I felt the sensations build within me.
This...
This was not how I was meant to live.
Centuries...
Thousands of years of existence.
And I find myself shaken by...
That thing.
"PATHEEETIIIICCC!"
The roar erupted from deep within him, a heinous, almost electric sound that echoed throughout the temple, shaking the ancient stone itself. His hand reached behind his back, gripping the handle of one of the countless swords embedded within his flesh before violently wrenching it free.
Blood erupted from the wound, splattering across the weathered floor as if his own body rejected the blade's departure. Yet he did not so much as flinch.
Feng Bo merely sighed.
With a lazy wave of his hand, a small gust of wind gathered around his figure before carrying him away, his silhouette fading into the breeze. He had no intention of allowing Chiyou's tantrum to ruin what remained of his afternoon.
Chiyou's other hand reached toward the axe lodged deep within his side, his fingers wrapping around the handle before slowly pulling it free. More blood poured from the wound, staining the ancient tile flooring beneath him, the damage revealing far more than any normal being could endure. His body was already breaking apart, yet his expression remained unchanged. The pain was irrelevant.
Something else had captured his attention.
"Hun... Hunn..."
The Demon God's voice struggled to form the name, almost as if his own body refused to allow him to speak it. It was not hesitation. It was something far worse.
Recognition.
A being like Chiyou, who had stood before armies, gods, and legends without ever lowering his head, found himself struggling over a single name.
"Hundun..."
The moment the word left his mouth, the atmosphere within the temple changed.
For a brief moment, Chiyou was no longer standing there.
He was remembering.
Visions of endless slaughter filled his mind. Kingdoms that had once reached the heavens reduced to fields of blood and ash. Gods of every shape and form, beings that would never normally stand together, abandoning their pride and differences to form a single coalition.
The Heavenly Mandate itself.
United.
Not to rule.
Not to punish.
But to survive.
And standing before that united force was the reason they had gathered.
Hundun.
A monstrous figure covered the sky, giant crimson wings spreading across the heavens as flames poured from each individual feather. Four grotesquely powerful arms extended from its body, carrying two axes and two blades, each weapon appearing as if it had been created for the sole purpose of ending something that should never have existed.
Its body resembled that of a man, yet its head belonged to something twisted and unnatural. A mad, distorted dog-like creature that carried no reason, no hesitation, and no restraint.
It did not fight like a warrior.
It did not seek victory.
It simply destroyed.
Hundun was not driven by anger, because anger implied emotion. It was not controlled by wrath, because wrath implied purpose.
It was chaos given form.
A being that tore through everything before it without consideration for itself or the world around it. Its power had never been challenged, not because nobody had attempted to stop it, but because everything that stood before it eventually became another piece of its destruction.
Justice retreated.
Retribution disappeared.
Even judgement itself struggled to follow in its wake.
The vision ended.
Suddenly.
Chiyou collapsed onto one knee, his hands pressing against the ground as blood continued pouring from the two wounds across his body. His teeth clenched tightly, grinding against each other with enough force that the sound echoed throughout the temple.
For the first time in countless years, the Demon God of War looked as if he had encountered something he wished he had never remembered.
He recognized it.
He had heard of it.
He had witnessed the aftermath of it.
Or perhaps...
He had seen it himself.
From beyond the void, something approached.
Not quickly.
Not slowly.
It simply existed closer than it had before.
Through the entrance of the temple, through the forests and cities, across lakes and endless fields, its presence spread outward.
It oozed.
It pulsed.
It vibrated with something ancient.
Anger.
Wrath.
Longing.
The metal of Sky Piercer scraped against dirt and stone as it moved, the halberd shaking violently as if the thing contained within was struggling against its own prison. The handle groaned under the pressure, almost threatening to break from the force attempting to escape.
The flowers surrounding it withered into the earth. The grass blackened and became nothing more than charred sand. The trees bent away from the weapon, their branches twisting as if nature itself instinctively understood that whatever approached was not something that belonged within the world.
And that was the difference between Lu Bu and this being.
When Lu Bu walked, nature moved toward him. The world recognized something within him. A will. A life. Something that still belonged to the mortal realm.
But this...
This was something else.
This was not a creature that the world rejected because it was evil.
The world rejected it because it remembered.
It remembered what happened when something like this was allowed to exist.
I forced myself upright with a sharp grunt, a scoff escaping my mouth as I felt my body tremble.
How dare I?
How dare I fall to one knee?
How dare I allow myself to kneel before something other than death itself?
My hand tightened around the axe still embedded within me. Without hesitation, I pushed it deeper, the blade sinking further into my abdomen until it pierced through and pressed against my back. A grotesque bulge formed beneath my flesh as the weapon forced its way through my body.
"Ruaaaahhhhhaaaahahahhahaah!"
My laughter echoed throughout the temple.
Not from pain.
Not from suffering.
From the sensation itself.
I stood straight once more, my posture becoming rigid and proud as blood continued pouring from my wounds. The once ancient temple had become stained by my own existence, the floor painted with my flesh and crimson.
"OOOOOoooooOOOooohhhhhh..."
My voice dragged through the air as if tasting every syllable.
"Toooooo feel..."
"To harness pain and sufferinggggg..."
A twisted smile formed across my face.
"Fills me with euu... euuuphoooOOooria."
Elsewhere, atop a mountain peak, I stood upon a platform carved by time itself.
The stone beneath me had been flattened and worn down by countless years of wind and rain, becoming almost like a throne created by nature rather than hands.
I raised my hand slowly.
Methodically.
My thumb and middle finger came together, creating a tight seal.
Then I snapped.
The sound echoed across the heavens.
The winds immediately scattered.
The clouds parted.
The entire sky seemed to clear itself at the command of a single motion.
"I see..."
I looked toward the distance, my expression remaining calm.
"He has realized what it is now."
A small smile formed.
"Surprisingly, it took him that long."
My head moved slightly with each pause of my laughter, almost as if I was enjoying a song only I could hear.
"That the Demon God of War took so long to acknowledge the very reason why gods like himself are even able to exist..."
A quiet chuckle escaped me.
I leaned back slightly, my eyes drifting toward the endless sky above.
"I wonder..."
My voice softened.
"I ponder how this will affect the Heavenly Mandate."
A pause.
"Especially now that she has disappeared."
The blue sky remained untouched above me, the ocean of color stretching endlessly without a single cloud obstructing it.
"They still search for her."
"But we all know..."
"If she does not wish to be found..."
"It will never happen."
I lowered myself onto the stone, crossing my legs and resting my palms upon my knees. A quiet breath escaped my body as I allowed myself a moment of thought.
"My superiors believe the threat is gone."
"They believe it was dealt with."
My eyes narrowed slightly.
"Erlang knows what he did."
My brow furrowed.
"He understood the consequences..."
"And yet he did it anyway."
I remained silent for a moment.
"I am not one to question him."
"But why?"
The question lingered.
"He knew they were not present for the sentencing. They deemed it too minor, too insignificant, and because of that..."
I looked down slightly.
"He escaped."
A faint expression of disbelief crossed my face.
"Oh, God of Justice..."
My gaze lifted toward the heavens.
"What was going through your mind?"
The sky above remained beautiful.
A vast blue ocean.
Peaceful.
Unmoving.
Completely unaware of the conflicts occurring beneath it.
"Why did you allow him to escape?"
My voice became quieter.
"He bears not one fate..."
"But two."
I looked back toward the earth below.
Toward where Lu Bu's presence remained.
"We barely dealt with one as it was..."
A solemn breath escaped me.
"And now..."
I swallow slowly...
"There are two."