I gathered all of my strength and pushed Sojin to the ground. He groaned in pain and looked at me with troubled eyes. I flashed a sinister look and clenched my fists.
“No one can stop me, not even the deity. Today, blood will spill on my hands. Do not intervene and call for help. Because when you come back, you will bury the bodies of your evil people.”
I turned my back on him and entered the basement. As the door slammed behind me, the Animies averted their gaze from me with blood dripping from their mouths. There were four of them. I suddenly remembered what the angel told me.
“They crave their own kind.”
So this is what he meant by that. I was right. There’s something suspicious about their history. Someone must have fabricated everything. Luxferre was so desperate to hide the truth.
The foul odor of the room irritates my nose. It was a mixture of pungent smell and sickening sweetness. Hydrogen sulfide and ammonia feast inside my lungs.
“What are you doing here, human?” one of the Animies asked.
“Witnessing a crime not punishable by law, but death,” I replied.
“Let’s kill her before everyone finds out.”
I grinned.
“Bold of you to assume that you’re getting out of here alive,” I said as I cracked my neck side by side.
They surrounded me, showing off their firm muscles. As if I never faced bigger guys than them before.
One of them threw a massive punch, but not enough to break my fingers as my right hand caught it and twisted his arms like a violent whirlwind. I turned his back to face me as his joints crumbled like blocks smashed by thunderbolts. My feet landed on his back, cracking his spinal cord while his knee bent in surrender before he dropped to the ground.
Another one kicked me back in haste. I diverted my attention to him and flashed a sly smile.
“Nice try. What a starter pack.”
He turned around as his kick flew and attempted to touch my cheek. They don’t know that I’m quite fast when I’m triggered to do cruelty.
I held his right foot and distorted his rectus femoris. His vastus medialis was in pain and his vastus lateralis was sour. Those are the three surface muscles of the quadriceps in the legs.
For the last shot, I swung my left foot towards his manhood. His body electrified as it slowly fell down. His mouth was wide opened together with her eyes as it rolled back.
A fist came rushing to my chest, but I avoided it and held his biceps. My furious right hook hit his abdomen. He spilled a breath of oxygen as he coughed repeatedly. My left hook torridly kissed his cheek as it left a mark of disorientation.
Another one came running. He landed his right foot against the wall and bounced through thin air while aiming his left foot at my head. It was a success. My vision came rolling while my head hurt like lightning struck me. He turned me into a punching bag.
For a moment, I forgot who I was. But I came back to my senses and let him taste the brutal force of my spinning hook kick. Blood came dashing from his nose before he lost consciousness and dramatically fell to the floor.
“How dare you touch your filthy hands on me?”
I spit blood to the ground and heaved a sigh. That was exhilarating, but not enough to impress me. I diverted my eyes to Niah. She was still gasping for air.
“What’s happening? Where’s Kylo?” I asked with agitation.
Before she parted her lips, my body was thrown away to the wall. I moaned in discomfort as I felt the soreness of my muscles. There were feet walking towards me and spoke.
“You finally found out half of the truth…”
It was not Luxferre who owned the voice. She was the last person I suspected to be evil.
“Vior…”
She pointed her hand at me, and my neck suddenly tightened like someone choking me. Vior has supernatural abilities. My mouth flung opened as I tried to gasp for air. The veins in my neck were visible.
I thought it was the end of me, but she changed her mind and loosened her power. I was in a state of dyspnea.
“I’m not letting you die easily. You have to face intense torture,” she said.
She stared at me with anger, and my body malfunctioned. It was as if she’s controlling every part of me. My bones cracked simultaneously and venom crept through my veins. My skin turned pale, and I was groaning endlessly.
It is shameful to die like this. To die in the hands of a woman.
I don’t mind the physical torture. The sound of the crispness of my bones and the smoothness of my blood coming out of my nose were like music to my ears. The laceration of my muscles which were cut by an external force was therapeutic. The contusion caused by a compressive force to my muscles was like a massage. My muscle fibers cannot withstand excessive tensile forces placed on them, yet I managed to smile.
“How could you smile during a suffering?” she asked.
“You call this suffering?”
I chuckled under my remaining breath.
“My soul is marked with countless bruises. True suffering…”
Before I could continue my sentence, the door opened, and Kylo came running. She stopped and looked at me with a horrified face. Her knees were trembling and her tears flowed down her cheeks. Her hands were shaking as she covered her mouth in shock.
“True suffering is failing to conquer your greatest fear and regret not to do what you could have done. This is nothing compared to the life I chose to live and the person I chose to become,” I said.
Vior glanced at Kylo, and as she did, Kylo was thrown to the wall. Kylo closed her eyes as she ached in pain.
“Do not touch him!” I growled.
Vior shifted her sight at me. Kylo fell to the floor and crawled towards Niah.
“How touching,” Vior said sarcastically.
“Spare his life. Take mine instead. I have lived an awfully amazing life. My disappearance will affect no one since I have served the people with my best.”
“You love your cousin that much?”
I smirked.
“If this is what you call love, I can now die in peace.”
“Any last words?”
I glanced at Kylo’s terrified face as she hugged Niah.
“Kylo… your father must be very proud of you. As my apprentice, I am passing down my throne to you. Be brave and don’t put my death to waste.”
“No…” she uttered.
“Remember that death is not the end of me. It’s my beginning. I will haunt you even in your dreams.”
Those were my last words before darkness devoured my mind and I no longer felt physical pain.