Land (2—Last Part)

Heian Ciemnosc walked through the passageway. It wasn't wide enough for 2 people to walk with how Heian Ciemnosc's feet were only several inches from the edges, let alone enough shoulder-to-shoulder space. He had been walking for 20 seconds, but he felt as if he had crossed a distance of tens of thousands of kilometers. When he looked back, all Heian Ciemnosc could see was an endless white-goldish canvas. The platform he left behind… was nowhere to be seen.

The walk was peaceful, and Heian Ciemnosc even raised his arms a few times to balance his body through the passageway but wasn’t ever near falling off. Yet, even when Heian Ciemnosc didn’t feel or see anyone looking at him, be it someone or something, he knew he was being watched. Probably thirsted after, too.

Everything had a golden touch, and if there was a heaven where all ‘good people’ went, these images would be it. Heian Ciemnosc had enough time to think of many things, but he was alone, as Sara had to hide lest something unexpected happen. It was already dangerous enough with Heian Ciemnosc venturing through danger. Adding an irregularity would make things worse.

Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes constantly looked ahead, where he sometimes felt like a place was hiding from him, yet hiding and flashing millions of kilometers before him for whatever reason. It was gigantic and seemed shrouded in a storm, but Heian Ciemnosc couldn’t see well through it. Yet, as time passed, and Heian Ciemnosc watched it flash into his retinas repeatedly, it became crystal clear.

… -pfghuooooshhh… KACHA!... kacha… booom…

Muffled noises thundered in Heian Ciemnosc’s mind. But while it appeared to be an illusion, Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes reflected an impossible image. One that, unbeknownst to him, made his skin numb, chilly, and his pores open flamboyantly.

A bluish color painted Heian Ciemnosc’s sight, with ginormous clouds that overshadowed Supreme Kingdoms he had seen multiple times. They were like moons to any planet, and the clouds were indestructible. But a passing light, made from something else… something other than energy, and even maybe the acclaimed Essence… It left behind a green contrail, barely noticeable, as it tore the cloud into two.

The light was purely white, but it took some of the blue hue in Heian Ciemnosc’s sight, and the green contrail dissipated almost before-instantly as if it had never even existed… The light traced past the divided cloud and journeying to who knew where or what, immediately disappearing from his eyesight.

The divided clòud parted further from each other. It was a silent separation with no other noise echoing since the energy traced and divided it into 2. Suddenly, after the clouds had separated enough for 10 Supreme Kingdoms to stand in between, lightning and destruction prowess rambled everywhere— in between. The world turned darker and then lighted up by the constant, endless lack of matter, nature, and reality once upon a time within the cloud.

The divided cloud started dissipating as the noises became too much for its sole spectator, Heian Ciemnosc. They weren’t loud and were barely audible. But it was too many of them. Heian Ciemnosc might have never heard so many noises go off in the same instant and repeatedly, constantly banging from one side to the other.

Under the cloud, what seemed a castle, palace, or citadel stood formidable and imposing before and after the cloud was divided. But after time passed and the clouds began dissipating, it faltered. Its walls crumbled, its high towers melted without smoldering, and its gates mouldered. It fell.

The light slowly vanished more and more as an earthquake summed up, creating a terrible image that nearly caused Heian Ciemnosc several heart attacks. The ‘ground’ moved’ but space broke apart, butterfly-shaped figures appeared, seemingly called from the void, and nature was… disrupted!!!

The untouchable, ever-present, unmistakable, absolute, panacea, and divine nature… tainted this way!

“!!!!!!!!” Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes’ contents spread everywhere, turning his sclera into his irises and pupils. Everything became purely dark. And just as his eyelids shared the same fate, and his pale skin started darkening the same, he was jolted awake by… something.

“... … … … … …visitor.” A voice echoed just as Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes refocused, and his eyes returned to normal. He looked around and found he was in a gray, obscure, obsolete place with only… sadness and tragedy left.

Heian Ciemnosc looked a bit further in his surroundings. He stood atop dirt. It was such that it seemed as thin as his eyelashes but as impenetrable as the world’s truth itself. Something so detailed and strangely, absurdly right he couldn’t explain… just like how he sets his sight on a new flora or Fauna and immediately understands it, comprehends it, and knows it.

There lay a log. In the middle of nowhere, with no sense of direction, with a strange lifeform hovering above it. It didn’t have a body, but to Heian Ciemnosc, it seemed to slump its shoulders and look at the void without meaning. Heian Ciemnosc stepped four times towards it, but it ‘glared’ at Heian Ciemnosc despite nothing changing in this strange place, and he felt like a gigantic mouth breathing at him.

“... … … … … … …” Heian Ciemnosc felt his clothes cooling down, becoming as unattainable to wear as if he was pouring lava on his body. However, this did not affect him. And when the ‘thing’ before Heian Ciemnosc, hovering above the log but seemingly wanting to rest on it, noticed, it looked at Heian Ciemnosc.

“...” This time, Heian Ciemnosc felt pressure to keep his mind at rest when he felt its sudden sight land on him. It felt… too much! Not even his Master gave him this kind of sensation, and he didn’t know about the being that attacked Milyy, but it shouldn’t have been as… innately impressive as this!

Just like when Heian Ciemnosc knew what danger he was sending himself into when he joined the Rocaloi Academy when he met a Third Step cultivator head-on in a hostile situation or suffered under the Condensed Sphere Dynasty’s princess, Heian Ciemnosc’s futile cultivation base activated his most… tender instincts.

“I don’t… no more… any… I said… … …” The thing spoke, not lifting the sensation pressuring on Heian Ciemnosc. Heian Ciemnosc didn’t walk any further and waited. 1 minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes… The thing seemed to think again, and as it did, the breeze twirled around them, lifting into the sky, and became colder.

WheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!- futomp~.

The breeze twirled and twirled. It became stronger, faster, louder… Heian Ciemnosc’s pitchest-blackest hair fluttered endlessly as his clothes wrapped tightly around his waist and upper tights. Heian Ciemnosc could only cover his forehead with his left forearm and his neck and hear with his right arm and wrist as he looked ahead. He had difficulty looking for the first few seconds until the breeze lightened ever-so-slightly, but his ears were already ringing with the breeze’s noise.

But then, everything suddenly stopped in a low, comfortable, smooth noise echoing everywhere like the passive light of the morning. It spread everywhere, finally letting Heian Ciemnosc see. But what he saw unsurprisingly alarmed all his warning bells off his instincts. “!!!”

A face large enough to engulf a 1-story building floated 48 meters before Heian Ciemnosc. It was ethereal but had a dull, obscure gray color, and its eyes were tightly shut as if it didn’t even have eye sockets. It had a comically cartoonish nose as if it was just drawn onto the middle lower section of its face. Abroad mouth with no ears and a strange substance of equal ethereal shape but of denser obscurity differentiating it from the rest of its head.

Fwuuuuuuuh~~... uuuhh…

“...” Heian Ciemnosc remained silent as the mouth slightly opened at its middle, with only such moving while the rest of the lips remained immobile. The upper lip was thin, somewhat elegant, and showcased pride. The lower lip was ordinary, to say the least, but it seemed carved and wasted by time.

After it blew air, Heian Ciemnosc felt his body nearly blown away, with the rest of the place affected by the air suddenly pushing everything away. However, only Heian Ciemnosc was forced to maintain his foothold. The dirt, little rocks, dried-up plants, and even dust were as if in a different dimension… but were in the same.

Heian Ciemnosc crossed his arms into an ‘X’ on his chest, lowered his body until his knees nearly reached the ground, and held his body with his toes from fleeing away. His clothes tightened more around his body unnaturally. He looked at the thing, who looked back at him with its strangely closed eyes.

“Survived… you shouldn’t… It would’ve been a good end… Now, it won’t…” Its voice wasn’t full of grandeur, but it held twinges of such. It reverberated everywhere, the dirt, the air, the obscure sky, the clothes Heian Ciemnosc wore, and on his pale skin, but not within.

“... How?” The thing asked, seemingly curious about something that Heian Ciemnosc had no idea what it was about. But Heian Ciemnosc remained silent, with the air still trying to blow him away despite the thing no longer blowing. It stayed silent some more, and at last, it responded, albeit grumpy, hence, scary.

“I give you permission to speak! Talk!!” The thing shook. The head diagonally leaned and landed on the floor. Heian Ciemnosc thought it would make terrible earthquakes come and go, but nothing happened. Instead, it was like the crawling of a lover into one’s bed, sweetening and honeying his doubts.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Did you see it before?” Heian Ciemnosc said, half-asking as he felt the wind disappear and finally dared to breathe.

“What?!” The thing asked, rebuking Heian Ciemnosc with such force that Heian Ciemnosc involuntarily jolted his neck backwards and jerked his head, shaking it with a face as if the most disgusting thing merged into his body. Heian Ciemnosc recomposed as soon as he finished reacting and calmed his mind with 2 gulps down his throat as he clarified. “My dark Soul.”

“... Ahh… I saw it…” The thing said, reminiscing as its shut eyes slid upwards as if reminiscing. It suddenly looked back down, even tilting downwards as it roughly, rashly lashed out at Heian Ciemnosc. “Why did you survive it?! It was impossible!! Don’t lie here!! Don’t lieee… don’t lie!”

“... I don’t know,” Heian Ciemnosc speechlessly said. He wasn’t afraid because he had nothing to hide. He himself would like to know, so why would he…

“...” The thing fell silent, seemingly aware of the truth. For an instant, even if just for an instant, Heian Ciemnosc felt the head became… astounded? It didn’t let Heian Ciemnosc have many more thoughts as it spoke, albeit at ease and in a low volume this time while its chin tilted further downwards and ⅓ of its gigantic face pointed at the ground.

“I… am the Ghost of Land… I see…”

“...gulp.” Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes strangely widened. It was as if his eyelids and his darkest eyes’ contents were somehow forced to remain neutral and casual. They twitched and jolted, unevenly revealing more of his eyeballs as their contents expanded a little bit with every motion.

Heian Ciemnosc’s mentality… was also struck. When the head revealed its identity, if it could be called that, he felt like a layer of unknown and creeping doubts were resolved. His back felt immediately lighter, followed by the rest of his body, and he even felt as if someone rubbed his ears in comfort!

“Ghost of Land, I see…” Heian Ciemnosc suddenly frowned and muttered as he looked left and right at the ground past the Ghost. The Ghost of Land nodded by sliding its eyes up and down. It should’ve been comical, but it looked stern and to the point that one cannot act without utmost discipline. “Yes. But you don’t see my sight.”

“...” Heian Ciemnosc kept quiet. He felt as understanding of something, but it was a tiny portion and a negligible amount from that portion.

“Step.” The Ghost said. Heian Ciemnosc was nobody to deny it, so it moved forwards. But only once. The Ghost studied Heian Ciemnosc, slowly tilting its head to Heian Ciemnosc’s left. The sight sent endless buzzes of terror into Heian Ciemnosc’s ears, making his head shiver until he shook off the feeling.

“What have you seen?” The Ghost asked, but Heian Ciemnosc didn’t know how to answer, so he kept quiet. The head remained in the same position as it waited in vain. When it spoke again, it surprised Heian Ciemnosc because it wasn’t about the same thing. “What do you want?”

“... Treasure,” Heian Ciemnosc felt stunned and fell pensive. He felt like he missed something, but that wasn’t important. He couldn’t make this… something… go back. Heian Ciemnosc answered without hesitation. Suddenly, the head dashed forth and appeared 5 meters before him. Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes widened, and their contents shrank.

“What do you want?” The head moved all its lips parts, terrifying Heian Ciemnosc’s senses as he felt as if his skin shot upwards and his skeleton’s infrastructure tightened together, but his senses also rapidly returned him to the current reality and sense into him.

“Treasure…” Heian Ciemnosc looked up at its eyes. They were initially spread far from each other, but now, they were farther apart from each other. Heian Ciemnosc had to twist his neck and tilt his head all the way to the back to stare at them, and he spoke as if he was a child misunderstood by an adult that all they did was bully him, with a slight frown on his little face.

“Nooo…” The Ghost uttered, leaning its head towards Heian Ciemnosc after intensely trembling. Its movement became smooth and diminutive as it neared Heian Ciemnosc. Its drawn nose was mere inches before Heian Ciemnosc’s nose, and it spoke again with colossal threat under every word. “What do you wish-want-desire-look for-long-fancy-yearn-need-ought-must-demand-require-crave?!?”

“...-” Heian Ciemnosc’s mind buzzed. His heart palpitated as he was just about to rush and shout ‘truth’... but he suddenly stopped as he felt his heart suddenly entwined by invisible ribbons, whips, chains, or shapeless limbs. It was inconceivable.

Heian Ciemnosc’s ears thundered with its voice, where he could swear he nearly became deaf to every word in the next instant but was perfectly fine half an instant later. The Ghost kept silent after it lashed out, waiting for Heian Ciemnosc’s answer. Meanwhile, Heian Ciemnosc stopped as he felt that saying it would grant him an answer.

But in return, he would… lose. All he has built, everything he took and raised with his hands. Himself. Everything would no longer be the same, and his heart would’ve changed for nothing… Suddenly, Heian Ciemnosc’s eyes shone, and he spoke and thought at the same time. ‘Change…!’

“Change!” Heian Ciemnosc responded to the Ghost. The Ghost joined its eyes and looked down at him, silently scrutinizing the pale young man. Heian Ciemnosc looked up, not entirely fearlessly, but somewhat there. He waited until the Ghost finally moved, and away, from him as it turned and gazed at the endless, obscure gray distance.

“I see,” the head said. Heian Ciemnosc remained on his spot, unsure what to do. Then, the Ghost said before the breeze started dancing around them and even from under Heian Ciemnosc’s feet as he looked down. “Ask yourself, what do you move for?”

The head’s voice was incredibly hoarse but not hoarse, creepy, imposing yet with twinges of glory, and somewhat undeniable… Heian Ciemnosc heard its words, and just as he had done all this time, he felt its mightiness and couldn’t deny it, much less deny it an answer. Heian Ciemnosc opened his pale red lip as he walked to stand a few meters beside it to look in the same direction.

“Because… I want my… world.” Heian Ciemnosc felt thunderstruck as he said these words, and he fell into a trance as his darkest eyes slightly dilated while looking into the distance. The head’s words were the last he heard before his vision changed again, like before, and he saw through a truth. “I see… … …”

… wheeeeeeeeeeezeeeeeeeee~~!!...

“Desolate, lonely… fallen.” An image appeared, but it was all dark. The image cleared as it became brighter, and Heian Ciemnosc visualized a man walking from the ocean to the shore. He was tired, unwelcome by the world of the living… and lonely. He looked at the distant city far away, and the world crumbled in sadness. A beating heart started echoing, but it was too negligible, and at last, it stopped. But the man continued walking.

“While many come and go, while I’ve seen Lords rise and fall, and a puny weakling take the world as its throne. I have never lost interest in it as I have now… Will and desire decrease. Greed and stupidity stay… But loss and thirst increased… Too much… Enough… Now it is… Now there’s not… The world’s time… has it come?... Has it not?... Crazedness has returned, and it lives in everyone, everywhere… But there’s still pride. Pride keeps the world up. Pride means… Pride lifts… It has been through so much… But it’s been alone for too long… It’s become tired… It is… in need… it wants… to change… one…last…time… I see.”

Fwuoooooooooooooooooooshhh~~~~~~!...

“Curious, confused… unstoppable.” Heian Ciemnosc’s head hurt, but his mind was sent through dull, obscure, gray turbulence as if in the middle of a portal of any kind and with many Elements present. The walking man with the heartbeat stopping and the head’s words echoing stopped, too. They were abruptly replaced by more, different words overlapping over the previous, without warning, as if… without time.

A boy suddenly climbed from a mountain of corpses. When he sat atop it and looked around, the boy realized he was in a row of mountains made of corpses. It seemed endless, but he could see the end of them. Yet, there were many on all sides. However, even worse, the boy did not climb up the corpse, nor was he even alive. He was still trapped in the middle of the mountain, suffocating between death below or death above, with one of his arms peeking out. It was slightly bent and pale… and with barely a pulse.

A light suddenly emerged from the sky. It wasn’t known if it came directly from above or from another direction beneath the heavens. It glowed endlessly, leaving an eternal light behind, but never stopped. Always looking for something, when, finally, it stopped atop the mountain corpse where the boy was suffocating.

It twinkled one last time, and with a final glow, it dimmed as it fell, passing through every other corpse until taking refuge in the suffocating boy’s body. Safe.

“It is meaningless to see ahead. When a different world is but a thought, even a simple brush motion taints everything. There’s no hope. It ended before everything ended. It began when it ended. It is ending as it barely starts… It moves… Yes, yes, I see it… … … It is… No more turning… No more resistance… No resilience… No desire… It takes, it takes… What they took, and takes more… It reveals… It groups… it births… It’s no gift. It’s not trade… It’s everything… I see.”

Swuaaaaaaaaaaaaa- whistle~~!!!!

“They burn, they are eaten… They are led.” Before Heian Ciemnosc’s mind settled in, the previous voice was left in the void, and he felt as if he was dragged away by his torso. Another voice took before the last one finished and where it left it. Heian Ciemnosc felt exhausted, extenuated… When he suddenly noticed that everything before him was absolute blackness. This… that was space.

It was entirely dark, with no color, no existence… maybe a beginning. Heian Ciemnosc started feeling dizzy, although he couldn’t feel with his current vision and his non-responsive reactions. But then, Heian Ciemnosc saw a foot appear in his linesight. A foot bathed in blood, with its shin, cut off, and with an intense burst of light illuminating everything else.

Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes slowly widened as the entire picture was revealed before him. Fights, a battle… a war.

It began with the deaths of some, of a few, of not that many. And then, it became much more. It became everything! All! All at once!!!

More corpses appeared. More and more corpses littered in space, still struggling, still fighting, still battling, still dying! They roared, cried, sobbed, died, and fell… but all of them reached a hand out, looked up with impregnable hatred, soothing rage, or effectuated a last effort… in the same direction. There was no up or down, only bottom and peak. At that peak… just as Heian Ciemnosc’s darkest eyes were granted the revelation and the silhouette of a throne so enormous yet tiny it could encompass everything between all that exists and there is… his vision faded, flooded with darkness.

“The world’s darkest moment… I see.” The Ghost of Land’s voice echoed far away from Heian Ciemnosc’s back, seemingly bidding the last farewell to him.

…