“The Gods have gone too far.”
The being known as Arkhantos the Destroyer, consumer of worlds and walker of infinity, the unshakeable existence, lay his fingers over his lovers eyelids and allowed them to glide gracefully over her eyes. He examined her pale lips and once fair skin which had long been mauled and worn by the ravages of war. The knife which lay nestled in her heart signified much more than the end of her life; it was the end of all there was and ever could be, his very future had been destroyed and robbed from him.
Akrhantos lay the body onto the ground and pressed his hands against the cold marble which had once shone brightly in welcome to those who would visit the mountain of Olympus. His fingers brushed across the blood which stained the once majestic columns and traced along their cracks and edges which had been created during the destruction.
“Ever on and on I walk through eternity and as I lay across the mountaintop of time I know that you shall be forever dreaming of things you could have changed and the things that could have been. Do not worry my love, perhaps not this day or the next but someday I will return and on that day we will fly in the sky eternal that encompasses the world.”
Shoulders which had once held up the weight of humanity with ease lay hunched as they tried to take in the reality of the situation around him. Companions whom he had danced with, loved like family and sung the glistening and eternal song of life lay lifeless on the ground.
The heavens which had once seemed like a dream to those on earth had turned into a nightmare, while there were none watching the skies it had seemed as though nobody would ever be hurt. That had all changed once the God’s had begun to listen to the cries of those that live on the earth. The begging of fools that did not know their own wealth.
“The keys to your dreams lie within our grasp, join us in our domain and all you want shall be yours.”
The words of the God’s had resounded throughout the globe for all to hear. Ten thousand years had passed and humanity worked together to reach the Gods that had promised them eternal salvation and happiness. But all of humanities attempts had failed.
A rustling sound cracked through the air and shattered Arkhantos’ thoughts. The man turned as a bird-like shape appeared beside him and his golden armour was shattered by claws as tough as diamond.
“The armour of humans… You should enter the abode of the Gods… without such material objects… I have released you from your bonds Arkhantos.” The bird-man spoke in a haggard voice which sounded of the weariness of a being that was tired of life.
“Rubak. You survived.” The man viewed the creatures eyes and noted the rings of tattoos which circled it’s bloodshot pupils. The bird-man’s killing intent was thick enough to be seen as viewed the human in front of it.
“Sasha has been killed.... you have failed us.”
The demi-human let out a spurt of blood from his mouth and touched his chest. His wings were tattered and dirty with the blood of the enemies it had slain. The red liquid had since dried and caged the creature so that it could no longer fly. The creature looked down at the body which lay on the floor and let out a low moan which contained the cry of one who was alone in the world. He dropped on his knees,
“Finish me, Arkhantos. I have nothing left to live for.” Arkhantos moved towards the creature and lay his arms around it in a hug that encompassed its whole body.
As his hands moved across the beings wings he could feel the lightness of it’s feathers and he moved his hands across the creatures back as smooth as one would run his fingers across silk and snapped the creatures neck. He lay the body down next to his lover, Sasha, and viewed the smile which played across the bird-man’s lips. Although he had been known as one of the greatest warriors to traverse the world, he had died as he lived, with a smile on his lips and torment in his heart.
“Do not worry Rubak. Even if humanity has failed, I promise that I alone will be enough to bring the change that you wished to see in the world.”
The man could feel veins pulsating in anger underneath his skin and across his face as he walked towards the massive diamond stairway which lay at the edge of the battlefield. Adorned with golden rails and ornate jade stone it had been this stairway which was the target of the entire world for thousands of years. Since its appearance eons ago none had figured out how to open the door which lay at the end of Olympus until the Gods sent a final message to the races of earth,
“To enter the gates to our world, you must let go of your loyalty, compassion and humanity. Only the greatest of the great shall be allowed to stand within the heavenly kingdom and gaze upon us.”
The words had both invigorated and shattered humanity as the races which had been united since centuries past split and begun to amass armies and gather their heroes to fight for the ultimate glory, access to the abode of the Gods themselves.
*Crack* A bright light appeared above Arkhantos and his eyes saw the once blue sky engulfed. The hero that was heralded as unfeeling as stone looked to his hands and realised that sweat had begun to pour from his palms. He had gotten nervous over something as insignificant as a light!
The light, immaterial and glorious, as though the sun itself had decided to descend to earth. It reached the door and the columns, marble and bodies were bathed in a bright light. Arkhantos closed his eyes and rushed his hands over his eyes to avoid being blinded and when he opened them again he gazed in amazement, the glorious columns once again reached the skies and were as furnished as the day they were made, the marble which had been awash with death and as crimson as the blood River of Sandrill lay sparkling and polished.
A bright light emanated from behind the door and bathed the diamond stairs in a golden light which spoke of wonders and surprises beyond the imaginations of mere mortals. Arkhantos stepped up the stairs and reached out to the door slowly, as though it could close and disappear any second. He took a single second to look behind him and view the once glorious armies which had been mustered to fight against one another to earn the glory which lay before him.
“It is sad my friend, my comrades and even my enemies. But without your losses this victory would not have seemed so great.”
The man known as the unwavering king had regained his confidence once he had been bathed in the light of the Gods and turned his back against the enemies which had once seemed like unclaimable walls blocking his goals. As he walked through the door and was enveloped by it’s bright light he breathed in and forgot the worries of the past, he could look only to the future now.
“Goodbye my friends, Goodbye.”
He allowed a single tear to descend down his cheek. He could feel the sensation of his body being dissolved and an extreme sense of disembodiment accompanied him. His eyes could see nothing but the infinite swirling of time and the movements of the universe. As he moved through the endless expanse he realised that the swirls of time were slowly being consumed by an encroaching darkness, the stars of the universe were being eaten and losing their light to the unstoppable force. Arkhantos cried out in horror as he viewed the universe and time itself helpless to fight against the darkness.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
He was not sure when he had arrived at his destination, he looked at his surroundings and shuddered at the darkness which surrounded him. Dark spires towered into the black sky and the only light came from the stars which were ensnared and being consumed within the spires darkness.
“A BUG, A BUG HAS APPEARED” Arkhantos jumped back as a voice rang out towards him. A giant in shining obsidian armour had appeared in front of him.
*Ufu~* “Don’t be so mean Stormy, look at how cute it is!”
The slender figure of a female accompanied the giant on it’s shoulder and Arkhantos could see that the two were more conversing to each other than to him, “Where am I? What is this… this darkness?”
*Tee hee* The female, a girl that looked not a day past twelve, put her hand to her lips as she giggled, “You’re at the heart of the world silly, where else would you be?”
The heart of the world? Arkhantos had heard the phrase spoken as many times as there were stars in the sky, the heart of the world was the Kingdom of the Gods. It was not a place filled with darkness and gloom, a place of unspeakable horrors which not even the universe could hold back.
“You lie! Who are you?! Heathens! Where are the Gods I have fought so long to meet?!”
“THE BUG SPEAKS, IT SPEAKS!” The giant looked at Arkhantos for the first time and the hero could see the souls of a thousand planets chained within its eyes, dying as they were drained of all their energy.
“I APOLOGISE BUG, TELL ME WHAT YOU SEEK” Arkhantos was brought to his knees by the sole power of the beings voice. On earth he had caused entire armies to run at the mention of his name, enchantments which held the world together would unchain at his whim, yet he could not help but feel insignificant before the being before him.
“Stormy” *sigh~* “you’re scaring him!” The child slid off the giants shoulder and Arkhantos found his head moving against him whim to face her. He gasped in pain as his neck began to crack and he gazed into the girls pitch black eyes and let out a sob, “Where… where are the Gods?”
The girl cocked her head to the side and gazed in confusion upon his face, “Gods? What Gods?”
“Please… Hastur… Ivana… Oh Gods please help me!”
“KEKEKE” an inhuman laugh erupted from the giant and the girl smiled, “Oh those small things? We already killed them. They were pretty pesty when it came to it. Teehee~“
“Im-impossible… the Gods cannot be killed. Who are you to lie of such things?!” Arkhantos could feel the anger rising within him, his vision begun to blur and all he could see turned a deep shade of red, the shade of fury and death.
“ARGH” Arkhantos let out a shout and the girl was pushed back through the air as he broke the invisible bonds holding him down, “I shall teach you what it means to lie to your betters. Beings such as you killed the Gods? Do not make me laugh.” A red light swirled around his body as he prepared for battle, once he begun to fight there were none who had witnessed his powers in battle and won against him.
“THE BUG WISHES TO FIGHT, I WAS GETTING BORED” The giant moved forward and as he shifted the dark spires trembled, the light of the stars spilling over the strange land.
*Nyargh* the female let out a small cry, almost cat-like, and stepped in front of the giant, “Stormy~ You always get to have the fun, let me play this time~” The giant looked towards Arkhantos and the hero shuddered,
“VERY WELL, FAREWELL BUG”
“That was a foolish thing to do” Before the female could react Arkhantos had already shifted towards her side and brought his glowing red hands to her neck. At this range her head would be cleanly severed off her shoulders.
“Fufu~ you are fun! Let’s play little man!” Arkhantos twisted his body mid air as the girl unleashed a spear of darkness before his hand could reach her neck. He smiled, he would win this fight easily.
A giggle broke out from behind him, “Where are you looking? I’m over here” Arkhantos gazed in horror as the girl in front of him disappeared and he realised too late that it had simply been an image, he could feel a menacing presence behind him.
The air began to dry and his skin crisped as the feeling of something growing behind him grew stronger. Arkhantos turned around and came face to face with an inexpressible horror, the child’s body had twisted and grown so that it became bloated and turned into the colour of darkness, no, it was made out of darkness itself. The seemingly innocent face had twisted and cracked until a single dark protrusion lay in its place and a mouth opened up in the middle of the blob, it contained not teeth nor tongue but when Arkhantos looked at it he could see a swirling and infinite expanse, the same darkness which he had seen swallowing the universe.
“I-It cannot be.” The red aura which had glowed around Arkhantos was swallowed and disappeared into the black void inside the creature and the hero was pushed into the ground.
“I’m sorry, Sasha, I wasn’t strong enough”
His body collapsed and gave up to the pull of the void. Before he was completely consumed a voice rang out in his head,
“You and your Gods, you're just too damn weak! This was no fun” He could hear the voice of the girl and a sobbing sound as she begun to cry and realised that to her he had never been a threat or even a challenge. He had been a toy to be played with until this creature got bored. His life and the life of his Gods was but a simple entertainment, a snack to be had just because it was there.
Once the body had been completely consumed the giant moved from his spot and walked towards his companion,
“BORING! WHERE ARE THE STRONG BUGS!”
*Waaah* the form of a little girl lay crying where the once great hero Arkhantos had fought in his final moments. The giant looked towards the child whose body was heaving as it sobbed.
“DO NOT FRET! WE SHALL MOVE ON TO STRONGER WORLDS”
The girl looked towards the giant, jumped onto his shoulder and wiped the tears from her eyes, “This universe was no fun” *sniffle*
“MAYBE THE NEXT ONE WILL BE FUN!”
As the two walked forward the last of the stars lost their light as though the last stand of Arkhantos had signified the end of their era, time and the universe collapsed into darkness and the two beings merged with the infinite black which surrounded them, safe with the knowledge that they would seek fun in the next universe, or perhaps the one after that.