Chapter 11: A Man Made God

They were the perfect lock; Ferity and Serenity. Siblings by birth and enemies by choice. The man wondered; he wished for this position, yet even after his desire granted, he still craved for more. He remembers his sister vainly trying to douse his burning inspiration: she was weak, scared of the unknown, of what she could become. He wasn't scared, nor was he weak, he yearned for that unknown, to become it, that which cannot be named.

Fortunately, things seemed to have turned in his favor; the God of Void came to avenge its lost one, and in its anger did not check wether they had survived its execution. Even in the end, his sister dared not to fight.

Although one might see this event as a bad omen, Montezio rejoiced in it. Limbo was not able to find them for a whole century, which meant someone had told it of their whereabouts, and the only one - except for his sister - who knew of his location was the God of Light, which contacted him recently. The fact he had been betrayed did not mean much to him: it was his way of living, how could he despise someone for playing the cards they were dealt with? But now that the lock was broken, it meant the promise did not hold anymore. They will come and finish what they started. It was the perfect occasion for him to attain his new goal.

He walked past Netema, breathing in the fresh air. "Finally, I can break the last wall," he whispered. In front of him stood devastation: burnt trees, radioactive lakes, tumors sprouting from a poisoned soil. He smiled mischieviously, conviction on the corner of his lips.

After a few jumps, he arrived in front of a porch hiding a scarred skeleton. He entered the house. "The memories it brings, It's as if I returned to the past. Isn't that right, mother of Tovernus?" he said to the skeleton. He had met them when he was reuniting what would become the five pillars of Arkanoth. The survivors of the war still felt at a loss and needed someone to lead them, which made it easy for him to become their king. He still was surprised the God of Void did not use this opportunity to kill him, but he probably wouldn't have been able to, after all he just had unlocked his true Will at the time. It was when he had already found the four future pillars, he had decided to settle in Colombia and make the southern part of the American continent his city.

In a desolated town lived a mother and her child. The wheat did not sprout from the ground, the crops ghosts from a bygone era, but the mother still fed her child. When Montezio found them, he was first taken aback, then amused by the crazed love of the mother; each day, she would unseath a kitchen knife, giving away pecks of her own flesh to her son, so far she was gone in her madness did she offer the man a piece of it too when he met them.

He did not love the child for his saddening past but for who he was. Tovernus reminded Montezio of himself: ready to betray anyone for the sake of his Ferity. Something all the other pillars lacked of. They were too content to have been given each an artifact making them godlike. It was the gift of Tezcatlipoca: five S-rank artifacts only awakened ones could manipulate and a portion of humanity to do as he pleased with. He could have killed them all, or even made them his slaves, rather than that he gave them hope. It wasn't a pure, pristine, immaculate hope birthed of bravery and resilience; instead his progenitors wore the name hopelessness and weakness. He gave them this noxious hope so he could be revered a king, one above all else. But he still craved for more.

Already he had slacked for too long. Were he to meet them before they cross the gate, he would have to leave now. The scenery passed before his eyes as he sprinted from cloud to cloud, but he was too absorbed in his own thoughts, fragments of toxic desires. If only he could attain more, if only he could become more, if only, ready for everything if it means he will win in the end. Blood bond is but a tradition belonging to an obsolete past. Friendship but a means to seize your dreams. But your ambition is the one thing you cannot betray, it is more than a goal, much more than a whim, so much more than a fancy. It is an aspiration, a philosophy that shapes each of one's steps, it is a craving that plagues your soul, gnaws at each of your thoughts, pushes you to kill your old, weak self all so that you can come within grasp of your lust. Something you cannot look at, but are compelled to contemplate. An idea you cannot touch, but of euphoric texture. A goal no one had attained, but that he would attain. Because he was Montezio, of the Nacayotl, the greatest family, sole to control the Will of the Soul.

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He was getting closer to Tenochtitlan, his first home. It reminded him of the time spent with his grandfather, the chief of the family. He was the one to have brought power and immeasurable talent to the nacayotl. In spite of their discord, he still held great respect to the man: he had been a powerful being, who gifted his talent to his future generations, Montezio included. Although he remembered only fractions of his life there, it did not bother him, the reason being the past was of no importance to him. Fondness would not make him stronger.

One of the rare memories he still pictured perfectly in his mind were the flames, seizing every ounce of green as they threw up coughs of translucent grey up to the beyond. It was the day he left Tenochtitlan, leaving behind him the blood of grandfather and a dismantled family. No price was too grand for the sake of his Ferity.

After that day he wandered across the lands of this world, searching for a way to become stronger while waiting for their second coming. For only strength would grant him the title of King. And just before the Gods came back, he found the human who would become his offering. He planned everything: he let her strengthen her Will, assisted her in forming an adverse force grand enough to pose a threat to their invasion. Finally, when the day came for the Gods to reclaim their land, he killed her, sword through the heart, and thus proved his loyalty to them and necessity in the winning of the war. The deal was respected, and Tezcatlipoca made him king of his people.

A great building of stone towered over trees, giving away its importance through its beauty, but he didn't notice that, too concerned he was over the work it would take for him to achieve his newfound goal. Up the pillar of stones stood three Gods, a human among them. Montezio stopped his course, not paying attention to the man who seemed frozen in boiling rage, his gaze vainly trying to pierce him, instead kneeling in front of the fake God of Light, head facing the ground. "Tezcatlipoca, I came to assist you in the impending war."

The God looked down on him, a sense of superiority leaking from his gaze. "And what makes you think, oh dear Montezio, that I would be in need of help? My faction still is powerful, number is nothing in the face of individual talent."

"Omete and the cursed blood will join the war against you. You know very well what they're capable of, especially the father," the man answered, not daring to raise his face.

"I am aware of their power. However, Omete will not pose a threat unless he meets with his son, which will not happen as the cursed blood is not in possession of the mark."

"There is one thing you don't know though."

"And what could that be?"

"For the hundred years we were sealed in Arkanoth, Omete has contacted humans and gave them the mark. Of course, as the loyal servant I am, I have made sure each individual accepting the mark was executed, but after so long a time, I fear a few might have escaped my grasp. You wouldn't want the same scenario as in the end of the great war to unfold, now would you?" Montezio said, smiling all teeth out without ever stopping to contemplate the millennial stone.

"Be careful with your words, it is never good for a lapdog to forget where he originally comes from. But even though it pains me to say it outloud, you are right, risking to unleash the cursed blood's sorrow may compromise my plans. Say, what is it you want in return?"

This time, Montezio slowly rose his head to look straight in the eyes of Tezcatlipoca, his smile letting out trails of a millennial old madness. "You once crowned me king of humanity. Today, I propose you my services so that you make me God."

One of the two Gods accompanying Tezcatlipoca walked towards the altar, his yellow stripes dancing with the bloody red skin of the God. He stopped in front of the altar, his left eye suddenly shining bright colors tasting of avarice and caprice. As the portal awakened, the God of Light decided to leave his vessel, leaving behind a pond of Light.

Finally he would attain what no human could reach. The last wall restraining him would be broken. There would no more be any humanity left in him, only strength. After a millenium, he would finally become the unknown, that thing which awakened his Ferity. He would become it.