R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 70

R-a - Volume 4 - Chapter 70 

Micheal blinked.

The Scythe of Chains and Lightshorn clanked as they hit the ground, the scythe quickly stored in his Spatial Ring, while Lightshorn remained grasped in his right hand.

Micheal slowly raised his left hand, watching as bits of ash fell, sifting through his fingers.

She was dead.

It was a senseless death.

He had been careful. He’d moved forward to secure the inner Sanctum, while having Serena stay back without crossing the portal. He had taken every precaution he thought was necessary, short of chaining the Farian down and leaving her bound inside Tallanoran’s Inheritance.

And now, she was dead.

“Death comes for us all, human.” The First Lord’s voice rumbled into the air.

“Know that I take no joy in what I must do.” As Orion spoke, the Dark Wraith examined the gray fog he was controlling, taking a few moments to adapt to it. Outside, the sounds of others approaching the Sanctum echoed, loud voices calling out to each other.

Micheal’s vision blurred as he tried to control his emotions, slowly getting back to his feet and turning to face Orion.

This was how life worked in the 7 Layers.

Titled Deities killed people.

And no one could stop them.

Humans tried.

They failed.

The Newlanders tried.

They failed.

The Titans tried.

They failed.

The Dragons tried.

They failed.

Everyone tried to stop them.

And, in the end…

Failure.

Micheal felt bile rise to the back of his throat as he listened to the First Lord attempt to justify his actions. His head buzzed, his thoughts somehow both racing and growing sluggish at the same time.

He thought he had grown used to this. The callous cruelty, the casual disregard for human life. The futility of trying your best, only to fail, time and time again.

Titled Deities were a plague upon reality.

Micheal’s life in the first timeline had been a harrowing one, full of loss, misery, and pain.

It was hard to make friends in the 7 Layers, but it was easy to lose them.

Memories of his time with Serena flashed in his mind.

Hours spent practicing with each other, guiding and teaching. Stories shared over campfire, of worlds beyond the 7 Layers and times far happier. Friendship formed in times of struggle, times of fear, and times of hope.

Deep down inside himself, Micheal felt something begin to crack.

He had always hoped his time in the second timeline would be brighter.

More happy.

More hopeful.

‘It never changes.’ Micheal’s gaze turned flat, emotionless.

‘It was the same with Cameron.’

The Head of the Godfather Organization on the First Layer. He was a good man. A brave man.

The best humanity had to offer.

A hero.

And Micheal had killed him.

He did what he had to do, but that didn’t mean he could forgive himself.

‘A better man than me would have saved them.’ Micheal shut his eyes.

A loud explosion shook the air as a boiling mass of lava blasted through the gaping hole in the Sanctum, hurtling towards Orion.

The First Lord responded by raising his right hand, spawning into existence a wave of gray fog that intercepted the attack.

The collision created a superheated wave of air that set the insides of the Sanctum to storm, sending up ash and dust, but successfully stopped the attack in its tracks.

Orion frowned upon seeing this. A moment later, something strange took place.

The First Lord’s eyes abruptly turned gray and, not a millisecond later, an enormous spear of gray fog rocketed upwards off his body, piercing through the roof of the Sanctum to fly high into the sky.

And then…

Orion stamped down on the ground.

Immediately, the world began to distort, spreading out in a lightning-fast wave.

Within a radius of several thousand meters, all color began to fade from existence. From the laser beams the Nirvana Saint sent hurtling towards Orion to the blood dripping from the Lord Justiciar.

Life lost its brightness, and the world lost its color.

“Ah. I understand now.” Orion’s voice rumbled out loud, tinged with sardonic self-deprecation.

“If this power is a story of my life, then it all makes sense.” As the First Lord spoke, he ignored Micheal and took a few steps forward, forming a layer of gray fog that he crossed to step over the remnants of magma on the ground.

“I am Ruin.” The First Lord’s eyes glowed.

Micheal opened his eyes and stared at the Titled Deity in front of him.

On the inside, he felt hollow.

Micheal tried to raise his sword at the ready, to deal with the threat in front of him, to strike down this monster.

But, he found that his hand would not move.

His body refused him.

Micheal’s lungs heaved as he gasped, a crushing wave of pressure settling down upon his shoulders, both mentally and in reality.

‘Gather yourself. You cannot stop now.’

The world needed him.

He could not falter.

He could not be weak.

He must be strong, and…

He must be brave.

‘A Titled Deity walks before you. MOVE!’

Micheal felt something begin to tear inside him.

Emotions had overcome him. Despair, loss, pain, self-blame, anger.

Fear.

And…

Doubt.

The world needed him… but what if he wasn’t enough?

He had tried hard, so damnably hard.

He did his absolute best.

But what if his best wasn’t enough?

Micheal’s hands trembled for a brief moment as his mental state shook.

However…

A moment later, his hands grew still.

‘It doesn’t matter.’

He had to act.

It was his duty.

Even if he wasn’t enough.

Even if he was destined to fail.

He would still try.

Because…

Someone had to.

And if he didn’t, then who would?

Bit by bit, Micheal cut down on the emotions plaguing him, regaining control of his body.

‘Go.’

Gradually, over the course of a few short seconds, Micheal felt himself reach a strange mental state.

It was a point of no return.

He knew that if he took this step here, there was no going back.

The emotions inside Micheal grew dull, as gray as the world had turned around him.

He felt himself reach a precipice, where he was forced to make a choice.

Micheal slowly closed his eyes.

He was tired.

So very tired.

It would be so easy to give up.

To stop trying.

No man should have to bear the pressure placed upon his shoulders.

Who could blame him if he gave up?

He had already done enough, far more than anyone else.

A long, ragged sigh ripped its way free from Micheal's lips.

And it was here...

Just before Micheal cut himself free from emotion…

A Dragon’s roar shook the sky.

Micheal opened his eyes in shock and then froze, his surprise doubling.

For…

In a world that had lost its color…

A small, red ember stood out before him, resting in the ashes of Serena.

As the roar of the Dragon echoed in the sky above…

He heard the quiet cry of a Phoenix below.

.