adam replied. "Besides, this will be a good place to start my journey to rule Remnant and its inhabitants. There was a small but strong branch of White Fang in the Argus area, which I believe was never informed of what took place in Heaven. They had at least a couple of airships and high-quality Dust rifles. However, this is just an assumption that may have become obsolete a long time ago, but it's still worth a try."
"So be it, brother." The Overlord nodded in understanding and sighed, then raised his hand, and a black and purple spot began to form behind Adam, expanding very quickly to over six meters high and almost as wide, without a single shape.
Adam turned and took a step in the direction, but gave a quick glance at his new siblings for a few short seconds, then gave them a forced smile and headed for the portal.
"We'll meet again in the future." With these words he left them, and a few moments later he was close to where his life would end.
Well, I guess I can safely assume that I was originally going to die there, and all but that artifact. But speaking of these thoughts, he reached into his clothes, specifically into the top pocket of his dyed jacket, and pulled out a round locket hanging from a small silver little… things did far more for me than I could have imagined. There is so much to do, so much to think about, so many resources to gather and plans to think about, all started by something so small. Were it not for the fact that all this took place, I would rather still think that old woman was crazy, and yet, having doubts, I received proof.
Adam then looked at his naked body again and, apart from moral issues, he began to feel uncomfortable and giving him chills, correlated and intensified by a fairly strong wind, only then decided to get dressed. He started with underwear - red boxer shorts with black polka dots - socks, and then he moved on to trousers, shoes, once pure red and now dyed purple tunic, then a winter jacket, after which he wrapped a summer jacket around his torso, dedicated to a warmer place, than the Argus.
Only then did he take out a scroll, undamaged by water - due to waterproof protection - from his pocket and almost immediately after entering a short series of numbers that make up the password, he immediately activated the camera mode and, pressing the appropriate icon, switched the display of the screen to the rear camera in such a way as to be able to take a full look at your own appearance and see any changes. What appeared to his eyes was a kind of surprise for him, but his expression remained indifferent.
It seems that apart from sacrificing my humanity, I also had to lose my Faunus traits, it can be really hard, but it's only a minor thought when he looked at his new and purple hair, head devoid of characteristic horns or even after a while he noticed colored lips, or the lack of a scar on his left eye and thus healing this part of the , my new look, the color of my eyes, lips and even hair, perfectly match the newly dyed jackets and patterns on these parts of my wardrobe, no doubt.
It was only then that he was fully struck by a new feeling, which seemed to be able to engrave itself effectively and completely in his consciousness only now. He has fully felt and realized what, in terms of feeling and what he is, this change in his psyche or ability to feel, or rather sympathy, actually meant. The inability to feel anger, jealousy, envy, compassion, shame, joy, or any deeper emotional arousal left him with a certain sense of emptiness. From his perspective, it was as if there was a cold but very easily felt hole in his heart. Contrary to appearances, however, he did not feel sadness or melancholy about it, because he lost this ability, and instead this emptiness in his heart gave him a strange to define but at the same time amazing feeling of freedom, freedom and being unhampered by animal instincts.
I can fully say that by losing my feelings or the ability to be controlled by them, I have finally become fully and unmistakably free. Free from what has weighed on my heart for all these last weeks and months and pushed me to at least irrational then took a deep breath and after a few seconds let it out as if with a little relief and opening his eyes again after a minute of repeating the same the loss of the ability to have or feel most feelings is the way to freedom and the possibility of uninhibited realization of one's own vision, then it is undoubtedly worth doing.
He then put the scroll back into the pocket he had taken it out of and went for a short walk. In the meantime, he also reattached Blush to his belt before crossing and squeezing his hands behind his back. Thus proceeding, as the sun began to set in that land, and night, and the darkness associated with it, began to gain dominion.
At the same time, however, a plan, or rather a draft, was born in his head. A plan that would enable him not only to return to the world stage as a major player, step by step, piece by piece. Moreover, the first steps of his plan were not without significance, first gaining the allegiance of this White Fang branch, well armed and able to provide him with the necessary resources.
Once I have the power and obedience of the members there, I can begin preparations to return to Vale. Still, the White Fang branch there is strong, cohesive and ready for action, given the hardships of the Faunus population there and the opportunities that the fall of Beacon coupled with the paralysis of the realm has presented to my brethren. Adam was only vaguely formulating his plan, for he could not be sure of the details of the situation , I will have three main goals there. Gain power over the White Fang branch, then reform this creation into a new organization, focused entirely on the armed struggle for Faunus and our rights. This will be followed by the third point, where it will be necessary to launch a massive recruitment campaign throughout the kingdom, acquire newer and newer weapons and resources, and finally attack the state prison where those who were able to survive the operations under Roman's command.
While he was thinking and walking slowly, his attention was drawn to the sight of a certain oblong red shape in a nearby pond. He didn't have to stare long and he wouldn't take much time to think to understand that it was Wilt, his Dust-imbued and practically always faithful sword. The last fight was an exception, but that was easy to forgive now, considering that Adam had become a half-true psychopath.
"My old, reliable friend who has been by my side through all these years of struggle and sacrifice." He said solemnly to himself, then grabbed the bare blade, pulled it out of the body of water. "In almost pristine condition, it will serve me well for many more years if properly maintained and repaired."
He then slid the blade deftly back into the Blush, which was mostly more of a rifle than a scabbard for Wilt. It was then that he realized that a change would be necessary in his case, adequate to change his current appearance and lose his features as a Taurus is dead, at least as an entity. I'm not him anymore, but that doesn't mean I can't relate to him.
He took his scroll out of the pocket of his tinted jacket once more, then looked at himself once more. He found nothing of his former passion or indiscretion, only a cold desire to pursue his own goal, his dream.
It was at this moment, as he stared at his own new face, that thoughts entered his mind about the story of the mythical hero of the Faunus race, who once destroyed the armies of Humans and killed their monarchs, at least those who wanted to enslave this species. A hero with the characteristics of a bull, who was ultimately defeated by the first and legendary Emperor Mistral, who then locked the defeated Faunus in a great labyrinth in a city whose name was lost over the centuries due to memory loss and the destruction of the city itself.
Minotaur Taurus, that should sound pretty good to … No, Minotaur, he smiled, taking on a whole new identity, which was a fresh and completely new opportunity for younger brother of Adam Taurus, who, after receiving information about the death of his older brother, decided to start his own revolution, aimed not only at avenging the wrongs done to Faunus, but above all at creating a powerful empire that will ensure prosperity and security for millennia for all Faunus who wish join this creation, like a new world.
The minotaur tapped Wilt's blade several times, then his mind produced a story about the younger Taurus brother obtaining Adam's won it when he found the corpse of his brother's body, now devoid of spirit and all life functions. Acquiring his weapon and seeing his corpse, he decided to continue the legacy of his older brother, in a new and much more realistic form than total war with humanity.
At the same time, he remembered that each of the four kingdoms and Menagerie itself had a founding myth. So if he wanted to create some new country, kingdom, nation, or whatever his concept of empire was, he simply had to have such a myth. Then too, the cogs in his coollycalculating his mind began to move, and in a moment he had the answer to this problem. Quite a pleasant and satisfying answer, I might best story, the founding myth I can give to the Faunus population and the world at large, will be to free the Faunus in the SDC mines as slaves in all but name. After all, who doesn't like stories and is good and honest, saved from the captivity of depraved and arrogant elites by a charismatic hero. If he knows, there have been at least a few such stories over the centuries.
He clicked his tongue as he contemplated the appropriate execution of the attack on Atlas, or rather on the SDC mines, which housed a fairly significant number of Faunus slaves.
The minotaur took a few more steps and then stopped and looked towards the setting sun, which, among high rocks, many trees, but in a position over a cliff and an empty landscape further, had a view as beautiful as it made him think.
I've lost my humanity, the ability to feel deeper feelings. But in return I got what I always wanted. The power, the real power, that I will be able to change this world. He wasn't saddened by the same loss, not even melancholic or anxious, and instead his mouth was adorned with what could at best be like a smile, but strange and devoid of even the slightest hint of genuine I have gained is undoubtedly much more valuable than my previous power over White Fang.
"That's why" And with those words began the fight of this young and brave bull to change the world in the way he once dreamed of, and in which all will be accountable to him.
So what if he lost part of his humanity, if he had visions before his eyes at that moment, which he was ready to stick to until the very end, until death or full realization.
I wish you all the best and see you in the future.
