Abaddon stood in the midst of a field of destruction. The city that was once thriving with the undead had been quite decimated.
No building was still fully intact. Only a few threads held together the floating city itself.
Hovering next to the dragon was a rather feminine-looking man with a pair of sunglasses covering his face.
"I believe I fail to see where you derive enjoynt from all of this destruction. It is so.... barbaric."Eternity said distastefully.
Abaddon did not pay him much mind as he continued moving forward, stepping over large cracks and the ashes of dead spirits.
"Barbarism is a very... misguided term, I feel."
"You would call this anything other than unnecessary?"
"I am not mortal. Nor am I a human. For dragons who undertake the paths of warriors, every battle is a clash of wills. A culmination of experiences. It is not about destroying. It is about proving which of us has worked harder for their power."
Abaddon and Eternity eventually ca upon a grand castle in the middle of the city.
It, too, appeared to be on its last leg.
"But do your descendants not enjoy exerting their strength upon others? Is that not also senseless violence?"
Abaddon’s expression beca slightly complicated.
"Many tis, they do so without my approval or acknowledgent. There is no glory in stepping on those who do not stand on equal footing with you. Nor is there any rit in exerting force upon the ek and harmless. That is my philosophy."
The doors to the castle ca flying off with a loud bang.
Abaddon flicked his finger and the door exploded into splinters before it could strike either him or Eternity.
"Foul creature... You dare raze the ho of the Dead King!?"
A figure stepped out of the grounds of the ruined castle. He was a ghastly figure with pale skin of a mottled grey. His hair was not organic; instead, it was comprised of nurous bright green souls.
His body might have once been perfect and free of blemishes, but as of now, he was missing an arm and half of his face appeared as a cracked mask of porcelain.
In one hand, he held a hamr nearly as large as Abaddon. It was covered in gleaming black spikes that were caked with old blood.
"So do you an to say that you have never exerted your power on those who did not deserve it?" Eternity asked.
Abaddon, surprised by the question, did not react in ti to see the dead king’s incoming attack.
The hamr struck him cleanly in the chest, pushing him back a clear twenty feet.
And yet, he did not seem the least bit perturbed. He turned to Eternity as he dusted off his chest.
"...I have lived for a very long ti. Often with no guide. I have made many mistakes in my ti. It is my greatest fortune that those mistakes have not brought my loved ones greater peril."
Abaddon’s body beca a blur as he reappeared beside the dead king. He flattened his hand into a blade and swiftly chopped the old ghost in the neck, sending him flying through the city like a kite with it’s string cut.
The dragon rushed after him, appearing behind the dead king in the blink of an eye and punching him hard in the small of his back with all four fists.
A sinister snapping sound filled the air as the undead let out a choked cry.
Abaddon’s body moved faster than light, striking the undead king in every opening he had with less than a 0.00000001-second interval between blows.
Eternity followed him without breaking a sweat.
"You seem remorseful."
"Does that surprise you?" Abaddon responded without stopping.
"Slightly. I have never known you to be an individual for introspection. Then again, I have never known you to want the company of another either."
"Loneliness and love are two of the most powerful forces in the universe. They can change even the immovable into sothing unrecognizable. I am living proof. And as I live and love, I will continue to grow. At the mont I stop, I may as well be dead."
Abaddon grabbed the dead lord by his head and slamd his face hard into his knee. The shockwave generated by the resulting clash eviscerated every other broken building atop the floating city.
Eternity was rather quiet as he watched Abaddon abuse a being who was already long unconscious.
The gears in his ancient mind began to turn ever more slowly.
Eternity had seen a great deal over the course of his existence.
Naturally, this included mortals and their ideas of romantic attachnts. As an egoless, Eternity considered himself to be above such pursuits. It was not a part of the grand design that the original eight had first intended.
But if even Oblivion, the most cantankerous and unfriendly of the bunch, had fallen into the clutches of such a trapping, then perhaps the experience was in fact worth considering after all.
Eternity would take any opportunity for study. Even if it seed to be slightly unconventional.
Abaddon ripped the dead king’s head off his body and impaled it on a spear made from his own power. Though truth be told, this was complete overkill. The light had already long left his adversary’s eyes.
Abaddon stepped back, dusting off his hands of ghastly ectoplasm and undead flesh. The steam wafting off his knuckles ward the very air around him.
He seed imnsely proud of himself. As if he’d just finished a rather strenuous run.
’Honey. What’s it looking like out there?’
Abaddon’s ear twitched when he heard Seras’ sweet voice inside his mind. A wide smile spread across his lips.
’Ah, there you are my love. Asherah’s really outdone herself this ti, things are really quite-’
’Why do you sound like that?’
’...Like what?’
’You sound very pleased despite the situation we currently find ourselves in. Really, you only ever sound like this after...’
Seras’ voice trailed off for a long ti.
When she spoke again, her voice was anything but sweet and friendly.
’Y-You... How could you!! You knew I was feeling down because I couldn’t have any good fights, and you went and had one without ! Without saying anything!? DOES OUR MARRIAGE AN NOTHING TO YOU!?!’
Abaddon’s face beca as pale as a jade beauty’s.
’O-Of course not, my love. Don’t you know better than that...? There’s no way I would ever be so selfish. You know I am always thinking of you, Seras.’
Abaddon whirled around and grabbed Eternity by his shoulder.
He snatched up the dead lord by his detatched head and brought his face directly next to his fellow Egoless. Eternity nearly retched at the sll of decomposed flesh.
"Listen to ... I require a very large favor."
------------------------------------------
Sooo... today’s been kind of a crazy day.
I’m sure a lot of you saw the imnse generosity of a friend of mine earlier today across the sight and it really touched in a way that is nigh impossible to overstate.
I’ll be frank, I’ve been having so difficulties with the story for the past two years. The fact that the story hadn’t been as popular as it once was had really gotten to on a personal level and affected more than I cared to admit. Writing began to feel like another thing in my life that I’d failed at, despite wanting so badly to maybe one day make a career out of it.
It’s mostly my own fault, and I don’t really want any of you to think I’m writing this just to complain or be lodramatic.
In truth, I guess I’m just writing this to say... Whether my story is in the top thirty or in the bottom 200, it will always be sothing I won’t give up on and will continue to push forward.
And I appreciate every single one of you who have supported not only my first novel through all of it’s growing pains, but my second, third, and fourth projects as well, strictly because they have my na on them. Oh yeah, go check out The Dread Knight’s Rage by the way, it’s my best work yet if I do say so myself :D
No matter whether you send fifty coins or 15,000, or even if you don’t send any at all and you just co here to read my growth, I want to tell every single one of you that I am imnsely appreciative of everything that you have done for and for my family. You all have put on a new path. I could never place one of you above the other.
Every comnt, unlock, Discord join, all of it has truly been a bigger blessing than what I could have anticipated. I have made lifelong friends through this in addition to gaining a new passion, and I just feel that’s sothing that cannot be trumped by money and should not go without acknowledgnt.
Thank You. All of you.
- A.S.
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