The wheels carved a jagged trail through the ash-stained soil, kicking up dust as the carriage thundered across the dead lands.
Beneath the steel-grey sky, the world had withered into a graveyard of silence. The earth was pitch black, charred and lifeless. Human skulls, half-swallowed by the dirt, stared skyward in a silent scream, scattered like broken faith.
The plain looking carriage came to a jarring halt in the heart of the wasteland. Its black frame groaned as it settled.
Three young men leapt down, their faces masked in black cloth. Cloaked in matching black garments, they moved like phantoms.
"Quick, grab him". The oldest of the three men said, his voice low, as if scared the dead were listening.
From the rear, they hauled down a heavy burlap sack. It writhed in protest, struggling fiercely, muffled groans of a man escaping from within.
But the men showed no hesitation.
They set to work. Shovels struck the ground, biting into the brittle soil. The hole deepened, inch by inch, until one shovel hit something solid, an object buried beneath the dead land.
They didn't care, all that mattered was getting rid of their half brother.
Without a word, they heaved the sack into the pit. It hit the bottom with a muted thud, still writhing.
Then the dirt came. Shovelful after shovelful. Each one heavier than the last. Until the hole was just earth again.
"Shouldn't we have bashed his head in, just to make sure he actually dies". The youngest of the trio stammered.
The brother next to him shook his head. "Mother already poisoned the bastard, and we just buried him in the dead lands, they say even dead gods sleep here… there's no way he can crawl his way out, and most importantly, no one can find the body".
"Hey, If you two are done monologuing, let's get out of this god awful place". The oldest called out from the safety of the carriage.
Moments later the horses stumped as the carriage raced back to where it came.
…
Darkness.
Not the kind that steals light, the kind that swallows existence. No sound, no breath, only pressure.
The sack clung to his skin like wet cloth. Dirt packed against his face, his eyes stung but he couldn't feel a thing but the rage in his heart.
Lucien tried to loose the knot used to tie his hands together, but to no avail, the young man knew he was running out of time.
He couldn't really tell which was killing him faster, was it the sword wound that tore a hole in his upper abdomen, or the poison his stepmother poured in his red wine.
"Is this how I die? Leaving nothing behind. Will I even be remembered? Would she hate me, what would I say to her if I see her in the afterlife?".
Terror crashed through Lucien's chest like waves against a crumbling dam.
And in that silence, he remembered.
The beautiful smile of the woman he promised to protect, her long wavy pink hair, and the salvation she was going to give him.
Lucien was no saint. Most will consider him a cruel man that abused the power he was born with, most will still hate him even after he is gone.
Perhaps it was for the better that his grave didn't have a gravestone. His brothers buried him like a dog, killed his wife and unborn child, and his stepmother took what rightfully belonged to him.
He bit down hard, blood filled his mouth. A reminder that he was still alive.
His mind spun, he was terrified, death without meaning had always been his greatest fear, he was known to be cruel, but he never had a reputation of being an idiot.
He lost fair and square, but if he had a second chance, he promised himself one thing.
…
"If I get a second chance, I will torture the hell out of that bitch, Elizabeth".
Lucien's teeth grinded into each other till his gums bled, his voice cold and deep, like the growl of an evil god.
"Jacob… Nicholas… Kyle…".
Lucien said the names of his half brothers one after the other, burning their image into his head with the fire he felt burning in his chest.
"I swear I will play the game better than anyone".
Lucien thrashed hard, he was crushed by the weight of the sand, but as a rank four awakened caster, he could still struggle.
The sand eventually parted enough for the sack to come loose, he felt the sand pour in, but he didn't care.
Lucien squirmed his body like a worm, for some reason his body was going down, it was strange, but Lucien didn't care, he needed to vent.
But soon enough, his head collided with a metallic substance, it was probably a rock, he thought to himself, but the stench was revolting, like a dead body that had rotted for an unknown number of years.
[Devour my heart... and be reborn.]
Lucien's body froze, but the strange voice didn't.
[Do you accept?]
The voice was ancient, it didn't come with a whisper, it boomed from all sides, Lucien could even hear it deep within his head.
He couldn't speak anymore, he was out of breath, his head felt like it was bulging, his eyes were unfocused, and his limbs were already stiff.
His eyes closed, death coming over him, but the next moment, the voice returned, stronger than ever.
Almost in desperation, It once more offered to lucien.
[Devour my heart… and vengeance is yours]
Lucien's body didn't respond, the earth returned to quiet, his breath seized, and his life remained just a flicker of memory.
Then he sprung, his mouth opening. Sand poured in, but he didn't care. He bit down on the strange substance below him, it was hard and felt like metal, but still smelled like rotten flesh.
He was basically acting on instinct at this point, his soul might have died, but his corpse still remembered vengeance.
His mouth was filled to the brim with black blood, the taste was indescribable, but the effect wasn't.
The veins in his body bulged to the limit and swelled till the blood in them flowed out freely, it was almost like he was being cleansed of the blood in his veins.
But that wasn't all, Lucien felt his consciousness return, his bones shrink, and his skin contract. The pain was unbearable, but he didn't stop, bite after bite, till there was nothing but an empty hole in the chest of the metallic corpse.
The voice returned, this time with a dark malevolent chuckle.
[A cruel lord, betrayed by his own kin, finds himself buried alive in the same soil that the dead gods slumber, vengeful… he made a pact with a greater evil and devoured the heart of the evil god, the lord died, but his vengeful soul remains… Evil god nirvana system acquired]
Boom
A pillar of golden flames shot out of the ground and melted into the sky, the fire didn't give out any heat, it felt cold and holy to lucien, but it still greedily devoured his flesh, his blood, and even his bones until there was nothing left of the cruel lord.