↻⋄↻
↻⋄↻
The first creature lunged.
Shlick!
Ashen's spear found its throat before it could scream. He twisted, yanked—squelch—and pivoted in the same motion as another beast charged from his left.
No time for the spear. His fist met its skull. CRUNCH!
The thing dropped, but three more were already on him. Ashen's eyes swept the battlefield, calculating, always calculating. Spear too long for close quarters. He released it, let it fall.
The nearest creature swung a rusted blade. Ashen ducked under, drove his elbow upward. Snap! Its jaw shattered. Before it could fall, he grabbed its head and twisted. Pop!
Gurgle...
A clawed hand raked across his back. Pain flared. Ashen spun, caught the attacker's wrist, and bit down. Hard. Chomp!Tear! Flesh gave way. The creature shrieked.
Spit!
Black blood stained the ground. Ashen's boot found the wounded beast's knee. CRACK! It buckled. His hands found its throat.
Wheeze... thump.
More came. Always more.
He snatched up a fallen weapon; crude, heavy, but still perfect in his hand. The next creature died before it knew he'd moved. Thwack! Its skull caved inward. Splatter!
A spear thrust toward his chest. Ashen sidestepped, grabbed the shaft, and yanked its wielder forward. His knee met its ribs. CRUNCH! Bones splintered. He drove the spear back into its owner. Shlick!Splurt!
No wasted movement. And certainly no hesitation befell him when it came to killing these things.
A beast tried to flee. Ashen's thrown blade found its spine. Thunk! It pitched forward. Thump.
He retrieved his original spear, never stopping, never slowing. Another creature charged.
Whoosh-SHLICK!
The spearhead punched through armor and bone. He twisted, lifted, and hurled the dying beast into two others.
Smash!
All three went down in a tangle of limbs.
Ashen was already moving, already killing. This was his element. This was what he'd been forged for.
Tear!CRUNCH!Gurgle!
The sounds blended into a symphony of death, and he conducted every note with lethal precision.
The other Ashen, the one still locked in this nightmare, watched everything numbly.
The excitement, awe, and hunger for learning from a more experienced version of himself gradually faded after what felt like days of watching the same hellish landscape, the same brutal killings... over and over again.
He was only jolted awake from his numb state by the sound of a heart-wrenching cry.
The version of him currently in control of this body violently shuddered but still didn't waste even a microsecond before dashing toward the source of that cry.
He moved faster than he ever had since the start of the war.
He could barely see hundreds of luminous weapons scissoring and crisscrossing midair as they reaped life after life of the creatures surrounding her.
'Alice…'
The spear became a blur, making everything in his way simply vanish, opening a straight path to his destination. And he almost wished he hadn't done so.
The sight that greeted him nearly made him lose his sanity.
Alice stood valiantly, the corpses around her forming a huge circle with her at the center.
But she was missing something...
'Her... heart?'
A hole passed through her chest, through where her heart should be, making it clear there was no saving her now.
Despite missing her heart, despite having only seconds left to live, she still stood stalwartly. The hundreds of silver weapons she controlled floated in the air behind her like silent sentinels standing guard.
Ashen mechanically raised his head, following the trail of corpses, only to land on Him.
Zelrathus, Outer God of Euphoric Misery.
He wasn't supposed to be here.
The thought echoed futilely at the back of his mind.
But the sight of His figure, hovering tall, looking almost human but stretched just past what felt natural, denied every attempt to escape reality.
The arms that were a shade too long, the joints that bent with languid grace, the skin that glowed pale silver—every inch of this disturbing creature seemed to mock his attempt at denying Him and the consequences of His presence.
The monstrous entity tilted its head upon noticing his arrival, making the Crown of Splintered Glass tilt with the motion. Each shard reflected a face twisted into a grotesque grin.
It was said that every face on that crown was an imprisoned soul damned to feel miserable yet joyous at the same time, watching alongside Zelrathus as He went on with His conquests.
"Oho~ It seems that the GuEsT of HONOR is finally upon us~!! What marvelous TiMiingGG. hehehehehehehe..."
Ashen didn't spare Him another glance after the first one. His face became a mask of expressionlessness.
He took a step, followed by another. Sometimes hurried, other times hesitant. He wanted to rush, but he knew in the back of his mind that it was already too late. The moment he reached her would be the moment he lost her. Hence, his foolish attempts at hesitating.
Finally, he stood right behind her. As if waiting just for that moment, she finally let go and fell back onto his chest.
"You're here..." her voice was faint. "I'm glad."
Ashen remained completely motionless as he held her.
"Being able to die in your arms isn't such a bad end, I suppose..." She tilted her head back.
Upon seeing his blank face, she let out a sigh that seemed to take the last of her life with it. "I'm... sorry…"
"..."
"Ma-be if... I ...h-ad.. t-aken, Lust..." a beat, "things... would have g-one differently...?"
Those words were her last as Ashen could no longer feel any life in his hands. What remained was undoubtedly, surely, a corpse.
His beloved's corpse.
The moment he grasped that fact, something broke inside him.
His head tilted low, the fringes of his hair masking his expression.
But the God standing above had no problem deciphering it nonetheless.
His mouth stretched wide—too wide—lips split by a gentle smile that didn't quite reach His eyes. And those eyes... they shone wet with joy as His gaze lingered on the motionless man below, drinking his pain like fine wine.
"Ahhh~~~~"
"So..."
He stretched His spine backwards, His ribs shifting visibly under skin.
"....Sooo." scratching His wet cheeks with the elegant points of His fingertips...
"...SOO MISERABLE... AHH—" He finally bellowed, making the ribs of His chest rise and fall in an uneven rhythm.
"AH— HA... HAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA.... haaa~"
Then, He started laughing silently as if something was whispering a joke that no one else could hear. "What misery... So miserable. So miserable. So miserable. So miserable. So miserable. So miserable..."
"....So miserable. So lamentable. So unfortunate. So woeful. SO SUFFERABLE!" His every movement was slow, reverent, as if savoring the misery in the air.
"Ah~ such grief... so much anguish... torment... and despaiiir~~"
"Ashen... you, right at this moment, are the most miserable existence on this planet. I, as the Outer God of Euphoric Misery, guarantee it..."
"..."
Ashen still hadn't twitched since Alice lost the last embers of her life, while Zelrathus remained content with savoring his misery.
As the highest authority governing such a concept, He could feel every emotion related to it from the man before Him… no matter how much he tried to kill his emotions.
But unlike Ashen, who suffered, He felt more euphoric the more pain and misery He sensed.
Finally, Ashen lifted his face, eyes still blank, and spoke.
"Why?"
"Ah~~? Why am I here~?" Zelrathus froze for a second before grinning widely. "Well, of course it is to assassinate that pretty little doll of yours!"
He wagged His elongated finger. "You humans were initially just insects that we could eradicate whenever we felt like it, but..." His gaze drifted to the motionless body in Ashen's arms.
"Those inventions she came up with..." He spat in annoyance, but the grin returned soon after. "...they made you turn from insects to rats... still a minor problem, but a much more annoying one..."
He fell silent for a moment before His grin gained a teasing tilt. "But between you and me, I accepted this job just to see that expression on your face~"
He pointed at His crown. "After I finish slowly savoring this miserable existence of yours, I'll leave a special shard in my Glassy Crown, just for you~ hehehehehee"
But all He got in response to His revelation was a blank stare. "Why... are you still alive...?"