Percival was a tool of destruction. One serving the worst evil of all times.
He had killed Alice exactly 417 times. He counted this loop of killing even though he didn't bother to count the innocent bystanders he had killed so far.
It's for the same reason he memorized the names of Albert and Felix, the Masters of Gravity and Time, respectively, who had died at his master's hands and became a source of power to him.
There was no way to resist his master. He was the Malevolent One's tool, and a tool obeyed its wielder regardless of its own will.
A tool didn't have a will.
The situation that currently unfolded was a battle between the Malevolent One and Alice, who had become a ghost and unlocked the elemental power that had been dormant all this time.
In order to awaken the element of death, they had Alice familiarize herself with death until she could tap that power before her final breath.
There were other ways, but his master has chosen the cruelest one.
As the battle progressed, Alice gained momentum. The ashen aura that spread like a tidal wave caused the Malevolent One's flesh to rot and fall off with a sickening smell. He had exhausted the power of time by maintaining the loop for so long, so the regenerative ability of time regression had decreased immensely.
Since both gravity and time were useless against a corpse, especially one that didn't use its body to attack, the only method of attack was the shadowed beast, but getting into range was difficult as he could die from exposure to the ashen aura. From a glance, it would seem as though he was losing.
But Percival looked closely, and he knew the battle was over before it even began.
Alice had no technique, simply releasing her aura as she would a wide-ranged magic spell. It was too crude to reach his master.
The Malevolent One wasn't losing; he was baiting her.
As she reached the distance he wanted her to, he released a flash of emerald. With a completely restored body, the emerald aura dies out, replaced by the grayish-brown energy of gravity that wasn't used much.
Covered by a thick energy coat, the power of death was repelled, much to Alice's dismay.
Percival wasn't surprised. His master knew how to use his powers and could even block the effects of other elements with his own. It was effective against the rampaging Alice, who used her powers crudely.
With the momentary advantage, the Malevolent One reduced the distance and drove out the shadow beast at her.
The evil devourer of shaodws opened its mouth wide enough to eat a bear. In an instant, Alice's body was engulfed.
...
“She escaped,” his master said slowly.
Percival sucked a deep breath. A wave of gravity cracks the earth and causes him to fall down under the pure pressure, threatening to break every bone and tear every sinew in his body.
A purple aura, his own elemental power, automatically envelops his body, sensing the user's peril. The force of gravity slowly breaks down as he collapses on the ground, coughing blood.
Percival didn't have the power to heal. In fact, it went directly against the nature of his element. But his physiology allowed him an accelerated healing factor by absorbing heat. Still, it would take a few days to heal completely.
The Malevolent One approaches Percival, who was in a sorry state because of him. No remorse was reflected in his jet-black eyes.
“I'm sorry for my outburst, my dear friend.” Percival saw that he really wasn't. “It seems she is a very intuitive girl. Weird she couldn't use this to see through me.”
Not really, Percival thought. None of them could see the devil behind the mask. He was too skilled at pretending, too charming, and too meticulous.
The Malevolent One meditated to restore his abilities to their peak condition.
If the two fought without restraints, Percival would have an advantage in raw strength and elemental power compatibility but would lose simply because of technique and an array of complex abilities. He was frightened by the Malvolent One's capacity as a fearsome warrior and cunning strategist.
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He truly was the man to drive the Transcendent Dragon race to extinction.
After he finished his meditation, he coated Percival with emerald energy, restoring his body to a perfect condition.
“She is somewhere I don't recognize, but it doesn't matter for now. I get the feeling she would keep using this trick, and I can't stop it.”
“Won't that interfere with your plans?”
“Not if I can get back my darkness. I will go retrieve it since the fragment has awakened it at last.”
The thought of his master getting the powers of darkness and death dreaded Percival. Everything went as the ancient tyrant willed it, and the impending era of darkness caused him to fear. The guilt loomed over his head like a guillotine.
“In the meantime, go to the north and look for the fragment kid who got the fiend power. He seems to be in a predicament, so hurry. Save him.”
“Yes.”
“Do your best to convince him to join us. The power of fiends is at the bottom of my list, but he would prove a useful tool for the future.” His master smirked, mocking Percival. “Aren't you glad to have a new friend?”
You are my puppet. Don't forget it.
Percival loathed his master from the bottom of his heart. He wanted to kill him with every beat of his heart.
Instead, he could only say, “Yes.”
“Move now. Oh, and kill everyone in the nearest village, will you? Just make quick work.”
The madness Alice had seen in Percival's eyes was an emotion born of living under the command of a devil, whose every move meant to hurt others.
Percival attempted to resist with all his might. He only ever wanted to take his sword and drive it through this monster's heart.
But in front of the tether that binds him into servitude, it was truly a worthless sentiment.
He will be used as a tool to help the embodiment of evil absorb his fragments, breaking their will solely for not being him.
“Do you also want to ask why, my pathetic little fragment?” He sighed. “I thought you already knew.”
He knew.
The Malevolent One was a monster driven to hurt others for his own entertainment. That's why. And he won't be satisfied until he realizes his ambitions.
“You won't be satisfied until you kill us all.”
He smirked. “And you are saved for last. Aren't you glad?”
Percival wasn't.
Like a golem, his legs move against his will, heading north. There was no way to resist, as if he were a mere spectator in his own body.
The Malevolent One waved goodbye, enjoying the pained expression on Percival.
The only comfort was getting away from the constant mental torture he was subjected to. Abuse disguised as care, and insults disguised as praise.
Well, the task ahead is a torment in itself.
“Would you like to buy an amulet for good luck, sir?”
Before he knew it, Percival had arrived at the nearest village. A merchant tried to sell his goods to him, but Percival could only twitch in agony.
Kill everyone.
That was the order, and he couldn't resist.
“I'm sorry,” he cried. “I'm so sorry.”
Drawing his sword, Percival cuts the merchant's head in half, falling to the ground with the sliced upper skull and spilling brain parts.
People screamed and attempted to escape.
He held his sword.
And embarked on a massacre.
When it was over, Percival found himself sitting in a puddle of blood. He was crying uncontrollably, surrounded by corpses.
Cry and sob when you feel like crying. Don't keep it in.
It was just another order. One meant to dishonor him and disgrace the warrior he once was.
He didn't deserve to cry over the souls he took. There was no justification for what he did, and the hypocrisy sickened him.
The worst part was that he could have ended this sooner but chose not to.
If he had just used his power, he could have erased the entire area with his destruction element.
“I hope the Fiend is dead.”
Percival knew the north was the most dangerous place in the world. It swarmed with mutants, and the environment worked to kill you with bone-chilling tempests. If the Master of Fiends is in danger, then the risk of him dying rises exponentially in the north.
And with his death, the world would be safer. A weaker version of the Malevolent One could be defeated, perhaps the Master of Light, though Percival wasn't going to rely on someone he didn't even know.
He traveled for days using only his legs as transport. His speed was even faster than that of a horse using only physical strength.
On the seventh day, Percival had finally crossed to the north. The temperatures decreased along the way, but the drastic plummet made it clear where you were.
The cold sharpened his focus. He was wearing only thin garments and a blood-soaked robe, clearly not thick enough to protect him from the cold. He shuddered.
How long has it been since he last shuddered?
“It's the north, but to think he said it so casually...”
A flood of memories gushed, loosening the tense face muscles, only for them to suddenly twitch.
It was in this place, in the land of winter and death, that he first met the Malevolent One.
An inevitable encounter, driven to happen by the attraction pull of fate.
Fate bloody and miserable.
On the northern land, perhaps only Percival could make his way around. The fields of glass spreading endlessly did not disorient him, and any powerful beast was torn to shreds by slashes of purple aura like sheets of paper.
The element of destruction was without doubt the ultimate offensive element, and its power was an absolute force against those who weren't Elemental Masters. There's a reason the Malevolent One was putting off taking this power last, despite meeting with Percival so early.
Not that it mattered so long as he was his obedient puppet. It made him laugh at his bitter fate.
“At least try to cover your tracks, dammit.”
Something very hot passed through this area and vaporized the ice and snow completely. Snow piled up soon again, but the gap was very clear.
Following the trail, what lied at the end was an ice demon with white skin and a light-blue pattern, with frost covering him. The viscera spilled on the floor, and blood was still flowing.
The blood should've frozen by now.
“He is still alive.”
Percival checked his pulse. It was faint, but the Fiend has yet to die.
Save him.
It's better to let him die, but his body moved against his will, and he carried the clueless demon to safety.
The act reminded him of the time he met the Malevolent One, and the memory brought him nothing but pain.
He knew better, but this time he wasn't the one making the choice.
Percival was making his greatest mistake once again.