The ground was fragmented, blasted apart by an endless war. Magma shot through the gaps in the planet's crust, devouring all that stood in its way. Skyscrapers crumbled like sand castles. Plumes of smoke choked the sky, suffocating all that stood beneath its horizons. Even the continents had been torn asunder!
There was nothing but destruction.
"ꐟꆂꐇ ꑛꐇꁒꋫꁹꌚ, ꁹꆂ ꁒꋫ꓅꓅ꍟ꒓ ꅐꑛꂑꏸꑛ ꅐꆂ꒓꒒ꁕ, ꅐꑛꂑꏸꑛ ꒒ꂑꄘꍟ꓅ꂑꁒꍟ, ꅐꑛꂑꏸꑛ ꍟ꒓ꋫ..." Out from pale lips, was a tenor—dark, heavy... reverberating. It was a voice that shook even the soul, sending tremors coursing through any single living being within its grasp. Deathly chilliness caressed the heart of this voice's only listener.
"ꐟꆂꐇ..."
This voice came from a being that could not possibly have been human. It sounded like a waterfall of blood, sloshing around corpses that littered a battlefield of millions. It was, however, distinctly male. It was also demonic—a wave of wrathful flames accompanied every breath that came with each syllable.
"ꋫ꒓ꍟ ꋫ꒒꒒..."
Areii looked up, a great contradiction appearing before his eyes. Before him stood an angel, whose wings were whiter than snow. Every flap of the angel's wings brought with them a swirl of light, draping the immaculate being in a robe of auroras.
"ꏝꍟ꒓ꁒꂑꁹ!"
The angel roared, raising His silver sword high into the sky. The wind whistled... No, it screamed. The unstoppable cry of death shredded Areii's eardrums as he shut his eyes tight, in fear and trepidation. Was this how the world would end? Was this how humanity would face its extinction? Had billions met their deaths for a futile effort? Had his own clan fought for beings who saw them as nothing but ants?
Questions, doubts, and dread plagued the youth's fragile mind. However, his suffering was fleeting. In the next moment, his vision saw nothing but nothingness itself.
Thus, the last human on planet Earth had been vaporized.
There was nothing left but the dying flames of war.
Beep—! Beep—! Beep—! Beep—!
Obnoxious! Areii cursed as his eyes sprang open. A foul expression laced his pale, sickly features. A raging fire blossomed within the depths of his empty, obsidian irises. His features, which were usually akin to a lazy fox, were now filled with the ferocity of a hunting tigress.
The youth looked around, sending out a venomous gaze as he scanned his surroundings.
Instantly, he was stunned by the sight all around him. He couldn't even blink before his expression faltered. The excited expressions of over a thousand youths were all that his eyes could see. He was surrounded, on all sides, by unfamiliar faces and luxuriously-dressed students in their bright white uniforms.
The scent of pine wafted throughout the open-air auditorium. It was a scent that he had long forgotten. Areii looked beyond the noisy children and found a dense barrier of pine trees, arching towards the centre of the circular venue. The blanket of green left out a circle above their heads, forming a natural sunlit spotlight on the stage below.
Compared to the organic nature of the auditorium's ceiling, the ground beneath his feet pulsed with energy. Like a beating heart, wave after wave of heat rolled right beneath his feet, providing a comforting warmth against the chilly morning air.
Beep—! Beep—! Beep—! Beep—!
There was that ear-rending sound again, but he knew exactly where it was coming from this time. On his left wrist, a futuristic watch that no inventor on Earth had ever managed to create, pinged him with a notification. It gleamed despite the sunlight, pulsating with energy just like the ground beneath his feet.
However, compared to the entire auditorium, the energy that Areii could sense from his watch was like a titan towering over an ant.
How can this small device burn with so much power? He inwardly remarked as he tapped on what seemed to be, a Quantum Watch.
Instantly, a blue screen appeared, hovering just above his watch. A long string of words poured out like a waterfall, making him dizzy. Luckily, after a cursory glance, Areii deduced that most of the words did not mean much. The gist of their meanings was simply the secretive installation of an app called the [Unholy Trinity].
Unfortunately, even for such an advanced watch, the process was sluggish. The progress bar proceeded at a snail's pace, piquing his interest.
Just what would take such a powerful processing unit this much time to install? What could this Unholy Trinity application be? He looked around one more time, his brows scrunched up in deep thought. Moreover, if I were to take a step back, I am in a place brimming with unfamiliarity. This is nothing like the Earth I remember. Taking an even further step back, am I not supposed to be... dead?
While Areii dissected the uniqueness of his situation, a figure appeared on the stage, spouting nonsense that he had no care for whatsoever. "Welcome, freshmen of our Grand Lord University!"
My memories are a mess. The youth massaged his temples as images aplenty began to surface at the behest of his consciousness. Agh!
Upon making contact with a particular portion of these images, his entire body shuddered. A piercing, electrical pain coursed through his nervous system, blessing him with momentary paralytic torment.
The blabbering speaker on stage was doing nothing to help his headache. The fact that this demon of a speaker was riling up hundreds of teenagers made him all the more insufferable. It was Areii's misfortune that he could do nothing against his tormentor.
What memories he had retrieved were all telling him that he no longer had the power he once wielded—both in life and in death.
Just the softness of his skin and the lack of blood aura leaking out of his pores spoke volumes of his weakness.
I have become one of the mundane, but... I have indeed been given a new life. That god of death really pulled through in his last moments.
Areii closed his eyes. The words of a dying god of death echoed in his mind.
"Avenge us! At all costs!"
As if on cue, Areii assumed unparalleled control over his mental state. His mind, which had been flooded with incomprehensible images and a cacophony of screams, suddenly grew tranquil. His calm could even rival the Heat Death of a perishing universe.
It was the calm of a being who had walked between the barriers of life and death. The eerie silence of undeath.
Vengeance, huh? Areii smiled wryly. I, Areii Layvann, seeker of resurrection, have indeed achieved a new life... Yet, those I hold dear have been vanquished in absolution.
A memory flashed in his mind. White wings and robes of light. A sword that could disintegrate all that it slashed. Angels, who were even more demonic than the demons themselves.
Another memory swiftly followed. The faces of his clan, his friends, and his comrades. Every human who fought for Earth's survival.
Gone. Not even atoms nor a piece of their souls remained. The void had devoured them whole.
Gritting his teeth, Areii felt his heart throb with unending rage and monumental guilt. If pride, avarice, and envy were sparks that could set all hearts ablaze, then the infernal bonfire of their making would be fuelled by nothing but unadulterated abhorrence.
Hate that could tear even the heavens asunder.
Vengeance it shall indeed be.
Comments (0)
See all