Lacrimosa.

The song echoed out.

In my mind.

In my soul.

An Apex.

A Culmination.

Ascension.

One of the most famous pieces of classical music and a true epic that could bring chills and shivers to even the most tone-deaf of minds who gave it their full attention.

Images and shapes swam in my vision, swirling and vibrating from nothingness into a coherent picture, showing my decapitated body and head being mauled by the surrounding horrors, baring too many teeth and too much hunger.

This is..ugly.

It is. And yet there is an elegance and beauty there. You see it, don't you?

A voice, not quite female, not quite male. I answered honestly. There would be no point in pretending or masking my core nature now.

I do.

Tell me. Paint me a picture of what you see.

I sighed. Words could not really describe the imagery nor the viscerality of my perception…but I'd give it a shot.

Living is ugly, even before all this.

It's full of pain. It's full of stench. It's full of fluids and MEAT and ROT AND LIES. Claw and Consume.

People hurt each other for fun, for pleasure, for profit, for thought.

Those unfortunate people then hurt others in response to the pain, to the desperation..and thus, the cycle continues.

I licked my lips and a wave of shivers pulsed over me.

My corpse stirred.

From my head, threads of red, black and azure shot out toward my severed neck.

The slave band was gone. Nowhere to be seen. I was free.

Free to continue this violent cycle.

But death…is a beautiful absolute.

It is seen as Final. Considered to be infinite. And yet, paradoxically, it is finite.

So it is not the end.

Life is the end.

Being born is the end of your eternity. An eternity in nothingness.

Becoming existent is the cold miserable jolt from the infinite that came before and will come after..And it is miraculous how a cloud of matter and particles can fall like snowflakes and land just in the exact right way for the exact structural pattern to emerge to allow energy or something else to want, to need, to desire and exploit the framework as a tool to destroy, devour and steal from around it.

How laughably absurd it is...

Life is truly the real end.

And Death..

Death truly is the beginning of peace, of calm, of eternity...

But who fucking wants that, right?

Wonderful.

A single shimmering thread connected with another, setting off a violent chain reaction.

Sublime.

From the back of my corpse, my shields both burst out, gored the closest nightmares and then kept going, forming loosely a head, torso, arms, legs and the remaining components of Serens construct that ripped apart their bodies into a blood clotted mess.

And if that's what you see, what do you feel?

The voice rumbled, amused.

Hm. A tough question, but easy to answer. How long have I felt this way?

I feel-

##################################################################################################################################################

"HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUKKK" I heaved in oxygen. Lying on the ground, I breathed in so hard until my ribcage felt like it was going to burst. But it wouldn't. My bones and ligaments were filled with a density that made me realise how hollow and fragile I’d felt for the past few weeks.

Then I exhaled.

As I stared, there was a cacophony of noise all around me but I felt..Calm. Collected. Measured. Information burst back to life, my bones and muscles flared with the ache of prolonged artificial restriction, my very core thrummed with a strength and power that I had missed dearly for far too long.

Seren. Help Siya.

Already on it.

The space Seren had previously cleared was closing rapidly, so I Surge Slipfolded on the spot, obliterating every single monster within striking distance and blinking myself up to my feet.

Gore exploded as monsters crashed through their severed brethren and I allowed it to splash over me. The blood, flesh and fluid was just a mere drop in this ocean of filth.

Everything moved calmer. Everything felt warmer and softer. Everything around me was lesser, weaker.

Got her. She's alive. But barely. We can fix this though - I’m bringing her now. You'll need to be in contact with her when you make a claim on EXP - excess will Soulbound transfer and heal her.

That's..thank you. Thank you Seren…after that we-

I saw everything Godu. I felt it. All of it. To the very smallest of splinters. There's only one thing on my mind and I KNOW it's on yours.

We. Kill. EVERYTHING.

I smiled. A sickly sweet malicious smile.

The hulking black form of Serens daemon form parted the monsters like an unstoppable force cleaving the sea.

More blood. More flesh. More fluid.

I didn't flinch a finger as she swivelled and skidded to a stop in front of me, sweeping a long pointed kite shield to obliterate anything that came within striking distance.

She carefully handed over Siyas mutilated torso.

And that's all she was. A torso. Gashed and gouged, flesh missing, ribs showing.. Everything had been ravaged, all except her black shield remained and it must have been the only thing that kept her..alive. If you could call this awful state that.

Seren threw a punch over my head as I stared solemnly down at my dear friend. Her construct skillfully beheaded and skewered everything that approached us as I cradled this little creature that had come for me and saved me, in my arms.

#Godu# Siya. I’m so..I-I…

Label:Siya (Critical, Dismembered, Poisoned..)

MAGN: 89.999

HP: 2/2400

Notes: Heartbroken. Has been searching relentlessly day and night for her lost soulbound..

My eyes glinted with rage and I clenched my jaw so hard a tooth cracked.

"Don't worry. Everything is going to be okay." I muttered holding her tightly and swivelled my head, placing points everywhere around me. There was no need to warn or communicate with Seren, she knew my intentions just like I knew hers.

I wasted not a second and Surge-folded to the edge of the circle, continuously flickering back and forth as fast as my ability would allow me. Eruptions of blood and offal showered the rows and rows of nightmares that encircled us, with Seren gracefully gore-skating around the circle firing off attacks that rapidly added to the body count.

Her attacks were astounding.

The long pointed kite shields on her back were like lances that caused devastation and havoc everywhere they touched. The long tendril ribbon weaved like a thread of smoke, severing limbs and stabbing through heads; the shard holding arms snapping and thrusting around with surgical precision; there wasn't a single millimeter of wasted movement.

Returning to the middle, I watched as the creatures fell by the droves, allowing the somewhat cleared space to grow wider as their ranks were thinned out from our combined efforts. I urged and pleaded for the EXP to move faster as Siya’s health trickled down to its final point.

"COME ON! WORK! FUCKING SAVE HER!-"

And with great relief, just like Seren said, clouds of shimmer began pouring in and flowing over Siya as I claimed it with a portion being shared with her.

It was comforting to watch it regenerate her wounds and missing tissue, bone and limbs; although it did not escape my attention her wing had not started its repairs, yet I paid it no mind since she was still alive and recovering quickly.

"THERE HE IS! AND THAT BITCH-WHa…WHAT IN GOD'S HOLY NAME IS THAT?! THE DEVIL ITSELF!? ATTACK! EVERYONE! EVERYTHING YOU HAVE GOT! KILL THE DEMON!" Baldy was screeching, looking dishevelled with a few cuts and bruises.

Ah. You.

He placed his palm outward and grunted as a golden glowing orb formed in-between.

Guards around him looking haggard and beat up, all lifted their hands and weapons, unleashing a storm of projectiles made of both matter and Majik.

Seren-

It is nothing.

She blurred and interposed herself in-between me and the wave of attacks with a heavy thud of her slender heeled legs. Her long pointed shields shifted around and clanked into position, then spread out like a folding fan unravelling, creating a large protective barrier.

A split second later the area darkened and then from the other side of the shield a very bright golden light shone, along with a torrential splashing of various colours and brightness.

They are nothing.

A blisteringly bright kaleidoscope of light burst into her shields, energies and evaporating particulates crested over and fizzled out into nothingness; the sound of a thousand bombs going off at once created a shockwave that blew dust up from the ground, launching the dead and the weak away from the blast.

Not a single wisp or shred of heat made it past Seren.

Abruptly it ended, and I heard shouts of panic accompany Serens daemon synth sombre groans as she slowly retracted her shield wings.

Hurt them. Please.

It was as if she was sighing with condescending pity at the inhumane retribution she was about to unleash.

Certainly.

“U-U-UNHOLY! IMPOSSIBLE! DEVIL! SATAN! DIAVOLA! STAY BACK!” Marz was white as a sheet and stuttering. The silent rapier guy was staring, wide eyed.

This.

She spread her arms open as if to embrace them; a strange static noise started to climb in volume.

“YOU! AND YOU! FIGHT! GO! NOW! YOU FUCKING COWARDS!” Marz started shoving people forward, but they resisted. Leaning back, refusing to step one single foot closer yet unable to run.

Is.

Her daemon form cranked out synth key notes and a grumbling series of judders and mechanical ticking. As the static ascended, faint whispers and screams took shape amidst the ghostly noise.

For.

“STOP JUST STANDING THERE!”

There was an effervescent noise of metallic glass rain.

“YOU USELESS SACKS-”

ALL.

And from either side, black crawling spikes crawled aside, appearing as if her rib cage had split apart and had opened wide.

It reminded me of an iron maiden.

“-OF MEAT-NONO! OH GODS! WHAT IS THAT!? NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! WAAAAIIIIIIT!!”

THE.

An impossible to describe eldritch glow burst out and bathed them all.

I was behind her so I couldn’t see exactly what they could, but they all dropped to their knees in sheer terror, their eyes bulging and their mouths stretching unnaturally wide.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

“ARRRRGHHHHHHHH!”

They screamed in an inglourious, gut-wrenching harmony.

“#P#A#I#N#!#”

Seren's otherworldly roar birthed out of her daemon construct in the form of a truly cosmic, bio-mechnical, terror inducing growl, that even made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. There was something primal and ancient, buried in my instincts that screamed at me - this noise should never be heard. This should never exist.

With a loud snap, hundreds of thin black tendrils shot out and stabbed into limbs, flesh, torsos - everything. All the guard’s screams elevated in pitch with some screaming so loud their voice boxes audibly tore open. Only Marz and Strayel the silent one managed to frantically deflect the tendrils, but they could only watch in horror as every other single man or woman-guard were slowly deconstructed in front of them with absurd and horrifying precision.

The tendrils burrowed into their bodies and started to methodically pry their limbs apart whilst somehow preserved the nervous and blood circulatory systems, which hung between the chunks of muscle and dislocated bone ligaments like rubbery shoe laces and plastic strings.

Alive they were painstakingly kept, as Seren's tendrils kept stretching and pushing them further and further apart, they were living a true hell, begging for it to end, screaming and wailing as their skin was lifted from underneath by the tendrils. Separating just enough until there was room for it to all be peeled off and slapped down onto the floor in perfect synchronisation.

Wailing and crying they continued, until their skulls were lifted from their necks. Tendons and sinewy tissues snapped in unison, like a million guitar strings twanging as their spines were lifted from their wire-frame maintained husks.

IMPOSSIBLY ALIVE they still were, after their spines were separated from the base of their skulls and their eyes rolled around in their skinless sockets. Their mouths gaping between open and closed, like beached fish. Their structures were a grotesque mesh of black tendrils, moist rubbery blood vessels, thin strands of nerves and dissected pearl white bone.

It should have been shocking. It should have been disgusting. It should have been offensive at a fundamental level...

And yet, I simply stared at the graphic puppet show. Feeling satisfied as Seren twisted the skulls in unison, almost comically, to make them look at each other and at what their own bodies had become.

“WAAAAAAAAA-AAAAAHHHHH-AHHHHHH!” For someone who apparently thrived on torture and sadism, baldy-Marz had not fared well at all and was wailing and screaming as he fought off a cluster of tendrils.

Oh but I thought this was what you were all about you sack of shit?

Strayel was still staying silent, but I caught glimpses of the white of his widened eyes underneath a gore splattered tricorne hat, it was clear that he wanted no more part of this as he continued to deflect the few tendrils that sporadically harassed him.

Hmph. I guess that will do. There is no further pain I can inflict. And..I..can’t maintain..this much longer.

Seren scattered the remains into the raging torrent of monsters that had encircled us, fighting amongst themselves over the easy fresh meat I had diced up.

The fresh downpour of neatly kebab’d food elevated their frenzy.

Yaaawn. Unfortunately, those two are too slippery for me to apply the same retribution and..I’m tired, Godu. Is it alright if I come back?

Of course Seren. Don’t you worry. And you did outstanding on your promise. You’ve done more than enough. They got everything they deserved and now it’s time for them.

Hmmmmm.

She sounded sleepy and comfortable.

Good, I can feel the serenity in you. I can rest happily.

The same synth groaning and metallic rain noises blared; the spikes creepily disappeared; and the unnatural lights snuffed out as she turned around.

Make sure to give them-yaaaaaaawn…Suffering.

She yawned as her construct bolted towards me and, smirking, I went for the full dramatic effect and started walking unflinchingly towards them. Her feet stomped into the dirt as she steamed towards me and I didn’t even bat an eye as she exploded into a cloud of shimmer that swarmed around me and into my back, deploying my shields into config:prime and flaring them out as it finished.

Finally I wanted to show them how immeasurably fucked they were, so, holding onto Siya, I activated my Null Claw armaments on my boots, raising me up off the ground as the dragon-like feet assembled themselves.

Oh. I intend to.

“AHHHHHHH! AHHHHH! STAY BACK DEMON KEEPER! DEVIL WHORE! AHHHH! STAY-BACK!” He put his hands together, palms facing towards me as a small miniature golden sun formed. But before he could finish, I Slipfolded close and felt glorious satisfaction as my shields snipped off his pesky little hands effortlessly, making the tiny sun fizzle out as his severed limbs plopped onto the ground.

“WARGGHHHHHHHHHH!”

Ughh..More annoying than satisfying. Seren does this whole retribution stuff better-

Strayel immediately lunged for me but his movements were no longer blurs; I could easily keep up with them now that my mind was running on all cylinders, and although he made efforts to mask his intentions, my subconscious had already seen enough of him to understand that he favoured a weaker faint before his actual strike.

So I let his first thrust barely slice into my shoulder before he whipped his sword up and around, aiming for my neck which I leaned back from, clearly hoping to make a fatal wound straight away.

He blurred back unexpectedly, as my clawed foot flickered up and around towards his chest, successfully dodging me as I successfully interrupted his attack.

Tsk. Fast skill of some kind. Still too fast..Oh, well hello there.

Spotting a horribly wonderful sight in the mere fraction of a second after, I continued the momentum I’d gained with my attack, and added an extravagant helping of surge into a follow up spin kick that connected with Marz’ ribcage, and sent him hurtling into the sea of monsters.

One healthy dose of lethal suffering is coming right up.

Right into the chest of one of the giant ogres.

It had been lurching around trying to grab other monsters, all of which appeared to be vehemently keeping their distance. Perhaps from a disgust of its existence, or perhaps from a primitive wariness of the massive diseased looking genitalia that hung in between its legs.

It clutched onto Marz’ crippled body and didn’t even think twice to immediately begin relieving its unspeakable needs and sickening instinctual desires.

Truly the creation of a psychotic and disturbed mind if I ever saw one. Bad for reality, good for my pissed off soul.

But his screams and wails were all I needed to hear to feel justifiable satisfaction. His last moments would be experiencing what he had condemned so many others to feel.

Overall, it had been a fantastically productive evening; I had even started feeling ready to move on.

And even though it would take time to repair all the fractures in my mind, at least the hope had returned thanks to the insane courage and self sacrifice of a certain small someone.

I glanced down at Siya who stirred and groaned a rattling purr.

There are good things and good people still in this miserable world. She’s okay. She’s alive.

And hopefully I could put all this behind me..Although..

I lazily looked over at Strayel who was staring at his ex-master's violation in progress.

Hmm. What to do with you.

Strangely, killing him wasn’t hugely that interesting for me, even after his attacks on me and Siya. Perhaps it was because my bloodlust cup had been filled to the brim already and Siya was okay. Or perhaps he just seemed like a merc that simply followed orders and now wore a grim smile as he watched Marz receive his fatal white water wristing.

Weirdo…Blah. He still could have chopped my head off, so fuck’em. Plus I kinda want his hat.

I sniffed and prepared a volley of shards for an attack.

But before I could make another move, he snapped his gaze at me, shook his head, and flickered into the wall of monsters, appearing and disappearing in between gaps with the occasional attack he had to dish out as he made his escape.

…He’s absurdly fast.

CRITICAL ALERT!

Oh goody! I love these-

PROTECTIVE MEMBRANE FAILURE.

CONTAINMENT MEMBRANE FAILURE.

CONTROL SYSTEMS OFFLINE.

The arena dome shield above flickered and then popped like a bubble, revealing a scene of bloodshed and chaos.

OH-HOH! Well, well, well. If it ain’t the crowd of cunts.

Finally, I could feast my eyes on the cretins that had been cheering and booing at me for the past month. The spark of rage reignited, all those fuckers, watching and enjoying the suffering and pain. And I grinned at the sight of them all clambering and clawing at each other, trying to get away from-

The fire was whiffed out, extinguished. And my blood cooled rather quickly.

CORRUPTED? OHHH SHIT ON IT.

There were thousands of people.

Shocking. Have they not considered that they could be the last few thousand on the planet? What the fuck are they playing at?..Absolute cunts..

But carving a bloody and messy path through the crowd of cunts was a small group of extremely dangerous and even more deadly cunts - the corrupted.

They were not even bothering to stop and take names, simply running through and grabbing throats and limbs, then getting distracted by the next squishy blood bag that was only a few steps in front.

Some people were trying to gang up and take down a few and it's possible some had succeeded, only to unsuccessfully escape the sickly corrupted EXP and become sick and corrupted themselves.

With all the physics-defying horror that had been occurring, I hadn’t thought about what the other ramifications of the control domain or the siphoning system failing would be, but corruption was now certainly at the top of the fucking list.

Well fuck it. There’s nothing left for me here. This place is as good as dead now. Those fucks will get a fate worse than death..

I looked down at the unconscious face of Siya and half smiled.

Damn I swear you’ve grown..hmm.

The smile spread.

Time to go see some very missed friendly faces.

Cue the sound of pulling a trigger and hearing an empty ‘click’.

Huh.

Click.

…Where are my anchors?..

Click. Click.

I can’t find them..I CAN’T FUCKING FIND ANY OF THEM.

The memories of them were there, but when I reached out to grasp them, I couldn’t feel them, I couldn’t connect to them. The local ones were there but anything historical..gone.

"Okay, okay. Let's think, let's just, think. What the heck..is going on…here…..” I trailed off as I looked around before slowly getting my first good look up at the sky as the roar and screeching continued around me and my eyes widened in shock and confusion.

The sky had a ceiling. And last time I checked..Skys did NOT have ceilings-

Oh for FUCK SAKES..Nope! I can get through this. Yes. Okay, this is nothing. This is fine. This is-

“RAAAAAAGH!”

Apparently the all you can eat buffet had been cleared except, I was the last tempura prawn, and the diners really liked tempura prawns.

Alllllrighty then. Change of plan. Let’s-heh.

Let's ask the locals.

I started to chain Slipfold every few meters out of habit, but barked a laugh as I remembered those bastard limitations were gone, and folded straight up to the top of the lower seats, where a few dozen people were fending off the monsters trying to scale up the arena wall, whilst simultaneously trying to not get pushed down by the crowd jostling and fighting to get through what appeared to be a small exit gate.

They were all sub 30's on the mag scale so I made sure to mind my manners.

"Greetings shitstains!" I cheerfully called out, hoofing one of them into the arena that for some reason or another, tried to attack me.

What a twat!

"So which one of you pricks is going to tell me what's going on here? Whoopsy here! Come on! Really?" Another! Another tried to attack me with a railgun looking weapon of all things! But the small plasma projectile clunked into one of my fast moving shields and fizzled out harmlessly.

"Wow I mean, I'm truly shocked how you guys have managed to survive this long. Huuuup! Watch out for the ste-Oh dear, there she goes."

A woman manically attacked me with elongated claws whilst the group at large started yelling at each other about how "the shield demon was coming for their souls" or something, and in response I just..stepped out of the way.

And she fell.

Okay, I DID slash her legs..a bit. But she would've fallen off anyway!

"Hmm. This isn't a great start so unless there are any other take-Hoooooopsie! YUP. OKAY THEN. That one is COMPLETELY on you my friend! Yes! I see your arms are completely severed and are being eaten! Here hhup! There you go! Now you're being eaten too!"

Well that went about as well as I expected..

This was getting me nowhere and although they were not really a threat, that guy had actually nearly taken my eye out with some kind of skill that multiplied his spear several times. My shields were still preternaturally fast and had slapped all of them away, following up by dissecting the aggressors arms by the shoulders as a stern lesson for him to learn, but still. I wasn't immortal and I was still carrying Siya.

I need to go and find somewhere safe and quiet. Siya got in, she can hopefully get us out.

My options were pretty limited right this moment, so I looked around and decided to just see how far up I could go.

Fuck that is extremely disturbing. Being boxed in like this.

I shuddered.

After folding to the top of the seating area where it was much quieter than anywhere else, I uncovered the fact that the back wall just kept going up and up, reaching into the dark sky ceiling.

So..Are we underground? Where the heck has light been coming from? And how fricking tall is this..Shit, what if the backup plan is to bury us? I don't have a fucking shovel! And FUCK-This is NOT GOOD. NOT FUCKING GOOD.

My mind started racing as the dread of being trapped underground forever started to send me down to panic FUCKING central. But I had to get a grip. I'd come this far, I could keep going. I had physical backup and my strength and skills.

Okay. Okay. Again. If Siya got in, she must know how to get out.

So nothing has changed except now it makes sense why people were fighting over just the one exit tunnel.

It was probably the only exit.

Too risky to go with Siya like this. Seren could probably mow through it though..Yet, how far does it go? She doesn't last very long, no pun intended..Argh. No, no.

Recover first, then escape.

From up here I could see that people were only flooding to the spectator exit, suggesting it was the only way..But surely that can't be? What about VIPs?

I peered over at the VIP seating. At the back there appeared to be an exit.

Hmmm.

Taking a moment to ponder, my shields deflected several projectiles before I got angry at the distraction and sent a retaliatory shower of surge integrated shards, tasing and impaling a handful of brain dead idiots. And just to reinforce the point, I Surge-Slipfolded on top of them, creating a fleshy explosion that erupted spectacularly, like a water balloon filled with ketchup had been impacted at terminal velocity. The red showering the surrounding lucky audience members received triggered the expected screams and wailing as they scrambled to get away, apparently only now getting the hint.

These people are genuine idiots. Do they still think I’m weakened or something? Oh nevermind-

The corrupted were gaining fast ground towards our position so it was only a matter of time before they died. And I was starting to feel the faint drag of tiredness, so with no other reasonable options, I relented and Slipfolded over to check out the VIP lounge.

Pushing past the distastefully red regal-like chairs and curtains, there was a doorless exit and I placed a few anchors around and in a few random locations just in case I needed to return back for whatever reason.

Dismissing my dino-dragon feet as I entered, the corridor was very dark, but my low light sight compensated and after a few turns and a bit of jogging, I found myself at the top of a spiral staircase which I carefully descended, having no other route to go.

As I climbed down, there was a collection of voices that grew louder and angrier until eventually I saw a familiar flickering of light..

...

..

.