Derek’s cold, rciless words resonated through the air, pounding like thunder in Asher’s ears, cruel and indifferent as they echoed across the shattered earth.
"One last chance to save the woman you love most. Kneel and proclaim your god...or watch her vanish like all the rest."
Asher’s vision blurred, everything around him becoming distorted as he slowly, painfully, turned his shaking head towards Rowena. She knelt there, her majestic figure now broken and hunched, mourning amidst the drifting remains of those they’d loved and cherished. Her crimson eyes, usually so fierce and unyielding, were empty and broken, staring numbly at the cold emptiness surrounding her.
"Rowena..." Asher whispered, voice trembling, a painful lump rising in his throat. He could feel the tears burning behind his eyes, the overwhelming guilt and grief threatening to crush him entirely.
The Immortal Sovereign’s voice dripped with cold amusent as he spoke again.
"Unlike my past self, I am now a benevolent god," he mocked softly. "I do not hold grudges, and I can be rciful. I could even allow you to serve , if you only show you have what it takes. After all, we were once like family, weren’t we? Now choose."
A heavy silence lingered. Asher could hear nothing but the ragged rhythm of his own breathing, feel nothing but the anguished thud of his breaking heart. His chest heaved as he stared at Rowena, desperate, drowning, desperate to not lose her too. Maybe...maybe surrendering could save her. Perhaps she could survive, even if it ant sacrificing his pride and soul.
But at that mont, as if sensing his tornt, Rowena’s head lifted slowly, deliberately. Her crimson gaze pierced directly into his soul, burning with fierce determination despite her broken state. In those eyes, he found not fear nor surrender, but defiance—cold, unyielding defiance. A silent, undeniable plea spoke from her expression:
"Ash...you can never surrender. Never kneel. We die together if we must. We can never let our daughter watch us end up as slaves."
Her resolve sliced through his despair, igniting within him a renewed fla, a fire that burned stronger despite the overwhelming odds. A fire that whispered to him he could never surrender to this monster, even at the cost of everything.
Asher steadied his trembling breath, raised his gaze to et the towering Sovereign’s cold amusent, and summoned the last of his dignity to speak defiantly.
"The only ti I will kneel before you," he declared hoarsely, his voice raw yet fierce, "is to bury your filthy corpse."
The Immortal Sovereign’s expression darkened, not expecting him to still cling to his useless pride.
*Scrrkkkkk!*
But suddenly a vibrant surge of dark green energy exploded through the air nearby, violently ripping through space itself.
From the void, small and fragile, Ravina stumbled out onto the ravaged ground, tumbling roughly and quickly scrambling to her tiny feet. Her dark golden eyes shimred in fear and confusion as she searched frantically around, her voice trembling desperately:
"Papa...Mama!"
Asher’s heart seized violently, terror flooding him instantly. His breath caught painfully in his chest, eyes widening in sheer horror.
"R-Ravina?" his voice was barely audible, shaking uncontrollably, suddenly overco by paralyzing dread.
Rowena’s eyes mirrored his own terror, widening in disbelief as she stared at her.
"Aw, look who decided to join us," the Sovereign chuckled coldly, a sinister smile spreading across his godlike features. "We et again, Ravina. What a sha you don’t rember who I am. But I’ll happily remind you."
Ravina looked upward, her tiny figure frozen beneath the overwhelming shadow of the colossal monster towering above. Her small body trembled, fear etching itself deeply into her young, innocent face. Yet despite the soul-crushing terror, she raised her tiny fists defiantly, shouting bravely, voice shaking but strong:
"Stay away from my Mama and Papa, you evil evil monster!"
Rowena surged forward desperately, moving faster than she ever had, scooping Ravina protectively into her arms, clutching her daughter fiercely against her trembling chest.
"No, Ravina! You shouldn’t have co here!" Rowena cried out, her voice shaking with uncontained fear and desperation.
Asher’s mind raced wildly, his heartbeat thunderous in his ears. He frantically searched for any possibility, any chance at salvation—but found only despairing emptiness. He couldn’t even stand properly, his battered body drained of mana and strength. Helplessness consud him as he watched his wife and daughter tremble before the monstrous immortal.
The Sovereign smiled cruelly, relishing every second of tornt he inflicted.
"Your daughter ca at the perfect mont, Asher. She caused a lot of trouble for once but this ti..." he drawled lazily, raising one finger slowly, pointing directly at Rowena’s terrified figure. "At least you’ll have the privilege to watch your family die together."
Asher’s heart shattered, especially upon looking at Ravina’s innocent yet terrified eyes. He can’t let the light in her eyes vanish. Utter panic surged through him, and in that mont, he scread with all his shattered soul:
"NO! Wait! Stop! I’ll kneel—I’ll fucking kneel!"
He forced his weakened body upward, struggling desperately onto trembling knees, trying to raise himself from the dust.
Yet the Sovereign’s sinister smile only grew darker.
"Sorry, Asher, it’s a bit too late for that."
He unleashed a small yet deadly radiant beam from his fingertip, glowing blindingly bright, streaking rcilessly toward Rowena and Ravina’s vulnerable forms.
Ti slowed agonizingly. Asher felt a sudden burst of raw, primal strength surge through him. He pushed himself off the broken ground, roaring desperately as he flung his battered body directly into the beam’s path, pulling Rowena and Ravina fiercely into his embrace, shielding them.
Yet a sharp gasp of pain reached his ears, freezing his heart. Asher’s eyes widened in absolute, horrified realization, feeling the beam tear rcilessly through his chest—then straight through Ravina’s small heart, and finally piercing into Rowena’s trembling chest.
A single, hauntingly broken whisper escaped Rowena’s trembling lips, her eyes moist, her voice barely audible:
"Ash...I..."
Her crimson eyes fluttered shut forever, her soft breath ceasing as Ravina’s tiny body went limp, nestled motionlessly against her mother.
Asher’s eyes widened in horror, his entire soul screaming silently, violently torn apart. He felt no pain from the gaping wound in his chest—only numbing, unspeakable anguish as he fell heavily to his knees, desperately clutching their lifeless bodies in his trembling arms.
"No...please...no..."
His voice was a broken, hollow whisper.
"Ha...This is what I wanted to see again...Now you rember how it feels to lose everything, don’t you?" The cold, ruthless voice of the Sovereign echoed distantly through his numb mind, mocking his complete and utter defeat, as the world around him fell into suffocating darkness.
Asher’s vision blurred, drowning in red-hot tears as they spilled freely, dripping silently onto the cold, lifeless bodies of Rowena and Ravina. The world around him seed distant, muted as if subrged beneath water. Their faces—so serene in death, as though rely asleep—burned permanently into his mind, tearing deeper than any wound he’d ever suffered.
His body shivered uncontrollably, blood gushing from the gaping hole in his chest, pooling rapidly around them. Yet the agony he felt was nothing compared to the insufferable, crushing tornt within his soul, the unbearable grief of losing everything he held dear in a single, rciless mont.
Luna, still kneeling, watched the devastating scene through tear-filled eyes, her fists clenched tightly. Every muscle in her body scread to move, to rise, to fight back against the monstrous being towering above. Yet her grandfather’s silent, firm command restrained her, forcing her to remain helplessly still, even as her heart shattered for the broken man before her.
The Sovereign lood above them all, his towering figure radiating an imnse, terrible power. Yet beneath that cold, divine exterior simred a quiet, seething rage. His voice resonated low and heavy, each word sharp and filled with ancient bitterness.
"You already broke after losing a few lives no more significant than insects," he spat contemptuously, his voice trembling subtly with suppressed fury. "But can you even begin to fathom the loss of an entire civilization, an empire forged painstakingly by my own hands—an empire fit for gods? You robbed of everything, and you forced to witness my legacy crumble to dust before my very eyes. There were millions who worshipped and loved but you took them all away from ."
Asher barely registered Derek’s bitter voice, each word muffled beneath the thundering ache in his heart. His trembling hand reached out weakly, caressing Rowena’s pale, bloodstained cheek one last ti. Her skin was already losing warmth, the lifeless chill stabbing deeper than any blade ever could.
"You’ve known nothing of true loss, Asher," the Sovereign continued bitterly, relishing each cruel word as if it provided him so twisted solace. "The last ti I watched you break like this was over your pathetic son’s harvested corpse. Do you know how I truly ascended to immortality?"
Asher’s breath caught sharply, his heart painfully clenching, body shuddering in silent agony as Derek rcilessly continued:
"The Void Reaver—the very weapon your son foolishly believed belonged to you—allowed to harvest the divine essence that flowed within his veins. A power that rightfully belonged to gods...not insects like you and your pathetic offspring." The Sovereign smiled cruelly, the sadistic satisfaction clear on his face. "Your son died like a helpless animal, just as you will now."
The weight of those cruel revelations crushed Asher completely. His mind reeled, his consciousness slipping as life rapidly drained from his torn body. He could feel his heartbeats slowing, each thud weaker and more erratic than the last.
Asher’s tear-stained eyes slowly closed, darkness pulling him gently, numbly into its silent embrace. With his last remaining strength, he whispered softly into the deafening void, the words carrying all the love and anguish of his heart:
"I’m sorry...I failed you all...Forgive ..."
His battered body crumpled, falling heavily beside Rowena and Ravina. Their lifeless faces beca the final, haunting image burned into his mind as his breath stilled, leaving only silence behind.
The Sovereign watched coldly, an eerie calm settling over his imnse figure as he stared down at Asher’s lifeless body, now lying in a growing pool of blood beside the family he had fought so desperately—and failed—to protect. A sinister smile slowly crept over his features, eyes gleaming with dark triumph as his voice thundered one final declaration, echoing ruthlessly across the shattered land:
"Now die like the insect you truly are, knowing that I, the Immortal Sovereign, have crushed you once more."
Reviews
All reviews (0)