Chapter 6
The Web to Kill Fate
Gremory was still running with Tokiya on his back. He knew for a fact that Kaluk was capable enough to deal with Mors.
"Don't worry, Tokiya. I'll drop you off somewhere safe and then find out a way to deal with the cultist."
Tokiya responded with a small grunt. He didn't need Gremory to tell him that everything would be ok. No matter what situation had happened in the past, Gremory always found a solution. Just his presence was reassurance enough that everything would be alright.
Gremory continued to run, letting out heavy puffs and quickly running out of energy. Suddenly, he swiftly turned around, and at the same time just ten feet away, Mors landed from one of his launches.
When Mors landed, his head was down. He slowly began to pick it up, and although his long hair covered most of his face, the pure rage, insanity, and hatred in his eyes could clearly be seen.
Gremory sucked his teeth,
"You got past Kaluk, eh? Impressive. What trick did you use to pull that off? Or perhaps, Lord Fate struck him down."
Sarcasm dripped from Gremory's voice. Mors' fingers began to twitch. His eyes darted everywhere, but still always found their way back to the culprit for his madness, Gremory.
"I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I'LL KILL YOU!"
With that exclamation, Mors launched himself at Gremory. The cultist had no weapons in hand. His only weapon was his rage and determination to kill the one who insulted Fate. At this point, Tokiya was nothing but an afterthought to him.
Gremory threw Tokiya to the side and prepared to brace himself for the impact. Tokiya's body hit the ground, and he lost consciousness, leaving everything to Gremory.
Mors extended his legs to the ground and stopped himself right in front of Gremory. Gremory, who was expecting to be hit by the launch, was completely caught off guard. Mors took advantage of this surprise, and with a wide grin on his face, he swung his leg at Gremory.
Gremory stepped back and just barely dodged the attack. Mors had the extreme advantage of being at full stamina after his revival. Meanwhile, Gremory still had the slash wound from Mors' sickle and had been running with a whole person on his back. There was no way he'd be able to keep up in a fight with Mors.
Despite his disadvantage, Gremory's taunting nature remained strong. A confident smile was on his face.
"So, you can kick too? You continue to amaze me, cultist."
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!"
Mors continued to launch a flurry of kicks at Gremory, but each time, the confident soldier stepped back to dodge. Perhaps if Mors was in a calmer state, he would have realized that his predictable attacks wouldn't hit. However, Mors was normally not sane, so it is unsure.
"Come on, heretic! Kill me again! Go ahead! Do it! Kill me again!"
Mors began laughing in Gremory's face as they continued backing up. Not only could Gremory's stamina not keep up with this, but if he kept back up, he would eventually bump into a building or something. Gremory's smile grew wider.
"Sorry, but I can't lose. Not when Tokiya's life depends on me. I've never let him down before, and I'm not going to start now!"
Mors face contorted with rage.
"Stop smiling! I'm going to kill you!"
Mors kicked at Gremory, but he dodged again. As Mors was retracting his leg to prepare another attack, Gremory grabbed his leg with a firm grip. Mors struggled to break free, but Gremory smiled at him.
"You've got me a little frustrated, cultist. But you don't have to worry about me killing you. I'm going to give you a fate worse than death."
Gremory pulled his arm back.
"I'm going to show you what true judgement looks like. You better start praying to whatever god you believe in because this is going to hurt."
Mors wasn't a very brave person, for all of his actions were driven by his delusional blind faith in his lord, Fate. It was this delusion that eliminated all fear from his life. However, this moment changed him. For the first time in his life, Mors felt fear.
"W-wait--"
Gremory's fist connected with Mors' face with monstrous force. Mors stumbled back as blood flew from his nose and teeth hit the ground. Mors placed his hands beneath his head to catch the blood. His eyes continuously darted from the blood to Gremory and to the blood again.
"Y-you how could you! You are mad! You're a mad sinner!"
Before Mors could act again, Gremory threw himself at him and wrapped his arms around the cultist. The two fell to the floor. Gremory sat on Mors' legs, eliminating his only means of attacking. Gremory kept Mors' torso upright with his arms that remained unmovingly wrapped around him.
Mors wriggled around, but Gremory's bind remained strong. Mors eyes remained wide but were much less manic. The fear of the fate that awaited him had grounded him. His panicked eyes met the calm stoic gaze of Gremory.
"I've got you now, cultist. You're trapped in my web."
"Y-you're insane. Go ahead. Punch me again and kill me. I won't die. I won't die. I won't die--"
Mors' face was once again assaulted by Gremory's fist. Mors screamed. However, this time, Mors could not stumble back nor have time to recover. Gremory punched him again being very careful with amount of strength he exerted so as to not kill Mors.
Each hit was slow and methodical, and with every hit Mors screamed. Eventually, those screams got quieter and quieter until Mors stopped responding completely.
Gremory let go of Mors' upper body, and it hit the ground with a thud. Gremory stood up. He starred at Mors' bloodied face with disgust. Then he realized that there was no way the blood contained itself to just Mors' face. He reluctantly looked at his punching hand which was covered in blood. He might have been able to handle it if it was his blood, but unfortunately for him, it was the blood of a mad cultist.
The disgusted soldier turned around, bent over, and puked on the ground.
*****
Tokiya didn't know where he was at first. He looked around and found himself in an endless black void. Littering the void were comically large fallen pillars and ruins. The ground was covered in a shallow ocean of water. Despite the strangeness of this place, it had a familiar feel.
Suddenly, he began searching his body. He was searching for the wounds that he had received from his fight with Mors, but he couldn't find them.
"What the? Where are all my wounds?"
Out of nowhere, a cruel voice addressed Tokiya.
"You're back?"
Tokiya looked up to the spot where the voice came from. On top of one of the many large pillars sat an ominous yet recognizable figure. It was Eien. Tokiya's body tensed.
"Oh, I get it. I must be inside my own consciousness again or whatever."
Eien condescendingly looked down at Tokiya. Tokiya's stance shrank, and he took a small step back. Despite Eien's nasty attitude, he looked somewhat graceful, sitting on that pillar.
"He looks like me, and yet he looks so much more regal. I guess I am just a farmer. No! I shouldn't be complementing this asshole."
Eien pushed himself off the pillar with his arms. Water splashed as he landed on the ground. Eien confidently walked towards Tokiya until they were just two feet away from each other. Remembering his previous interaction, Tokiya took a deep breath before speaking.
"Eien. That's your name. Karasu told me. Last time we met, we didn't really have a conversation. Not to mention the big misunderstanding between us, I think we need to start over."
Eien tilted his head up, so that despite the two being the same height, Tokiya was still being looked down upon.
"Start over? You really do know how to always say the wrong things."
Tokiya clenched his fists. He had hit his limit with Eien. He couldn't tell if he had become a bit more encouraged by him killing Mors, or if he was just filled with annoyance.
"Listen. There's no way I can possibly know what to say if no one tells me what the hell is going on."
One of Eien's eyes widened.
"Watch your tone with me."
Tokiya sucked his teeth but decided not to push any further. He needed to actually have a conversation with Eien this time.
Eien's expression reverted back to his condescending resting face.
"You got lucky that you were able to beat that cultist. It's hard to believe that you were able to actually harness some of the World Tree's powers no matter how small."
He gritted his teeth.
"That damn Karasu. She played this well, almost perfectly."
Tokiya narrowed his eyes in curiosity.
"Played what well?"
Eien took a moment to think before answering.
"I guess the more you know, the better things will be for me. It doesn't help me to hide things like it does with that bird lady."
"By bird lady, does he mean Karasu? Damn, he really does hate her."
Eien continued.
"The power you have over your Divine Blessing was completely dormant, before today. However, this would have been quite a problem if it weren't for Karasu's little intervention. The bird lady had one job which was to make sure that you didn't awaken your powers. She thought this would help prevent your fated death."
Eien ran his hand through his hair. His voice gradually shifted from a tone of disgust to one of annoyance.
"However, when she found out that you were still fated to die, she knew she had to do something. So, she broke one of the rules set upon her which was to never interact with you."
Eien pointed at Tokiya's left arm where the Divine Root Blessing mark was.
"You see, your past is complicated, and your power is strongly connected with it. So, by simply seeing someone vital to your past like Karasu or me, your power awakens more. Seeing someone as important as Karasu was just enough to allow you to harness some of the World Tree's power."
"Ah, I get. So, Karasu knowing that I was going to be attacked today, showed herself to me to awaken my powers."
Eien smirked.
"So, you're not a complete idiot and can actually follow along. Good for you."
"I want to punch him so badly. I just have to endure this a little bit longer to get what I want out of him. It's like what Gremory would always tell me. In order to get information out of someone, you have to play their game and then break all the rules. I'll soften my expression and make him think I'm submitting to him."
Tokiya took another deep breath to calm himself.
"You said that Karasu thought keeping my power dormant would prevent my death. Does that mean this Divine Blessing is directly tied to my fate?"
Eien yawned. He seemed very disinterested by this conversation, but Tokiya was able to just barely ignore his attitude. The fact that they were actually having a calm conversation was good enough for him.
"The Divine Root Blessing is the reason you're fated you die, so it was somewhat reasonable of her to think that keeping it dormant would save you. However, it didn't."
Tokiya nodded along.
"Right, so Karasu wants to prevent me from dying, but what about you? What do you want from me."
"It wouldn't make sense for him to want me to die because he lives in my consciousness. What does Eien want?"
Eien's signature expression of one eye widening and a manic smirk took over his face.
"What do I want? That's a good question."
He stepped towards Tokiya, but Tokiya didn't step back this time.
"Screw this! I'm not playing his game anymore."
Eien continued.
"Don't misunderstand me. I don't want to kill you."
Both of his eyes widened.
"I want to take over your body!"
Tokiya let out a small gasp. He didn't want to, but his body wouldn't stop shaking just ever so slightly. He wanted to hide his fear, but it was terribly hard.
"Dammit! This is the last person I want to appear weak to!"
"You see, the reason it benefits me to share all this information with you is because the more memories you unlock, the easier it is for me to enter your consciousness and take over your body."
Tokiya's body tensed up.
"That explains why Karasu was being so stingy about what she was telling me this morning. She was trying to protect me from your crazy ass."
Eien scoffed.
"Someone's getting a little brave with their speech."
Tokiya raised his hand and put two fingers up completely ignoring Eien's comment.
"However, there are two lingering questions."
Eien laughed uncontrollably.
"Did you not just hear me, idiot? The more I answer your questions, the easier it is for me to possess you."
"I don't care. Right now, I'm more concerned with trying to prevent my fated death. That's it."
A smug smirk crept onto Eien's face.
"Fine, ask away."
"Ok, I'll ask them at the same time. One. Why do you want to take over my body? And two. What is stopping you from overloading me with info from my past, so you can instantly possess me?"
"Ha, I didn't think you were capable of asking such important questions. Unfortunately for you, I'm in a similar boat as that bird lady. However, in my case, there is something physically stopping me from sharing some things with me. You can blame another one of your unknown allies for that. I can use this same response to answer your first question. I am strictly forbidden from explaining my motives to you."
"An unknown ally? So, there's someone who's above even you."
Eien's attitude hit a complete 180.
"Above me? No one is about me! It seems like our little conversation has made you a bit too comfortable with me."
Tokiya put his hands up trying to salvage the situation.
"W-wait. That's not what I meant. That came out terribly wrong."
Eien was now standing just a few inches away from Tokiya making his long eyelashes visible. However, Tokiya no longer had time to ponder about how much more majestic his imitator looked than him. Standing in front of Eien Tokiya felt so small. He hated feeling smaller than a jerk.
"I only entertained your questions for my own gain. Let me remind you of your place."
Tokiya put his arms up to prepare for a punch. However, that punch never came. Instead, he felt a warm liquid dripping from his chest. He looked down to see a giant yellow energy spear piercing him and blood flowing from his wound.
Tokiya's eyes widened.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Tokiya's body folded over. He looked up at Eien who was smiling sadistically. Tokiya gritted his teeth.
"Dammit! This hurts like hell! Damn you, Eien! Damn you!"
"Damn you, Eien! If there's one thing I hate in this world more than anything else, it's a jerk! I know I may not be worth much, but I refuse to let an asshole think they're above me! So, no matter what, I won't let you take over my body!"
With this exclamation, Tokiya grabbed the spear, but as soon as he made contact, the whole weapon exploded in a burst of light. Tokiya's body burst, and gore went flying in every direction. Eien's armor was stained with the insides of the farmer. The blood from Tokiya's body mixed with the water on the ground. Eien looked down on Tokiya, no longer smiling, but with contempt.
"You're a tenacious little brat. You can keep your body for now, but don't come crawling back to me when you're killed in a way much more brutal than this."