"Grief is like walking on cracked glass that won't shatter… the desire to end it yet the glass won't shatter and snap you out of the hollow world you're trapped in, and once you begin to do what it is you think will free you from your pain, the glass shatters, yet no blood spills"-Asami
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A sight no parent would ever want to see had met Athena's eyes. The sight of the mangled hand which undeniably belonged to her daughter made Athena's heart drop.
In that brief moment, all the noise that surrounded her had went silent. All she could hear in that moment was a loud ringing noise.
Her eyes began to fill with tears which only made the her bloodshot eyes look more intense. Though one of the reasons Athena was respected and even slightly feared among the world's most prestigious sorcerer lineages was not only due to her affinity with divine level sorcery…
But also for her ability to keep a level head in dire situations. With such strong mental fortitude, that and her divine powers were enough to make entire nations tremble.
But in this moment, her maternal instincts had almost taken a hold of all reason in her mind. As Jason glanced over toward Athena, he noticed a small trail of blood racing down her chin from her lip.
Her teeth were stabbing right into her lower lip as she balled her fists.
Her murderous gaze remained on the indifferent damned man, though her words pierced through Jason's ears.
"Jason… where is Aria?… is she-"
Jason was still hunched over in selene's arms. Flowers were still sprouting from his wounds, though with a sharp pain piercing him from all directions, Jason said in a broken voice:
"Don't worry Miss Athena. Aria's alright… she's with Kaida."
Hearing the boy's words, the white divine flames which suddenly began igniting in her murderous eyes had wavered slightly as she calmed herself with a deep exhale.
While Athena was hanging on by a thin thread to keep her composure, General Asami had briefly glanced over toward her. For a split second, a flashing image of her deceased child had flashed in her mind.
General Asami knew grief all too well, and what it could to do a person. And to Lieutenant sidra's surprise as she watched from the side, she noticed a subtle shift in her general's eyes.
Her usual cold indifference was still there, but with no doubt in her mind there was another feeling that dwelled deep in the dark and empty eyes of the northern tribe's general. Perhaps, empathy and understanding.
Though that brief moment was immediately interrupted as the damned man had began slowly approaching Jason and Selene.
Beneath his feet, where his footsteps printed the jagged grounds of hell, dead flowers bloomed in his trail.
After a few tense seconds, the damned man was towering right over the two siblings. Selene's arms suddenly began trembling as she felt a cold breeze crawl up her spine, giving her goosebumps.
She was completely webbed in a sudden sense of fear as she cradled her younger brother in her arms.
Both the siblings eyes had locked onto the damned man's own devilish eyes. It suddenly felt as if they were gazing into the eyes of the something more sinister than the origin of sin himself.
What made the group tense up even more was the fact that aside from Jason who had witnessed a mere glimpse of the damned man's power just earlier, was that he had not uttered a single word upon being freed from his seal in the heart of Hell.
It was impossible to know what this unholy husk was thinking. But terror had re-entered back into Jason's heart as the man moved his lips and spoke in a raspy voice.
"I'll ask you only once more boy… who. Are. You?"
The repetition of the question the damned man asked him earlier irked Jason. Once he heard the question for the first time, he had assumed that the damned man could sense the presence of Hell's king residing within his vessel.
But now, his thought process was different. Come to think of it, earlier when Jason had felt an unbearable pain sprouting through his body like a plague, he felt as though his mind had began to split apart after he looked into the eyes of the damned man.
And the flowers that had suddenly began to bloom not only across hell's grounds, but through Jason's own body had made it clear that the flowers, which the supreme generals and Tengu had referred to as a malediction, had something to do with the damned man's sorcery.
And in that moment, when he felt as though someone… or something, had began to hijack his mind.
A power which allowed one to invade the minds of anyone who comes in contact with his spirit energy. Normally Jason wouldn't find himself puzzled at the functions of such a common power used among sorcerers, but this particular use of it had unsettled him.
'So far, this man guy only invaded my body and no one else's… raiser on one hand, he wasn't possessed by this man… what in the world?'
Jason didn't want to believe it. The thought of sorcery acting on its own, even against the will of the sorcerer.
Then it hit him. Why doesn't the damned man possess anyone else?
With this magnitude of power, surely he should be able to. And what's with that same question this guy keeps asking on loop?
In their earlier confrontation, Jason could recall hearing the damned man's voice sound in his own mind. He felt compelled to obey him, but with the curse of hell's King, he managed to resist.
But the mental attack seemed too specific especially with the way the damned man used it.
Like a Hivemind.
***
General Asami knew the damned man well. After all, he was once her comrade during the blood war back when he was only in his teen years.
As the patriarch of his clan, it was his Hivemind connection to his kin that played a huge factor into driving back the invading forces of Hell's spawns.
General Asami reached for the hilt of her katana. Feeling the hard surface of the hilt on her hand which had skin peeled off, she swiftly unsheathed the blade and walked slowly toward the damned man.
"It's been thirty eight years, Kahal. You look like shit."
The blade of her katana sung as it scraped across the jagged surface of Hell's ground. The damned man flinched at the unpleasant sound, tilting his head to face his former comrade, his eyes were dull yet intense.
Once General Asami came to a stop, the priest took his stand next to her. Both silently awaiting the damned man's next move.
The damned man tilted his head both ways. An unpleasant cracking noise sounded as he released the tension in his muscles.
He then turned his attention away from the two siblings and brought his indifferent gaze toward the general and the priest.
One silent moment was enough to fill everyone's hearts with fear and anticipation, and the next…
Flowers suddenly began to bloom around the damned man's body. Stretched across his long messy hair, and down from one half of his body.
In that stretched moment, everything fell tensely silent. What made the moment more frightening was the indifference on the damned man's face.
Suddenly, one of his eyes was covered with an open flower which sprouted from one of his eyes.
The air then began to feel, wrong. General Asami's heartbeat was the only noise that sounded in the silent moments before death's siren song began to play.
For the first time in the millennium of her life, she felt something, but couldn't exactly understand what that feeling was in the moment.
Without her even realizing it, her grip on the hilt of her katana wavered. Rapidly, her heart's beat hastened.
A flicker of doubt, primal fear. A superstition that existed since the primordial days, often times in battle the body reacted to lurking danger before the mind could comprehend.
As general Asami locked eyes with the damned man, suddenly her mind traveled back a thousand years to the blood bathed battlefield of the blood war.
The night of that battle was in pure silence. The surrounding area was as empty as a ghost town, with only the supreme generals standing in their circular formation.
At that time, Asami had the same feeling that was taking place in her chest in the current era.
Standing next to her was Kahal who was fifteen years old at the time of the war, just recently admitted to the rank of supreme general.
Experiencing this memory, it was so vivid that it felt as though Asami was now back in time to that moment.
'What is this?'
Suddenly, the young bandit turned to face the older woman. His voice was flat and indifferent as he spoke with empty eyes.
"Why're you hesitating?… hesitation is the quickest way to die."
Asami's eyes widened.
Just like that, her vivid memory shattered like glass and she was back in the present moment. Her eyes snapped up quickly, but it was too late.
The air around all was filled with a thick red fog with spores in the air. Thick tree roots erupted from the ground and formed a barrier around the area.
From the thick roots, black vines with red leaves attached to them had violently jolted out toward everyone.
"Get down!"
The northern tribe's supreme general barked as she ran the blade of her katana along her hand. Once her blood coated the black blade, she spun around and sent out a circular blood slash which cleaved right through the vines.
The priest had took the opportunity to summon his white transparent avatar which towered over everyone and grabbed onto the damned man, who kept his indifferent expression.
Hinari clutched her long staff and threw her broken glasses to the side. When General Asami had send her circular blood slash through the air, Hinari as opposed to everyone else had pushed herself off the ground and into the air.
She used the thick tree roots to send herself flying like a slingshot toward the damned man. The blades end of her staff as aimed at the damned man's neck, ready to sever his head's connection from his body.
But she was too late. Or rather, the damned man was too strong to be held down.
The priest suddenly appeared dumbfounded. Suddenly, the colossal hand of his spectral avatar had shattered under the weight of the force which the damned man exerted to free himself.
'What devilry?!'
Just as hinari's blade almost made contact with the damned man's neck. His cold hand had squeezed the bladed end of her staff, and sent her flying back into Lieutenant Sidra who had been preparing a spell.
Gazing right into the eyes of his former comrade, the damned man slowly raised his arm, as if directing something toward General Asami.
In an instant, his messy, dirty black hair had begun flowing as if wind picked it up. The thick threads of his hair which had been slightly covering his devilish eyes, had then scattered into a countless horde of black flower petals
Fortunately, Asami was quick enough to raise her blade and slash down through the air, causing the horde of petals to divert into two directions.
One side had targeted Selene and Jason.
'Shit! I don't have access to my divine magic or my chaos arts… I can only use basic spells!'
Selene carried Jason and teleported into the sky. While the other side of the horde of petals went after Sidra and Hinari, who were both lying behind Athena who the petals had stopped just short of.
'My divine arts are at last strong enough to ward off evil'
Suddenly, the damned man shot a flare toward Athena and asked in a raspy voice:
"I wouldn't be so certain."
Suddenly, the petals had begun to push more violently through the space which surrounded Athena. Earlier, Athena had inhaled the pores of the pollen produced by the growing tree roots.
Suddenly, Athena had coughed a handful of blood and dropped to her knee. As she took a peak inside of her own body, she felt as though her divine energy was being corrupted… or, dying.
'Christ!'
"Everyone! Don't breathe in this pollen!"
However, it was too late. Her cries fell on deaf ears as the horde of flower petals had blasted right through her stomach. Blowing out her internal organs.
As she dropped to the ground, her divine arts hesitantly restoring her organs and wounds. The damned man stared indifferently at her.
With that. He turned away, and walked off.
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Continue in chapter 105: Feeble Minded Fools
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