The Beginning Of A Five Year Agony-Chapter 38: The Blue-crest kingdom 2 (end of an era)

The roaring sound had stopped completely. Where the mighty Blue-Crest Kingdom had stood moments before, there was now only a vast, deep and scorched crater. This immense depression in the earth was still billowing fine, pulverized dust high into the atmosphere.

"ASH TO ALL," Samuel’s new activated power, had not left a single structure standing. It had removed everything from the land, leaving an empty, desolate area, burned and scarred by immense dark green energy. The profound silence that now permeated the atmosphere was unnerving, replacing the deafening sounds of battle and the crumbling of buildings with an eerie stillness. It was a silence that spoke...

From the very precise center of this fresh devastation, amidst the last, thin...slow dissipating trails of smoke and rising dust, Samuel’s hands twitched several times... It was a small, almost imperceptible movement. Then, with immense, visible physical effort, he began to push himself upwards from the pulverized stones and ground. His muscles screamed with the strain of the action, trembling visibly as he exerted himself against the heavy weight of his exhaustion and lingering pain. Fine dust, which was the pulverized remnants of what was once a vibrant city, coated every exposed area of his skin, clung to his hair and obscured the colors of his torn, bloodied clothing. Slowly, agonizingly, he came to a fully upright position. He stood there, breathing heavily, each inhale a painful effort... The substantial, raw power of the ability’s activation still caused a deep, continuous vibration throughout his entire body, a resonant hum that felt both new and yet intimately a part of his very being. He slowly surveyed the complete...unimaginable destruction around him, taking in the vast, empty scale of the mass annihilation he had just done...

His eyes widened, reflecting the overwhelming scene before him. He stared, absorbing the raw and barren landscapes.

"So...this is the full and true capability of "ASH TO ALL," Samuel muttered. frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

This was the literal, unadorned outcome of its activation. It had wiped out everything...

Then, his mind abruptly shifted. His thoughts went back to the Black Knight, the monstrous opponent that had pushed him to unleash such devastating powers...

He needed confirmation. So, Samuel began to walk across the shattered and utterly destroyed landscape, which was once known as The Blue-Crest Kingdom. The ground beneath his feet was uneven and a mix of jagged broken stones, twisted metal rod fragments, and deep fissures caused by the explosion. Each step was carefully placed, his body still recovering from the previous assault and the immense power he had just unleashed. He moved with extreme caution, his attention fixed on finding any remaining trace of the black knight. The atmosphere was still thick with dust, and the silence was only broken by the crunch of debris under Samuel’s footsteps...

As he navigated the desolate landscape...he saw a distinct piece of black armor jutting out from a large pile of twisted metal rods and pulverized stones. He moved closer. It was undeniable. It was the half-burned, shattered body of the Black Knight, still recognizable despite the intense damage it had sustained. Parts of its armor were fused to the debris, and its immense form was contorted...

"He’s dead," Samuel murmured... a clear, audible breath of immense relief escaping his lips. The quiet statement carried an enormous weight of burden lifted from his shoulders, a moment of profound, unadulterated relief after so many fights and struggles...

But one critical matter remained. There was still "High Priest Malaki." Malaki was an immediate and present threat, a loose end to Samuel that had to be dealt with.

Samuel stopped moving, his stance becoming Stiff. He consciously focused his senses, actively tuning his perception to the environment. He began to scan the surrounding vicinity with intense concentration, searching for any faint signs of life or discernible movement. He listened intently, trying to pick up any sound...He felt it... the subtle shifts in the atmosphere, the faint currents of residual essence and energy.

A distinct voice, heavily breathing, clearly indicating physical exhaustion, originating from the east. The sound was not far from the perimeter of the destroyed Blue-Crest Kingdom, closer than he would have expected. Malaki was still within his reach...

Samuel attempted to move his legs. They were still shaking uncontrollably from the immense power he had just wielded, the lingering aftereffects of "ASH TO ALL," and the extensive injuries he had sustained during his brutal fight with the Black Knight...

But he forced his body to respond, compelled by a relentless will. He consciously pushed himself forward despite the tremors. He gradually transitioned from a slow, unsteady limp, to a more determined, deliberate walk, and then, as his body responded to his unwavering resolve...then into a full, rapid run. As he accelerated, a faint, dark green energy visibly manifested from his bare feet, erupting with each step and propelling him faster across the desolate ground, leaving subtle, glowing trails where his feet had made contact.

A sudden, forceful impact occurred. The ground beneath him momentarily compressed downwards...

"This bastard," Samuel registered internally.

He landed abruptly and directly in front of Malaki, who had been running, now startled and frozen by Samuel’s sudden, impossible appearance. Malaki skidded to a halt, his eyes wide with a mixture of fear, disbelief and rage.

"Aegirion!" Samuel uttered, his voice filled with thick uncontained rage. "Block the other path!" He wanted to ensure there was absolutely no escape for Malaki. Aegirion shimmered, taking on a form that spread out, creating an impassable barrier, a wall of pure dark green energy blocking Malaki’s escape route to the north and south.

"Samuel, please," Malaki uttered, his voice strained and desperate, his chest moving uncontrollably with sheer exhaustion. He was visibly terrified... "I will tell you everything I know about the sacrifice, I promise." He pleaded for his life, his hands instinctively coming up in a placating gesture...

Samuel stood perfectly still, his gaze fixed on Malaki, his expression unreadable...

"You know," Samuel finally uttered, his voice low and controlled but tinged with a deep, palpable pain that he struggled to suppress.

He was biting his lips, a physical manifestation of his internal rage. "I went to the Tree of Longevity, and I obtained the black fruit....You do know about the black fruit, don’t you?" His tone was accusatory and was demanding an answer.

Malaki remained silent for a long moment, his eyes widened with a profound fear, consciously avoiding Samuel’s direct, intense gaze. He fidgeted nervously...

"ANSWER ME!" Samuel shouted, his voice suddenly rising, cracking with the sheer intensity of his emotions, the sound sharp and piercing in the quiet landscape.

"Yes... I know it," Malaki answered quickly, his voice trembling visibly with fear, almost a whisper. "It’s the fruit that can bring back the soul of anyone..." He trailed off, sensing Samuel’s building rage.

"Not just anyone... a loved one," Samuel uttered his voice now dangerously low and pointed. "But it didn’t work." Samuel’s voice rose again, filled with desperation, raw anger, and profound confusion. "WHY!?"

"I don’t know," Malaki responded, his voice weak and desperate, almost a whimper.

"Say that again... and I promise you... Your head will no longer be sitting on its neck," Samuel declared, his voice hard with suppressed, agonizing pain, a chilling undertone of absolute certainty. "I will ask again..." He paused, letting the silence build.

"WHY?" The single word was delivered with a cold force and a final demand...

"It’s because her soul is being stored somewhere in the divine realm," Malaki answered, speaking rapidly now as if the words were physically forced out of him by Samuel. His eyes darted around, searching for an escape that wasn’t there.

"If you go there, you can’t save her. She’s gone already... Her soul has become essence-less," Malaki added, his voice grim, trying to convey a sense of absolute finality, a futile attempt to deter Samuel from a path he believed to be hopeless.

"By who?" Samuel inquired, his tone now dangerously low, an unsettling contrast to his earlier shouts. The question was precise and demanded a specific name...

"Luminara, Goddess of Chronokinesis," Malaki stated, his voice barely audible, his eyes fixed on Samuel, watching for any reaction.

Samuel stood completely still for a prolonged moment, processing this information, and allowing the words to sink in. The atmosphere around them shifted. Due to the intense heat and massive shockwave from the earlier "ASH TO ALL" explosion... the atmospheric conditions had undergone a drastic change. This caused rain to begin falling down from the sky. The first large drops hit the dry ground around them, mixing with the dust, creating small, dark splatters on the pulverized earth...

Then, a visible moisture appeared on Samuel’s face.

Tears started dripping from Samuel’s eyes, flowing freely and visibly down his cheeks, directly in front of Malaki. His body seemed to give out under the weight of the revelation, and he visibly broke down, his shoulders slumping forward, his frame trembling uncontrollably.

"You have ruined me," Samuel uttered, his voice choked with profound sadness...the words thick with unbearable sorrow and a profound sense of irreparable damage to his very self.

"Emma... I’m sorry that I’m not myself anymore," he whispered, his voice broke..."I’m afraid. Please help me. I can’t. I can’t keep searching for light when I feel so deeply surrounded by hopelessness, drowning in this darkness."

In that specific moment, Samuel felt his own extreme vulnerability, his own inescapable mortality, for the very first time in what felt like months. It was a stark, profoundly sobering sensation, a return to a fragile humanity he thought he had transcended above.

"I feel the overwhelming weight of the people I’ve ended before their time. I am burdened by their deaths, by the indelible memories of their suffering, and by the haunting sounds of their pain," Samuel responded, his voice raw... expressing the profound internal agony of his guilt and the immense psychic toll his actions had taken on him.

"I wish I could remove the part of my mind that holds this strong, burning hatred for you and destroy it completely. I want to utterly eliminate it. I want to utterly burn it. Just so I would feel nothing for you at all Malaki... You do not even deserve the most intense or negative of my emotions. You deserve absolutely nothing." Samuel stated, his words delivered with a cold and cutting precision, filled with a desperate desire for complete emotional detachment from Malaki...

"Malaki, you have wounded me greatly. I give you full marks for that," Samuel uttered, his voice flat, devoid of all emotions...a chilling finality in his tone.

"Aegirion," Samuel called out...his voice sharp and decisive.

Then, with a quick, precise gesture, Samuel moved Aegirion. The blade sliced cleanly through the air. He then cut off Malaki’s head. Malaki’s blood flowed out instantly, mixing with the falling rain on the dry ground, washing over the earth.

Samuel stood there motionless for a full minute. Tears, still flowing, mixed with the blood that now stained his face...

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