Chapter 19. Artyom Zlodeev.

  -"Oi Tenebrae, how can I absorb the impact from falling from high heights? I have something in my mind to help me find her... This won't end well for me I can already tell, fuck this shit..."

  Before Tenebrae could answer, Kael enhanced his legs to extremes with his legs and jumped high into the sky. He felt that when he fell down, he'd be dead for sure, but he had a plan in his mind. This was his dumbest idea so far, as he was flying through the air, he saw someone looking exactly like him. He quickly rotated his flight stance and used his jacket as a makeshift paraglider using the wind to change the trajectory of his flight. However gravity had other plans…

  -"OH WAIT FUCK NO WAIT WAIT WAIT FOR FUCKS SAKEEEEEE-"

  Before he could finish speaking he crashed into the ground with tremendous force, he could feel many of his bones breaking and being pulverized... He whined in agony, he couldn't move his body at all... He had seconds to spare... He suddenly reached with the remnants of his strengths down and unsheathed "The Dual Cursed Swords of Darkness", he decided to go into "Darkness Release" form immediately to heal his wounds and quickly fight the doppelganger...

  -"In tenebris natus sum... Ego resuscitabo et vincam mundum... Hic mundus cognoscet colorem desperationis meae... Release..."

  Every word was filled with pain and agony... He spat out blood every single pause... It was pure agonizing pain for him... As he finished chanting a black mist suddenly surrounded him, he felt as his wounds mended back and bones sewed together... He decided to quickly stand up, but something was off... The power of "Darkness Release" was greater than before, it seems that he probably was able to upgrade it due to his fight in illusion... Or his emotions, rage and grief pushed out an upgrade to this technique... As he stood up, he looked down onto the swords on top of his wrists... They were now releasing a small black mist constantly, his clothes also underwent a change... He was now wearing a long, black, leathery jacket that reached down to his ankles... He also wore military-like boots along with pants that were black as well... It seemed that with this upgrade to this technique, many other things besides just power changed... As the mist disappeared, he saw that the doppelganger was in front of him, she looked just like him... She even copied his weapon looks and similar... Suddenly Kael pointed his hand at her and said in a low voice full of disgust and barely contained rage...

  -"You... I'll end it all today... This moment... No more running away, no more hiding... I'll fight you one on one... And I won't let you fucking escape alive... When you get to hell, tell em Reaper sent ya..."

  As he finished speaking, the doppelganger laughed in turn, she wasn't scared of Kael in the slightest...

  -"Oh you poor boy... I thought you'd be broken by your mom's and sister's souls talking to you... But it seems I was wrong... Oh well~ I'll just end it right here, right now... Ready to die, little Heir~?"

  As she finished speaking, something similar to a maw opened beneath her... It rose up, revealing a pitch black wall, Kael felt a sudden stench of death and decay... Like he was buried in a pile of corpses... Suddenly the maw shattered apart revealing a stunning and beautiful woman, she was slightly shorter than Kael... Her hair was pitch black along with emerald green strikes running down it, her outfit was both tactically oriented and somewhat revealing... She suddenly reached behind her back and summoned a giant scythe seemingly out of nowhere, it was the same doppelganger that Kael fought in the illusion some days ago... He wouldn't forgive her in a single bit... Suddenly he heard footsteps approaching, it was Frost and Mediae along with Katrine being carried by Frost... As they approached him, Frost put Katrine down and summoned her battle axe, Mediae followed quickly after and summoned her spear. As they were ready to lunge forward, Kael suddenly put either of his swords to their throat stopping them. Mediae was the first to question him.

  -"Master, may I enquire why are you stopping us? As your Royal Guard we're obliged to help you and assist you in every fight, so why are you stopping us Master? Please tell me and Frost..."

  Frost chimed in quickly, her voice tinged with disappointment and sadness...

  -"Exactly Master, why don't you let us fight too? I'm so eager to finally fight someone that opposes you... And you're taking that chance away from me Master... Why?"

  Kael didn't respond, instead he lowered his swords and walked towards the doppelganger... He was emanating an aura of rage, agony and pain... This was more than a mere fight for him, this was a declaration of war... Besides her master, who introduced himself as Mors to Kael, declared war on him... So this was also more than personal…

  -"I, Kael Riggs, the 12th Heir of Darkness, given the alias 'Abomination'... Declare a fight, one on one... No holding back, no worrying about civs and absolutely no fucking intrusion from other fucking forces... Understood...?"

  The doppelganger, hearing this chuckled and nodded her head, she accepted Kael's challenge with open arms...

  -"I, Rose Mortiferum, given the alias 'Domina Mortis'... Accept your challenge Kael 'Abomination' Riggs... Your terms are also quite pleasing for me... I'll fight them... And since I'm not holding up any illusion and I'm in my true form... I'll absolutely fucking destroy you, pretty boy~"

  Katrine who stood behind didn't understand a single thing that just happened, when she looked onto Mediae and Frost, she saw that they made their weapons disappear. She didn't understand why they didn't want to help Kael, she knew it'd be a dirty and disgusting play, but she thought that doing everything to win is what mattered... Suddenly both Rose and Kael began circling each other like predators ready to strike, it was a waiting game. Whoever made the first move, would end up in a 50/50 scenario, they'd either succeed or they'd fail and pay the ultimate price... Suddenly Rose lunged forward swinging her scythe in a wide angle, Kael responded immediately by bringing the swords attached on his wrists up to block the strike. The force of the blow kicked up dust around and shook everything around, after that Kael immediately went into the offensive, he decided to use boxing techniques on Rose. The swords attached on top of his wrists allowed him to gain an advantage this way, Rose struggled to block Kael's relentless attacks so she decided to try a different approach...

  -"You're quite strong NGH! FUCK! How about we'll make a deal huh...? My Master will give you the most beautiful women, including me... Riches, power, territory... Everything... Just discard Tenebrae and the rest... And it's all yours..."

  Kael, hearing this drop kicked Rose and jumped away, he suddenly stopped attacking and it seemed as if he was considering her proposition... Suddenly he pulled out his revolvers and aimed them at Rose...

  -"I don't need anything from you or your master... Mors already declared war on me... So your bluff won't work on me... And now be a good girl AND FUCKING DIEEEE!"

  As he finished speaking he started pouring large amounts of magical power into the revolvers and started shooting at Rose, she weaved and dodged through the bullets with relative ease. She thought that Kael was a bad marksman and wouldn't hit her, suddenly she felt a sharp pain shoot through her thigh... She fell onto the ground and rolled around in pain, Kael hit her once... But the pain, the burning pain caused her so much agony she couldn't get up... Suddenly in the corner of her eye she saw Kael running towards her, acting in the last minute, she stabbed her scythe into the ground and used it as a pole to kick Kael away.

  Kael seeing this instead of attacking with the sword on top of his wrist, cancelled his "Darkness Release" form and grabbed her ankle using her momentum to throw her away like a mere piece of trash. She soared through the air and crashed into a concrete wall with a loud crack, many of her bones were broken and internal organs crushed... She was losing the fight, before she could even see through the dust, Kael rushed forward and grabbed her hair tightly. He pushed her face into the ground and dragged her across it like some cheap toy, the debris, stones and other things punctured her face and ruined it completely... Suddenly he picked her up and held her by her hair in front of him...

  -"You've got enough bitch...? Because trust me, I have way more to deliver, and I'll be more than pleased to... Now beg for mercy whore, beg for it and grovel beneath me like a dog... And maybe, just maybe... I won't kill you too slowly and painfully... That's what you deserve..."

  Rose saw this as an opportunity and grabbed his wrist tightly, she tried to pry his hand off... But his grip was like steel... She realised she needed to beg for mercy if it meant she could potentially make it out alive...

  -"Please... Mercy... I'll do everything... Anything you desire... My body...? Take it... My techniques...? I'll teach them to you... Please just let me live... Please..."

  Kael didn't respond to her pleading, instead he threw her up and grabbed her arms along with her legs and slammed her with all the force on his knee... A loud disgusting crack echoed through the air along with Rose's scream of sheer agony and pain, she started crying... She was terrified and in so much agony that she cried... Kael suddenly threw her on the ground like she was trash to be discarded off... When she tried to drag herself away, Kael grabbed her ankle and pulled her back forcefully. The grip was so strong that she felt her ankle be crushed.

  -"PLEASE KAEL! I'M SO SORRY, I'M SO FUCKING SORRY! PLEASE SPARE ME, PLEASE I BEG YOU, I'LL DO EVERYTHING! JUST SPARE ME PLEASE, I DON'T WANT TO DIE, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I DON'T WANT TO DIEEEEEE! I'LL DO EVERYTHING PLEASEEEEEEE!"

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  Kael stayed quiet, he grabbed her hands and pushed them away... And then he started punching her face repeatedly, the bone crunching sounds and blood scattered across the slums... It wasn't a heroic fight, it was a disgusting beatdown that was entirely one sided... As he was beating her, Kael noticed she started growing limp slightly bit by bit, when he decided to make a pause, she raised her hand with last ounces of her strength and touched the left part of his face... She dragged her hand from his eye patch over his left eye down his cheek, leaving a streak of blood shaped like her hand… As he was about to bring his hand down, he stopped at the last second... He realised Rose had enough, he pushed himself up and brushed off the dust from his clothes and wiped the blood off... Suddenly a sword appeared in front of him from nowhere and cut space itself, what appeared before Kael was a portal made out of pure darkness... Out of it, an elegant looking man looked to be in his late 20' to early 30'. He had long hair reaching his shoulders along with a suit that was mostly crimson, his eyes were fiery red and his dark hair had crimson ends. Suddenly he spoke to Kael... Kael knew immediately who it was...

  -''

  It was Mors, the same Mors that declared war on Kael. Last time they met, Mors had a form of a dark mist without any physical body, and it was earlier that day... It was scary for Kael how quickly Mors was regaining his power, at this rate their showdown would come quicker than expected... As he was approaching broken Rose, he brought his sword and swung it down... But suddenly a loud clang echoed through the air... When Mors looked down he saw that Kael blocked his strike...

  -''

  Kael didn't respond, instead he pushed Mors away with his second sword and stood in his way, shielding Rose with his own body. In his eyes she received a proper punishment and didn't need further correction, it was pointless in his eyes that a good warrior should die just because they stepped out of line... He decided to respond to Mors...

  -"King of Death, I don't care who you are or Apostle of whatever the fuck you are... She received enough punishment from me, and I won't let you correct her further... If you want to correct her, you'll have to get through me and my Royal Guard... FROST! MEDIAE!"

  After that both Frost and Mediae ran up and pointed their weapons at Mors, Kael sheathed his swords and instead pulled out his revolvers pressing them to Mors' forehead...

  -''

  Kael after hearing this lowered his revolvers, Mediae and Frost followed soon after. If Mors didn't intend on attacking, then he wouldn't attack unprovoked as well... He holstered his revolvers, however Frost and Mediae remained at ready with their weapons. In Kael's mind, receiving Rose and "Darkness Regeneration" for pretty much free was something he couldn't pass out on, and besides he didn't feel any intent behind the words of Mors. He was serious, he'd give away those two things for pretty much free... So Kael decided to question Mors a bit.

  -"Let me get this straight, you're giving me a pretty much cheat like power, your servant and you're going to leave right now...? All that for nothing in return? Don't you think it's somewhat generous? I thought you'd want something in return, anything...?"

  Mors hearing this was seemingly stunned for a second, suddenly he laughed out loud. It was strange for Kael, he wouldn't give away his servants or such power just like that. He knew Rose wasn't the most devoted to Mors, but still she was his servant, and throwing her away like trash and then laughing about just made something snap inside Kael... He reached down for his swords, ready to attack Mors any second now... It frustrated Kael so much that he was so careless for his supposed enemy that he openly declared war upon... Mors slowly calmed down and explained everything to Kael…

  -''

  Kael hearing this dropped onto his knees... The sheer difference in power and values was now clear to him, a power that could regenerate any wound and injury as long as you stayed in the dark was a standard for Mors' master's foot soldiers... So it was no wonder why he would give it away for free just like that, and that Mors could find another, better, more capable servant, showing how truly powerful he is... Kael realised that he's no match for Mors currently, he couldn't do anything but stay on his knees thinking how he would win a war against Mors. All he had were now three servants and Katrine to fight with, even his now upgraded "Darkness Release" form stood no chance against an entire army... It was clear that if the war happened now, Kael would lose by a landslide, there was no arguing about it. He punched the ground with all his strength in frustration... Suddenly Mors unsheathed his sword and cut space again, opening a portal...

  -''

  After that he entered the portal which closed behind him, Frost and Mediae made their weapons disappear. Mediae was the first one to act, they were too far to help Rose immediately, so she called out to Katrine.

  -"Lady Katrine, please drag Rose into that shadow over there, it'll help her regenerate quickly. We need her alive for questioning and everything else, me and Frost will take care of Master... What was Mors talking about anyways, Master? Did he truly declare a war upon you?"

  Kael hearing her question couldn't do anything but slowly nod his head, if the war was truly to be happening soon, it meant that they didn't stand a chance. And worst of all, everyone close to Kael was at high risk of danger and could possibly be killed... Katrine on the other hand quickly started dragging Rose away into a nearby shadow, when she finally dragged her in she saw that the wounds all across her body released a small smoke and were slowly sewing back together... She saw this happening on Kael when all of them broke into the Eden Academy and when he overused magic to enhance his legs, making the skin and muscles tear apart. After a while she saw that Kael, Frost and Mediae were approaching her and Rose. She ran up to Kael quickly, hugging him tightly...

  -"I knew you would win, you always win... And besides... Why did you spare her? She tried to kill you right? You spared her for some reason didn't you...? What is the reason Kael... Please tell us, we need to know... Right Mediae, Frost?"

  Both of them nodded in return, Kael seeing that he's backed into a corner decided to explain what has happened after the "Black Hook Gang" massacre. They needed to know why he spared her as well...

  -"Long story short... After I passed out after I killed that gang, she put me in an illusion while I was dreaming. It was a perfect world for me, my mom and sister were alive, and nothing of this shit show happened. She also took on your form Katrine... But the reason I spared her right now, is because she used parts of my sisters and mothers souls... And I want to know... How... She needs to tell me how she did it... I JUST NEED TO FUCKING KNOW WHY!”

  He nearly lunged at unconscious Rose, but was quickly stopped by Katrine... If it weren't for her, Rose would get another beating and probably wouldn't make it out alive this time... Suddenly there was a loud crash and Kael started puking up blood, when he looked down he saw he was pierced by a spear... It was made out of pure light, when Kael touched it, it burned his hand badly. He dropped onto his knees while puking up more blood, the spear burned his body from inside out, he felt like he had a literal sun going through his abdomen... Mediae, Frost and Katrine didn't dare to come closer to help him, they knew it would be too dangerous. Kael, seeing no option, elbowed the spear, snapping it in half and pulling out both of the broken ends with severe pain. After he was done, Frost and Mediae helped him get up on his legs, he was barely standing... He didn't know where this spear came from, suddenly there was a bright flash before him and a figure came out of it... The figure was in similar height to Kael, he wore a white armour with golden accents, there were golden wings made of pure light on his back. The figure had a white hood over his head as well, and slowly approached Kael manifesting another spear made out of pure light in his hand…

  -"I am Artyom Zloodeev... Apostle of Concept of Light, I was tasked with killing Heir of Darkness... So Heir, what is your name... I wanna know who I'll kill so I can pay for their funeral and help their family... Better be quick about it, and don't worry, I won't hurt your servants or... Katrine...? Don't tell me... You're..."

  Kael, hearing the figure's name was enraged, he stopped listening after hearing Artyom's name... Artyom wasn't his best friend, or friend at all... But he was his classmate and someone who tried to break Kael out of his little isolation bubble... He suddenly drew his swords and rushed at Artyom, clashing with him. Artyom didn't struggle against Kael, he was way more powerful than him and Kael was badly injured. He wanted to ask him more questions... But Kael was quicker to question him...

  -"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU ZLOODEEV!? WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONEEEEEE!? I THOUGHT WE WERE ON THE SAME SIDE, WE WERE FUCKING CLASSMATES, DON'T YOUR REMEMBER!? DON'T YOU FUCKING REMEMBER WHAT YOU WANTED TO DO!? I'LL KILL YOU NOW, I'LL FUCKING KILL YOUUUUUU! TRAITORRRRRRR!"

  His screams were full of pain and agony, he really wanted to kill Artyom, but he was powerless against him. Kael clumsily swung his swords that were blocked and deflected by Artyom, his injured state made him unable to fight properly. Suddenly Artyom decided to end the fight quickly, he stabbed Kael in his thighs with his spear making him fall onto the ground. As Kael fell, he screamed in agony, it burned him even more… He dropped onto his knees while puking up more blood, the spear burned his body from inside out, he felt like he had a literal sun going through his abdomen... Mediae, Frost and Katrine didn't dare to come closer to help him, they knew it would be too dangerous. Kael, seeing no option, elbowed the spear, snapping it in half and pulling out both of the broken ends with severe pain. After he was done, Frost and Mediae helped him get up on his legs, he was barely standing... He didn't know where this spear came from, suddenly there was a bright flash before him and a figure came out of it... The figure was in similar height to Kael, he wore a white armour with golden accents, there were golden wings made of pure light on his back. The figure had a white hood over his head as well, and slowly approached Kael manifesting another spear made out of pure light in his hand…

  -"I'm sorry Riggs... I didn't want to hurt you, but since you're the current Heir of Darkness, I have no choice... Hope you'll forgive me on the other side, we both know this is for the greater good... I don't wanna fight the King of Death and Heir of Darkness at once... We'll see each other someday again, maybe with different names and memories..."

  As he finished speaking he got up and raised his spear high, he was about to finish it. As he was about to bring it down, Katrine stepped in front of him, shielding Kael with her body. He stopped himself at the last second not being able to comprehend why she was shielding Kael... He decided to ask her...

  -"Do you really wish to die with Riggs, Katrine Morgue? You know who he is right? He'll bring death, darkness and despair upon this world... Move away, before I kill you alongside him... And trust me, I hate hurting innocent people..."

  He tried bringing his spear down again but this time it was reflected by both Mediae and Frost, Mediae put her own shadow spear to Artyom's throat while Frost put her battle axe to his abdomen. They'd protect Kael with whatever they had at hand, not just because he was their master, but because he was the best master they ever had. Suddenly Mediae did something unexpected to everyone around there...

  -"BACK THE FUCK OFF FROM MY MASTER! DON'T YOU DARE GET CLOSER TO HIM, I DON'T CARE HOW STRONG YOU ARE OR WHAT APOSTLE YOU ARE! IF YOU HURT MY MASTER, ME AND FROST WILL CHOP YOU INTO FUCKING PIECES AND WE'LL BURN THE REMNANTS IN BLACK PURIFYING FLAMEEEEE!"

  Artyom, seeing this, made his spear disappear and took a step back while raising his hands in mock surrender... He suddenly spread his wings wider apart and took off slightly off the ground...

  -"Take good care of Kael... He's my friend after all, and I don't want my friends to be weak... And let him heal, I'll come back one day to finish my work, for now I'll tell my Master that Kael Riggs doesn't pose any threat... It's my last act of kindness towards him, don't let it go to waste..."

  After that he took off and disappeared in a flash of light, he left them alive. Kael with the last ounces of his strength, pushed himself onto his knees and outreached his hand into the sky... He just lost another person, he may not have liked Artyom too much, but he still was caring about him... And now he was his sworn enemy... He felt as his eyelids grew heavy and his muscles stopped responding, he slumped onto the ground with an empty thud... He was losing consciousness quickly, this last act was one of the worst decisions he could make at the moment... He fell onto the ground in a pool of blood spilled by his friend, he cried, tears flew down from his remaining right eye... He felt cold... As he closed his eyes he felt sudden warmth, he was back there again... Limbo, the place where a soul finds itself in when it's between life and death... Kael was here numerous times, even to train... As he opened his eye and got up, he saw that Limbo hadn't changed a single bit the last time he was there. He saw that Tenebrae was already beside him in her wolf form... He decided to ask her about all those concepts, apostles and everything else...

  -"Hey Tenebrae... Who are these apostles, concepts... And everything else...? I don't understand a single part of it... And... And why does everyone want me dead?”