Aengus felt the tug-of-war between his two hearts; the Heart of Darkness pushed him to think rationally, suppressing emotions and acting with cold precision, while the Heart of Light whispered of compassion.
These constant shifts in his mindset annoyed him to no end. He wanted to erase both influences from his life but knew, in his current state, it wasn’t possible.
He looked at the group of 10-12 hunters surrounded by nearly a hundred monsters. Many were injured, barely holding on as the adrenaline kept them alive.
With his All-Seeing Eyes, Aengus quickly judged their characters. Some were ingrates, the type who wouldn’t hesitate to betray him, while others seemed honest.
Without a word, he lifted his Judgement Blade, deciding to act on his own terms. With a swift motion, he unleashed his Spectral Blade Storm.
Swish, swish, swish!
Invisible blades slashed through the air, cutting through the raging monsters. Their roars of demise filled the battlefield, and their possessed state ended as they crumbled to the ground.
Aengus remained calm, his confidence unwavering. The group’s awe quickly turned into admiration, their eyes lighting up with a near fanatical reverence.
“Thank you, Hero! Thank you!” one of them shouted, their voice trembling with gratitude.
“What’s your name, Hero?” another asked eagerly, their tone filled with hope.
Aengus noticed some of them had felt a brief surge of malice, but his raw power and hostility quickly snuffed out those thoughts. Fear replaced any ill will they might have had.
“I am not a Hero. Goodbye,” Aengus said flatly, his voice carrying no warmth. Before they could respond, he vanished in a flash of light.
“Did you see that? He was a real hero, he didn’t even accepted anyone’s gratitude in return,” one girl said, her eyes wide with admiration.
“Aiya, I know. He was so manly!” another girl chimed in, gazing in the direction where Aengus disappeared with affection.
“Tch… He is nothing but an arrogant bastard!” A couple of boys sneered in jealousy, unable to hide their irritation.
—
Aengus, now far from the group, felt a small relief from their burdensome expectations, but the chaos within still gnawed at him.
He decided to follow the monsters, curious to see where they were heading. His destination coincidentally lay in the same direction, so it didn’t feel like a waste of time.
Plus, there was a chance he could uncover more about Dwarvania, the land he sought answers in.
Keeping a safe distance, he noticed the number of monsters steadily growing into the hundreds of thousands.
It surprised him slightly; Such a large gathering wasn’t normal. After several minutes of running, he reached the top of a narrow cliff, where he witnessed something strange. The monsters were jumping off the edge, seemingly in a frenzy, falling into a dense fog below.
To any ordinary person, it would appear that the creatures were plunging to their deaths, but Aengus, using his special All-Seeing Eyes, saw something else. Beneath the fog was an invisible barrier, one that allowed the monsters to pass through to another dimension.
Aengus stood still for a moment, contemplating what he had just seen. Then, without hesitation, he took a deep breath and leaped off the cliff. The air rushed past him as gravity pulled him down with a spiraling force. His expression remained calm, unaffected by the height or the pull of the earth below.
As he descended, Aengus had a hunch that something was waiting for him below; something familiar.
The connection felt almost instinctive, pulling him toward the unknown.
“Plop!”
Aengus crossed the invisible barrier and landed smoothly on the barren ground, unharmed. He stood in awe, his eyes scanning the vast desert stretching endlessly before him. In the middle of the desolate expanse, an altar stood out, its divine glow cutting through space and time, almost overwhelming in its brilliance.
His gaze locked onto the altar, feeling an inexplicable connection to it, a pull that resonated deep within him.
“What is this thing?” Aengus muttered, his voice barely a whisper as he slowly approached the altar.
Monsters of all shapes and sizes, ranging from small to colossal, were drawn to the altar as well, their numbers now in the hundreds of thousands. They poured in from every direction, their ranks surpassing C-level and higher.
Aengus couldn’t help but feel both intrigued and unnerved by the sight of the mysterious gathering. The monsters moved as though they were summoned, called to serve something unknown, something powerful.
He drew closer, his senses heightened, wondering what force could command such a vast and terrifying assembly.
Was it the altar itself? Or something even greater lurking beyond?
As Aengus drew closer, he witnessed an astonishing sight.
Atop the altar was a massive pool of swirling, annihilative black energy. The monsters were falling into it one by one, dissolving into energy particles and making the pool even more potent.
The sight was both mesmerizing and terrifying, as the pool seemed endless, deep, and destructive. Aengus instinctively knew that falling into it would mean certain death, even for someone as powerful as him.
In the center of this dark energy pool stood a statue, radiating with glowing energy patterns. The statue appeared to be gathering the pool’s energy into its outstretched hand, controlling the immense power. As Aengus examined it more closely, a strange sense of familiarity washed over him.
The statue’s features resembled his own, but more mature, with a profound aura that seemed like an endless void, full of untold mysteries.
It stirred something deep within his soul, a connection to the primal force of destruction, a force far beyond ordinary comprehension.
The energy emanating from the statue was so intense, yet Aengus felt his soul relaxed.
But, It was soul-stirring and dangerous to others.
He knew that even approaching too close could disintegrate others into nothing but ash.
It was the raw essence of destruction, primal and absolute. Something told Aengus that this force was connected to the truth of his identity, and possibly, to the very core of his soul’s mystery.
Thud, thud, thud
Suddenly loud sounds of footsteps echoed, turning his gaze to the new arrivals.
