Two people were going through a dark, damp tunnel, lit only by sparse lightbulbs. The tunnel itself stretched so far you couldn’t see the end of it, all in a straight line. The sole sound source, water dripping from water cracks, served to emphasize the eerie atmosphere.
The people themselves clearly had a purpose in being there. They walked swiftly and steadily, with straight backs. One of them clearly was in the lead, while the other stayed a step back and to the right, like a bodyguard. Both were clothed in military uniforms, but there was no flag showing country of affiliation, just a Z on the epaulettes. Their uniforms, almost black, served more to blend in than to show on whose side they were.
They walked for a long time. At some point, the person staying behind couldn’t withhold her curiosity and asked, breaking the surrounding silence.
“Is he really that dangerous, sir?”.
The man in front turned his head, not pausing his steps. His gray eyes scanned the woman behind him, seemingly trying to peer into her mind. After a moment he turned his head back and answered in gruff voice.
“This place was especially built to hold him. That should tell you something captain. The only reason to keep him alive was so we could one day use him against the invaders. And, since we managed to beat them, he is potential risk.”
The couple returned to walking in silence. But after a minute, the feminine voice sounded again.
“It’s just that, I find the rumors hard to believe, sir. Bulletproof human? And he razed a whole city to the ground, just to kill one person? Sir.”
“Remember who that person was, captain. And the invasion should have made it clear, we don’t know a lot about the world.”
The man stopped briefly and cleared his throat, before he continued.
“Anyway, I am glad more freaks like him didn’t surface. Our unit has enough work without powered people showing up and disrupting normalcy. Ok, enough questions, we will soon arrive in the Cave.
They could see a lit end of tunnel. The tunnel opened up to a cave, the size of a football field, lit like a day by huge led reflectors. The room was empty, except for a person, hanged by his limbs in the middle of the room. Each link in the chains binding this man was as thick as a baby’s arm, looking more like a container ship anchor chain than a shackle. The contrast was accentuated by the emaciated body these chains were holding in place. It seemed the man had no meat left in his body, leaving behind only skin and bones. His beard reached to his feet, just as his hair did behind him. With his eyes closed he seemed dead. But there was something about him, that made onlooker painfully aware he was still alive.
The aura. To be precise, if you weren’t an exceptionally strong-willed person, you would be afraid of him the moment you passed his aura’s threshold. It would feel like you were stared at by hungry beast. And you could do nothing about it, except pray the beast is not hungry at the moment.
The tunnel the duo came through ended in a platform in the middle of the wall, overseeing the whole cave and giving clear view of the man in the middle. It was also placed at the distance which aura could not reach, saving any potential visitors fight with instinct to run away. When stepped on it, the hanged man opened his silver eyes and looked at them as if to devour them. The hate and malice was clearly, and scowl on his face showed what he thought of his newest visitors.
“Captain, remember to follow instructions you were given.”
The uniformed man spoke in a hushed voice.
“No use in whispering, bug. I could hear you in the passage, and I can hear you now.”
The man and female were startled by the raspy voice which seemed to come from everywhere around them. The captain even forgot to put on the glasses and she looked at the prisoner directly. Next second, a foam started to flow out of her mouth and she collapsed on the ground twitching, her eyes glazed over and an expression of terror on her face. The prisoner started cackling wildly, his body shaking despite the taut chains keeping him almost immobile.
“Laugh all you can asshole. The war has ended.”
The laughter stopped abruptly. The two man stared at each other in silence for some time. Unexpectedly, the first to break eye contact was the chained man.
“Tsk. So they failed after all.”
He looked back at the man on platform.
“No matter. You humans will soon be gone. You have underestimated what I am capable of all those years ago, and that will be your doom. In fact, you came at the right time to witness mt greatn..”
He was interrupted by many small explosions. They all came from inside of his body, and combined, the created a large fireball. The shockwave raised the wind which crashed against invisible barrier surrounding the platform, or more specifically, the couple on it. The uniformed man threw the small device with a button away.
“Hmph. I always hated his gloating. So powerful, yet so petty. Truly, we have to tame the test subjects far more to keep them on the leash.”
He looked down on the woman, who started coming to herself. When he looked back, the fireball was mostly gone, leaving behind slightly melting chains and skeleton, somehow still holding together. The bones were black, looking as if they were devouring the space near them. The sight gave chills to the looking man. He slowly took off his glasses and looked into empty sockets of the prisoner. After a while of nothing happening, he sighed with relief and wiped his forehead of sweat which accumulated there without him knowing. It was finally over. He then took out a communication device and put it in his ear.
“Leader, this is Martyr One, over.”
“This is Leader, I hear you loud and clear Martyr. Status report, over.”
“The Reaper is gone Leader. I have used the device and confirmed the death status of the Reaper. The aura is gone, as is Eye of the Devil. We have nothing more to worry about Leader. Over.”
“Any problems during the operation Martyr? Over.”
“Minor shock sustained by Martyr Two, but nothing to be concerned with. Brain modelling should alleviate all symptoms after eye contact, as always. Over.”
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“Copy that Martyr. Bloody good riddance. And good job, I know it wasn’t easy for you to meet the bastard. Ok, get back here ASAP, there is party waiting for you. Over and out.”
The device went silent. The man put it back into his pocket and helped the woman get back on her feet. He supported her and his back on the cave, preparing to go back into the tunnel. Then, a small gust of wind hit them from behind. It was so small, it simply tingled their skin. The man disregarded it, thinking it was some weird echo after the explosion. The next thing they both felt was as if they were somehow lighter. The man groggily remembered the wind had no way of hitting him with the barrier turned on. And after that they both turned into bloody mist.
Lucius, for that was his original name, was floating in the middle of the cave. He was back to his normal look, even better, since his previously dried up body was looking healthy and full of vigor. The chains were mostly gone, only couple of links connected to the walls paid testament to them being there in the first place.
After flexing his muscles, he made couple of gestures with his hand. His beard and hair were cut neatly to a couple of inches, giving him almost refined look, if not for his eyes, which went completely black. They were looking towards the tunnel, as if they could see what was there.
And then he was gone.
The people in the base of the Zero Unit were annihilated along with the compound spanning 20 square miles. In fact, the whole island, with circumference of 300 miles suffered from an explosion, turning the vibrant land into huge crater. The aftershock raised tsunamis in all directions, which went on to destroy closest landmasses. But it didn’t matter really. It didn’t matter that a hundred thousand people died in the aftermath of the base explosion, and the tsunamis killed ten thousand more. It didn’t matter that the current world leader, the Emperor of United Earth, Bob Harrison, was on that island to oversee the operation of killing the last loose end left after the war with alien race which invaded the planet. In fact, in that moment nothing mattered anymore.
Because, hour after the base was destroyed by Lucius Le’Rall, the Grim Reaper of America, the Test Subject Number 1, the First Evolved, the Devil, Lucius reached the core of the planet and destroyed it. The following explosion destroyed the planet, effectively wiping out human race from the cosmos. Along with its destroyer.
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The tower shook again. It was under constant bombardment of spells and physical projectiles. The whole fortress around it was already lying in ruin, the tower being the last structure remaining intact. After its barrier broke, its walls were covered by strange mucus, which repelled most of the projectiles and had to be slowly worn down. After the mucus was gone, adamantium plates covered the walls, granting the tower owner more time. Now, with the plates gone, the last defense, black walls made of solidified chaos energy, were constantly trembling and giving weird noises, signifying the strain they were put under.
King of High Elves, Olm, looked at the tower for a moment before turning his head to his companions. The Grand Warlock, Paul, the leader of Human Magi Empire stood on his right, preparing the forbidden 11th tier spell, the Supernova, which would overload the chaos energy in the walls of tower. His white beard, usually so clean and well kept, was full of dust and slightly burned, like the rest of his person. He looked more like a homeless beggar, than a leader of one of the superpowers ruling the world.
I myself don’t look much better. Olm admonished himself in his thoughts.
Magic arrays surrounding the mage glowed with many different colors, new circles appeared, with runic language slowly filling their borders. Judging by the numbers, the spell would be completed soon.
Olm looked to his left. There, a small white lizard with wings lied, breathing heavily, with smoke coming out of its mouth. A wound across its snout blinded left side of this creature. And it was scary. The sole memory of the spell which caused this injury made Olm sweat. Because this lizard, was in fact the last of the world leaders, Holy Dragon Xartan. The leader of beastmen and all sentient monsters. Rumored to be indestructible and ageless, since he existed since the beginning of the planet’s life as its first creature, created by pure mana. Now he lied weary and bloodied, returned to its true form forcefully due to the exertion during the battle. If not for his interference, this war would be over before it began, since the Reaper appeared during the alliance conference to destroy its leaders before they could rally against him. Fortunately, the wise dragon predicted it happening and was there, without anyone’s knowledge, to stop the assassination attempt.
The alliance was forged, and the joint forces marched on the City of the Dead in haste. The time was of the essence, since the Reaper, now unable to kill the leaders, would be forced to accelerate his plan. Which was casting the self-made doom spell of 20th tier, the Eternal Silence. The spell, when successfully cast, would drain all mana from Pangea, and destroy the World Core, which constantly generates mana. And since all life and unlife on Pangea was reliant on mana, this would basically turn devoid of anything except for gasses and soil.
The assault on the City was very hard, and much had to be paid to reach the center, the Tower of the Damned, the home of the Reaper. Many lives were sacrificed to close the Hell Gates, which poured demonic thralls out in an attempt of stopping the allied forces. The last summon, the Hell King himself, almost burned Paul alive, who had to sacrifice his only Artefact to block hellfire. The heat itself vaporized elite heavy armor guards, who were responsible for blocking small fries from reaching Archmage.
After the allied forces reached the Tower, almost one third of the armies were gone. The losses were terrifying, but they only strengthened the resolve of the leaders to push on and finish what they started.
The last obstacle before tower was last of Reapers clones. Originally there were five of them, but they weren’t really that strong. This one however, harbored the combined strength of fallen four. The battle with it lasted almost an hour, before the holy dragon decided to sacrifice defense for offense, since it was clear the clone was only stalling for time. That’s when the clone exploded, sacrificing its life for instant cast of Dimensional Blade, almost managing to kill the great drake.
Olm returned from his reverie to the present. The war, even though short in conclusion, will lead to many years of repairs. But that was thought for another time. He looked at the Tower with determination gleaming in his eyes. Soon it would all end. Soon.
The mana in the air swiftly started to accumulate, which was indication that Supernova was nearing completion. The anticipation Olm felt was palpable, he couldn’t stop his hands from shaking. For some time now he felt dread rising in his mind, but he was sure they could make it. Big spell like Eternal Silence should have a month time of preparation, and they managed to get where they were in a week. There was no reason to be afraid.
“Supernova!” Paul finished his chant. And..
Nothing. Nothing happened. Olm whipped his head at the Archmage, who also looked back at him dumbfounded. When Olm turned to Tower, he noticed that the only thing flying in the air were arrows and boulders. No spells were being cast. Then, he noticed something else, something which made him feel as if a vat of cold water was poured on top of his head. Something was missing inside of him. Something which he always took for granted, something he used instinctively. The Reaper, Lucius Le’Rall, did it. He had successfully cast the doom tier spell Eternal Silence, rendering world, constructed by mana, manaless.
And after a day, the last organism, the great holy dragon, the first to be created by mana, became the last to perish from the lack of it. The world of Pangea became empty and silent.
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Land of gods and immortals. Floating islands, with golden palaces, floating among the clouds, surrounded by the cosmic energy. A heaven for cultivators, and a final destination of those following the Dao. Those who resided here, had abilities which could influence fate, karma, even rebirth cycle. As such they were thought to be omnipotent gods.
Below them, far, far below, were dark manors of the devils. Shuras, monster cultivators, evil immortals. Place overflowing with corrupted energies, blood force, death force. Wails of tormented souls rang through the air. It was hell itself, filled with violence and madness.
Balance must be maintained, otherwise chaos ensues, grinding everything into dust. Even forces of darkness, demon gods, devils, evil sects were aware of that and never crossed the line. Conflict was constant between ying and yang, one aiming to devour another, but never achieving it out of consideration for the balance. But the balance is a fragile thing.
When the daughter of the Devil King was found dead in the palace of the God King, the war ensued. The beautiful girl had a secret affair with the son of God King, but it was more of an open secret to both rulers. At first, they were ready to keep the young ones under lock and key so they didn’t have opportunity to meet. But as time passed, they were convinced by their confidants and children themselves, that in the long run they were hurting their offspring than protecting them. So they were smuggled from one palace to the other on a weekly basis and in strict confidence, to spend time together, while both rulers worked on passing a truce between evil and good.
It was all for naught. Beautiful Long Yueliang was murdered when under God Kings protection, in his home, and the culprit was not found. Evil King raged and despaired. There was nothing in this world he loved, except for his sole daughter. Call to arms was issued, and the great deluge of darkness flown, like a wave, to devour the light above. Numerous immortals fell, whole mortal realms were fragmented and destroyed as collateral damage of the war.
In the end, the Devil King stood above the body of God King. The latter was dying, his golden blood pooling down and connecting with the blood from the nearby corpse of his son. There was just one more person in there, the God Kings confidant, who also happened to be the Devils King trustee. A twofaced person, who turned out to be culprit behind the war, the puppet master, who started the conflict he couldn’t survive. Lucius Le’Rall, the great traitor.
During last duel, the Devil King was besieged by God King, his son, and Lucius. In the critical moment of the fight, Lucius turned his blade against the son of God King, and managed to deal him a fatal blow, before furious God King cleft him in two. This however, gave the Devil King opportunity to mortally wound God King. The Light lost. Heavens lied in ruins, ravaged by demons and devils. The balance was broken. The death of God King broke fate wheel, which released the primordial chaos. And nothing could stand up to devouring force of the Nothing and Everything.
Before the Great Rebirth, there had to be Cleansing. Chaos destroyed all. Swirling dust was all that was left of the Miriad Planes. Balance was maintained. Mission Accomplished.
Hate test concluded.
User has completed Hate Test 3/3 with score: Perfect.
Overall Score for the Hate Test: Perfect + Perfect + Perfect = Perfect.
User’s test objective: “Within 100 years kill as many organisms from users home world/realm as possible. Test divided into 3 phases, each in different dimension. Test concludes automatically upon user’s death/100 years of user lifespan reached.”
User is eligible to enter second and final phase of the Creator’s test.
Love test will initiate shortly. Test has one phase only.
User’s test objective: “Within 100 years earn as much love as possible. User will be given supporting system, to monitor the relationship status of other people towards him. The user’s handicap will be adequate to the user’s score in the Hate Test. Test Score: Perfect. Calculating.... System and starting point chosen. King of nation starting point chosen.
Test world randomly chosen from n planets eligible.
Be advised. In the chosen world, your power is reliant on the amount of genuine positive relationships with others. They are the only way to gain power. Just as negative ones will drain you of your strength, should you accumulate too many of those. Good luck, contestant #3 Lucius Le’Rall. The test will now begin.
End of the Prologue.