"You're a fucking monster."

A man was lying crumpled on the floor. The stench of blood, burnt flesh and excrement complimenting the acrid smoke that blew past his ruined form. He was attempting to hold his innards from spilling out of a grim-looking wound across his stomach as his short, greying brown hair ruffled in the warm breeze.

The man tried to move, yet his broken arm and legs that were pointing outwards at unnatural angles made it almost impossible. There was barely a patch of skin or armour that hadn't been damaged. However, even though it looked like the man should be screaming in agony, he remained silent as he glared at the man who was slowly limping towards him.

Swaying as he stepped over a severed limb, still grasping a silver glowing sword, the man who was approaching steadied himself and smiled towards the one sprawled on the floor. "Sticks and stones, Regent. Sticks and stones~."

After ten more steps, the man came to a halt and collapsed into a sitting position, taking deep, somewhat strained breaths. The rotting flesh on his face split as the man continued to maintain his smile. Thick yellow pus, mixed with dark red blood seeped from the newly formed cracks.

"Fuck you." The man called Regent continued to glare at the man, his jaw locked tight as his teeth ground together.

"Now, now. Is that any way for the famous Regent, leader of the Kingsman conglomerate, to speak to a friend? Especially when I have bothered to drag my battered body across a battlefield to keep you company in your final moments." The man stopped, using his right hand to poke the mangled stub that had once been his left hand and sighed. "What a shame, I had grown attached to this body."

Regent snarled, lifting his head slightly. "There is a special place in the seven hells for people like you."

"No. Unfortunately, there isn't." The man shook his head before tilting it to the side as he observed Regent's hands and legs.

"No, I guess there isn't." Regent's voice was nothing more than a whisper as he let his head slam onto the blood-soaked floor. "You're a monster. I've killed you six times-"

"Seven if you include this." The man's smile grew as if he had announced something that should make Regent proud before using his stub to point to the horrific-looking slash that crossed his chest. Jagged edges of broken ribs rose and fell with each breath as copious amounts of thick, gooey blood slowly seeped out. The blood moved so slow that it seemed more like gel than water.

"Little good that did." Regent's eyes flickered to the side. For as far as he could see, the remains of his men, smoking craters and sand dyed red filled his vision. The occasional weapon, shield or armour stood out against the blue skyline. "Even with your death, its nothing more than a hollow, meaningless victory."

"Story of my life." The man chuckled, shaking his head.

Regent's voice cracked a little. "Your kind is nothing more than a plague. A disease in human form that leaves nothing but misery, death and destruction in your wake."

"We all have roles. Some more glorious and noble than others." The man chuckled again, the smile on his face growing.

"You sicken me." Regent returned his gaze to the man sitting nearby.

"I sicken most."

Regent sighed, the movement causing his wounds to bleed faster. "So... now you got me, tell me who are you really?"

"Come on, old friend. I know you were already starting to have your suspicions." The man's smile slowly dropped as he took a deep breath.

Regent slightly flinched when he herd heard the word friend, but his gaze never left the man's face. "Nyx?"

"Bingo~. Knew you were on to me." Nyx grinned as he leant forward slightly. "So, mind telling me what gave me away?"

Regent coughed for a few moments before spitting out some clotted blood. After steadying his breathing, he revealed a smile of his own. "Do you think I am that stupid. To let you cover your tells the next time you go to assassinate someone?"

Nyx shrugged. "Would have been nice but I'm sure I'll find out in the next couple of dozen lives or so. Always do. And, I don't really like being called an assassin."

"If the shoe fits." Regent's smile increased slightly.

"But it doesn't." Nyx's eyes flickered to Regent's belt. "I'd say, compared to the real assassins of... the master, I'm more of an entertainer. Something to entertain the masses and keep their focus."

Regent's smile vanished as a frown formed.

"The best assassins are the ones that murder, yet the criers report their victims to have died of natural causes." Nyx held the stub with his remaining hand tightly for a moment, a bead of sweat forming on his forehead, before sighing.

"Which is the real you? The backstabbing, two-faced bastard, the emotionless killing machine or the filth that spreads terror across the continent." Regent coughed again, a slight snapping sound emanating from his chest. A light pink foam-like substance started frothing between his lips as he breathed out.

Nyx frowned for a moment, using his thumb and index finger to grasp the bottom of his chin in a thinkers pose. "All of them but at the same time, none. I am who I am, no more, no less."

"To think I thought of you as a friend." Regent closed his eyes for a moment, the actions and words of Nyx painfully reminding him of the friendship they had built over the last three years.

"We are friends." Nyx dropped his hand and smiled warmly before pulling a bit of flesh that had been dangling from his cheek and flinging it away. "Honestly, I was hoping you wouldn't force my hand or at least survive a few more attempts. It looks like that alliance you have been trying to get going is about to be formed. With that, the war is almost certainly going to come to an end in a couple of years."

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Nyx sighed. "If that had happened, I'd probably have been recalled. You might not have survived in the final battle, but there would have at least been a chance. It would have been nice to see a familiar face before returning to the darkness."

Regent sighed. "It sounds as if you look forward to being defeated. It almost makes me doubt if you are Nyx."

Nyx shrugged. "Not my war, nor my fight. I'm a mere slave — a puppet under the control of one of the big players. I do what I need to get by looking forward to the day this is all over. Best case for me, it ends with my crystal shattered. Worst case, things grow so big I become just another cog and fade into obscurity."

Regent started to laugh, causing a bout of coughing. Once he had caught his breath, he exhaled deeply. The pink, bubbly foam becoming darker in colour. "You really don't care either way?"

"Just like the dead. I don't care about the affairs of the living. Not anymore, anyway." Nyx looked up at the clear blue sky. "I want to be left alone. The result of this war doesn't matter. Eventually, everyone will die, and I'll be left in peace."

"Ha, do you really think I would believe the rumours after we have spent so much time together?" Regent forced a chuckle, though it quickly broke down into pain-filled gasps. "You might say you want to be left alone, act that way, but now I know who you are, it all makes sense. You're a monster in the truest sense. Do you even have a single person you care for?"

"None that I wouldn't slit their throat if the need arose. Take you, for example." The end of Nyx's sentence caused Regent's mouth to close, killing what he was going to say. "You are pretty much my only living friend, and yet I have destroyed everything you and your ancestors have built and am sitting here, watching you die without batting an eye."

After a few moments, Regent opened his mouth. "What about your brethren? There must be some comradery between the summoned?"

Nyx laughed as red bubbles with black dots appeared on his chest. "The ones that came with me in the first wave are long gone and the newer ones... The world would be better off without them. I've destroyed my fair share that outlived their...usefulness. One of the few perks of the job I suppose."

Regent snorted, his face twisting in anger. "But not you?"

"Come on now," Nyx smiled as he kicked his foot out, causing the small vial that had appeared in Regent's hand to fly into the distance. A few seconds later, there was a loud bang as a cloud of green smoke appeared and was carried away by the breeze. "I'm letting you distract yourself from the fear of imminent death while giving you something that should make your demise feel less... pointless, and you want to try to knock me out?"

"I do not fear death." Regent's jaw clenched tight, just like his fists.

"Of course you do." Nyx chuckled, scratching the dead, blistered skin that covered his face. More flesh peeled away, revealing a few dark teeth through the rotten holes in his cheek. "All mortals fear the unknown almost as much as they fear inevitability. Slowly but surely, time ticks towards your peak, decline and eventually death. Not even the Mistress escapes this. It's just worse when you can see it."

"So you are saying that she has done all this because she fears death?" Regent quickly spoke, as if he were afraid that Nyx would ramble onto something else.

Nyx chuckled, looking at the yellow stone on Regent's belt before returning his gaze to the dying man's eyes and winking.

Regent's pupils widened slightly but returned to normal soon after. However, his fists were balled so tight that they dug into his palm. "What's your game?"

"Game? I have none. I'm just rambling. Though I do feel that there has to be a point to all of this and mortals tend to fear death the most. When faced with certain death, even if it's coming to the realisation they are getting older, they start weird immortality projects." Nyx motioned to their surroundings before coughing himself. Vivid green blood spilt from his lips and down onto his chest, mixing with the red blood, and tattered robes. "That's some pretty nasty poison. Luckily this body was already dead when I took over and its nerves fried, or I doubt I'd be able to have this last conversation with you."

"Mortal?" A stream of blood flowed from Regent's lips, running down his cheek and onto the floor below. "You believe that nonsense? That you summoned are immortals. We all know that was just propaganda pushed by that mad bitch."

Nyx nodded his head. "I'd have gone for something else, but nothing seems to fit. As such, what else would you call a being that can't die, even if its body is completely destroyed? Something that doesn't age or fade with time."

"But you can die. All we need to do is break your spirit, drive you mad, and you'll never return."

"Maybe for the others. I'm~ a little different. Darkness is eternal." Nyx shrugged, turning to the distance for a moment before returning his gaze to Regent. "Seems like your family got away."

Regent's eyes shook for a moment before he took a deep, raspy breath. "Thanks."

He paused for a few moments. "You don't live up to your reputation."

"Consider it a favour for giving me a break. With how badly this poison is attacking my soul, should be a while before I can be summoned back. Maybe a week or two if I'm lucky." Nyx's smile bloomed, giving him a terrifying visage as the flesh continued to peel from his features.

"If only-"

"What has happened, happened. You are not the first to fall at my hands, nor will you be the last." Nyx waved his remaining hand in the air. "The past cannot be changed, no matter how badly you want it to."

A wheeze like a cough escaped the Regent's throat. "No... probably not. But the free people of the Prime content will have the last laugh. If only I had known that you were so chatty even after finding out. I might have yielded sooner and given myself more time."

Nyx shook his head. "Got rules to obey, I'm not chatting. I'm sitting here rambling next to my target, a dying man. Distracting him from doing anything that may save his life."

"It's that easy?"

"This time. However, the mistress knows all." Nyx sighed. "Been saving this up for some time. Going to suffer for it when I get back."

"Why?" Regent struggled to lift his head again. Unlike before he was only able to manage a few seconds before it slumped back down.

"All rumours and myths have a trace of truth to them. Mine is that I do not forgive, nor do I forget. I will have my vengeance..." Nyx's haunting smile returned. "In this life, or the next."

Regent shivered, but it wasn't because of his failing body or the cold slowly encroaching. It was the madness that danced in Nyx's eyes. The eyes of a beast that had been pushed to the edge so many times that it had become the norm.

"You wear your mask well." Regent finally spoke, breaking the silence that had descended upon the two.

"Not really." Nyx sighed loudly as he shook his head. "You know, its a shame."

The man laying on the ground said nothing. A constant flow of blood now passing his lips.

"I wanted to share one last drink with you before I was forced to act, but you were just too busy. It might not mean much, but you are probably one of the very few people in this godforsaken reality that I like."

"Even after this little... heart to heart, it disgusts me that we ever shared drinks or laughed together," Regent spoke with little emotion like he was stating a fact. "I'm ashamed that I fell for your act for so long. Your kind are worse than the devils and demons combined. At least they are true to their nature. You are nothing. A nobody that trudges through their existence without purpose."

"You know, for the descendant of a demon of truth, you are pretty pathetic." Nyx's smile grew. "Far more powerful and intelligent people have tried to shake my sense of self, normally when I am in much worse conditions. Though thanks for trying, means something that you valued me enough to use your last words."

The wind blew, causing them to be coated in smoke for a few seconds. When it passed, they were still staring into each other's eyes.

"See you in hell, Nyx." The man coughed again, his chest spasming slightly as the focus slowly left his eyes.

"Alas, I'm afraid not." Nyx's smile faltered somewhat before sighing loudly. With a flick of his right wrist, the yellow stone on Regent's belt shattered. After staring at the body for a few moments, Nyx closed his eyes. "Goodbye, my friend. May you find peace, wherever you end up."

Slowly, his body toppled over and fell to the ground. Minutes later, it started to fall apart and soak into the crimson sand below.

"Fuck, this poison is brutal."