In a dim cave full of molds and moss, the sound of droplets symphonicized with the cackle of flames.
As the torchlight played with shadows in the cave, Lidien found himself staring at the runes crudely carved on a cavern wall.
The runes seemed to have been carved unnaturally, like a snake forced to coil on each other to form a picture, grotesque yet familiar.
"Are you ready?"
He looked to where the gentle voice came from; when the shadows were illuminated by the dim light, he saw Lily's face smiling gently.
'Lily... no, a dream...'
As he became self-aware from the dream, Lidien's soul detached from his body and watched it talk and move autonomously, like a person watching a film.
"Yes sister, I'm ready..."
Lily snapped her fingers. A soldier rushed in, only to have her frail-looking hands plunge into its chest. It could do nothing but stare in disbelief before she threw its body before the past Lidien.
Lidien stared at the eyes of the soldier; its hopeful eyes dimmed till only his blood, slowly crawling on the floor, was left moving.
Lidien removed his own cloak, showing his muscular body full of bone-deep scars.
He dipped his two fingers into the chest of the dead soldier and drew ancient markings on his body.
He prostrated himself in front of the rune and said words that even he couldn't understand. And when he said the final words, the blood on the ground suspended as if it were excused from gravity.
The soldier's body twisted and squeezed, draining its very blood, till all of it slowly traced the crude runes, dyeing them crimson.
And when the last line connected, a click of mechanical sound echoed inside the cave, along with the dragging of a hidden door.
Lily giggled, helping Lidien stand and put his cloak back on.
"Mad Dog? Guard the entrance... don't let anyone come inside."
Holding Lidien's hand, Lily entered the room, followed by Lidien.
It was a long corridor lit only by formations of moss and algae; they walked carefully, alert for unknown traps.
After a quarter of an hour of walking, the wall was gone.
"Be careful..." Lily said, holding her whip and alert.
Lidien's eyes became crimson, ready to use his Demonic Transformation at short notice.
As they slowly walked inside the hall,
A torch ignited with a soft whoosh, followed by another, and another, sequencing from the entrance towards the end of the room...
Lighting up the hall with its dancing flame.
Lidien scanned the hall. In the center lay a skeletal corpse, still clad in heavy armor that exuded a deathly, purple hue, ancient and ominous.
And, at the end of the hall, an altar engraved with angels and demons held a chest, old and dusty.
"At last... a Relic of the Death Church... Mother searched for those for many years... unexpectedly, one was hidden in your Grandfather's dwelling... you really are a gift to us, Lidien..."
Lidien gripped his hands as he remembered his grandfather's final words...
'Let death be the start of a new beginning...'
And forced a smile when he saw Lily's eyes.
He knew Lily and her Clan had attacked his Tribe, who had been living like any normal village...
Mad Dog led the attack, capturing all of his tribesmen to be slaves of the Clan. Yet, when they thought they had freed themselves, they became hopelessly lost in the Bone Orchards...
Resulting in the death of all of his tribesmen...
However, Mother found him, unconscious... Like any child, naive and longing for love... he was adopted as a Prince, and Lily was made his guardian.
Lily was an orphan like him, like all their siblings... Mother adopted any child that she deemed useful for her clan.
For the moments Lidien stayed with Lily, he learned of her past life, her story in the Eastern Continent before she was adopted by Mother as the Eldest Daughter.
Realizing their stories were almost the same, his feelings towards her as a sister deepened... and slowly, she became his new anchor... to continue living... reliving his loved ones' curse.
Lily held his hand; with just an eye contact, she knew what he felt when she talked about his grandfather.
Smiling, she dragged him towards the end of the room, to where the Relic was held.
"You earned it... now, go get it."
Lidien slowly walked up the steps, yet before he could touch the Relic,
He heard Lily scream with urgency.
"No!"
As he turned around, blood splashed on his face as a purple miasmic sword pierced through Lily's chest.
Lily tried to reach for Lidien's face but was forcefully thrown against the wall, her bones crunching from the impact.
Lidien stared into Lily's eyes, weakened and worried.
As he slowly gazed back at the perpetrator, its hollow eyes burned with purple flame.
The Death Knight's jaws rattled, mocking Lidien, who unconsciously cried tears of blood.
Roar!
Lidien roared, his crimson eyes bleeding, teeth forming into fangs, nails becoming claws as his skin turned pale, making his purple veins visible to the naked eye. His hair turned white, growing longer till his waistline.
As black and red hue oozed from his body, his once-shattered shard was ground even further... turning him into a Hell Stage Demon of Wrath.
Lidien swiped his claws, but was blocked by the Death Knight with ease, sending sparks with every screech.
When his claws broke free from the sword, he used the remaining force to rotate, kicking the Death Knight with his heel.
The Death Knight flew from the impact, bouncing twice before it could use its sword to stab the ground, stopping its momentum with a skid.
Only to be smashed again by Lidien striking its skull with a crunching punch.
However, the Death Knight's jaw still rattled... its broken bones produced a red marrow forming another solid film of bones.
Lidien's face turned sour; turning his rage into madness, he mounted the lying Death Knight, striking it so fast that his hands blurred and only dust and shattered bones splintered, damaging his cloak until it was full of holes.
He stopped only when the purple-like miasma had long gone and noticed that the Death Knight's bones were no longer regenerating their cracks.
He stood,
And slowly walked towards Lily.
The memory of his dead childhood friend Kanaz flooded his mind.
And when his chaotic thoughts settled,
He frantically searched for the remains of the Death Knight and pulled out a Sacrificial Dagger from its waist.
Lidien knelt. He used the dagger to wound himself... carving his body with the same pattern as the markings he had made earlier at the entrance.
And after drawing an eye on his forehead, he slammed his head on the ground and prayed:
"I, a devotee of Death, plead for your descent!
O Dancer who painted the Festival of Blood in carnage...
O Seraph of Death, sovereign of crimson tides...
The Blood of Death!"
Slowly, he lifted his head, arms spreading wide before clasping together as if in
desperate supplication.
"HEED MY CALL!"