Fun Fact: Despite how much arcani exists in the world, the human race is the only species that is largely affected by it. Animals and plants evolved without magic, and it is rare to find one that has magical properties.

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Gaius jogged along the corridors, making sure to keep up with his female companion. Parthena was not exactly moving as fast as an athlete, but he could tell from her jagged breaths that she was already sprinting as fast as she could. He pursed his lips with worry; those friends of hers had better not started without them.

The sound of people shouting at each other assuaged his fears as he turned into the main church auditorium.

“Sophistry! Blasphemy! Have all of you gone quite mad?”

Parthena rushed to the church leader’s side, almost knocking into Gaius in the process. Orion was pointing a knife at his church members. His feet were planted firmly on the ground, although his hand was very clearly trembling. A woman stepped forward, blocking the Lucifer statue from his weapon.

“Why, Orion? You, of all people, should understand why we must do this.” A crazed grin was planted on her face. “I guess you were an uninspired fool after all.”

“You lot are the real fools!” Orion shouted. “Never have I taught you to harm yourselves in the name of beauty!”

“Tch, your teachings pale in comparison to His wisdom. Lucifer has already used this Rapture to reveal the truth to us all,” a dark voice spoke.

The crowd parted, revealing a boy no older than twenty years. The ground clanged with a slow rhythm as he walked forward with a slight limp, leaning on his staff for support.

“There is but one truth. So long as we yet live in these imperfect vessels, we will never be free from despair and sorrow, pain and suffering. Even now, our hearts sing for deliverance. Our souls cry out for oblivion.”

He chuckled slightly.

“And to this chorus of anguish, He has orchestrated our salvation!” Purplish particles began covering the young shaman’s eyes as the crystal on his staff shimmered. “There is no need to struggle, for in our new vessels await paradise. He has shown us what true beauty is. At long last, we will know serenity and perfection. And it… Will… Be… Beautiful.”

Orion backed away, shaking his head in utter horror and disbelief. His weapon clattered onto the floor as his hand lay limply by his side.

“You’re hopeless… All of you…” Tears rolled down his cheeks. “What have I done…? What did I do… wrong?”

“You have done nothing wrong, Orion. You were simply not chosen,” the boy continued. “Such is the answer to our existence. Such is the beautiful gift He has offered us. But a gift should only belong to one person.”

Everyone turned their heads to the boy in shock.

“Me.”

“Get back!” Gaius yelled in warning, but he was too late.

The air rumbled all around the room, coating the crazed cackle that burst from the boy’s bleeding mouth. His eyes burst outwards from his face with a splatter of gore as he swelled to three times his size. Multiple raptorial claws exploded from its back, spreading themselves out like the world’s ugliest praying mantis.

The abomination swung his claws in a circle, instantly decapitating those who were standing too close to him.

“C’mon, Orion. We gotta keep moving,” Gaius muttered urgently as he pulled the shivering church leader back to his feet. A large shadow loomed over them as the monster shrieked, raising a hammer-like appendage above their heads. Gaius raised a hand to receive it.

The bone-shattering force rippled through him, carried by waves of arcani as he twisted his body in tandem with the pulsing current travelling through his body. Power glowed fiercely at the edge of his palm, and Gaius released the energy from the devastating blow with twice the amount of force.

The monster reeled backwards from the powerful counterattack, the upper half of its body hanging only by a fraction of flesh as it struggled to keep its balance.

“Get out of here!” Gaius yelled, ushering them two civilians towards the exit. They obeyed without hesitation. The hairs on his neck stood on their end.

He turned around. It was too late.

A scaly tail was less than an inch from his head, and there was no deflecting it this time. The boy flipped his body over, allowing his back to take the hit instead. Air burst from his mouth and the world tumbled all around him, but his bearings were never clearer.

Hard concrete met his soles, and Gaius sprung his body back from against the wall. Anger and frustration flared in his eyes as he spun his body through the hailstorm of sharpened bone flung in his direction.

“Damn you! Die… die… Die!”

The sorcerer moved in a blur, slicing off the dozens of claws in less than a second. Energy was rippling dangerously through his arcani channels now, but this was no time for precaution. Gaius released a primal, almost inhuman roar as he threw an energised punch at the lunging creature.

His fist went clean through its body. The abomination staggered around, screeching in apparent pain.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Gaius charged energy in his hands again, but the turbulence of arcani in his body was now surging dangerously out of control. He bellowed in frustration, struggling to control the explosion of his pent-up emotions that was only goading the anarchy in his veins.

“What is… happening…?” He clutched his head as his skin began to crack, leaking orange light out. The strange, chaotic pain ravaged his body again, and he gasped in fear this time. He had seen this before.

A voice spoke.

Destroy. Destroy the world.

“H-help…” Gaius charged blindly at the regenerating monster, slamming it through the wall with abnormally huge strength. “GROOAAH!”

Images flashed before his eyes, but they were moving too fast to make out. More energy burst from his eyes as he caught a brief glimpse of a man with a bald head grinning sinisterly.

“Abaddon…?” he breathed. The voice rang in his head again.

It is our destiny.

The boy screamed again as his body cracked further, reality beginning to break down within him. He curled up on the floor, shivering as arcani warped dangerously. Anger ebbed away as fear gushed in its place.

No… My friends… They still need me…

The energy in its body calmed down almost in response to his desperate plea, and the boy took a moment to close his eyes in relief. It was over, for now. Gaius craned his neck, looking for the abomination again.

It was gone.

Confusion flooded him. That abomination obviously had some sort of regeneration capability as well, considering how quickly it managed to patch itself back together after being nearly split in half. So why didn’t it attack him while he was still incapacitated-

He spotted the lower half of his own body a few metres away, apparently sliced off by the abomination in the commotion.

So that’s why.

A shadow flitted from the corner of the room. Gaius wriggled around for a better look, but there was only silence now. He widened his eyes in realisation. It was hunting them down.

And he was no longer its target.

Gaius crawled towards his legs desperately.

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Desperate footsteps echoed all around. Her lungs burned and her sobs choked her breaths, but Parthena did not dare stop running. The corridor felt wider than she remembered, and she felt more exposed than ever.

“Parthena, s-slow down…” Orion’s ragged breaths called out weakly.

“N-no, Orion. We can’t stop yet. Not here.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t… go on. Get away from me. Save… yourself.”

The girl turned back and stifled a gasp. She fell to her knees, nudging the man lying motionless on the floor with a bloodied hole in his back.

“No! Get up, Orion… Please get up…” Tears seeped into the blood soaking her knees. “Come on, this isn’t funny. There’s no use playing dead now…”

The ground rumbled as the crimson eyes in the dark slowly got larger.

“Let’s go home together, leader…” She slung his lifeless body over her shoulder, struggling to pull it to its feet. “You’re just tired, right? Come, you can lean on me this time… I won’t … leave you alone…”

Parthena dragged Orion’s body slowly on the floor with a delirious smile on her face. They were going to get out of here together. Her first friend. Her last family. She just needed to keep moving forward. They just needed to stick together.

A hulking figure revealed itself from the shadows in front of her. She turned her head back stupidly, as though it wasn’t already obvious enough that the monster was intent on playing with its food. It loomed over the girl, clacking its pincers in a way that almost resembled a laugh.

Parthena did not scream this time. She did not even move. After all, where else could she go? Without her friends, where else did she want to go? The abomination opened its mouth slowly as Parthena stared into its eyes. It looked… beautiful, somehow. Orion’s corpse rolled onto the floor as her hands fell limply to the side.

Perhaps death isn’t that bad after all-

Flashes of blue light pelted against the abomination, causing it to shriek in anger. A soft hand seized her wrist and pulled her into a dark corner.

~ ~ ~

The Guardian raised a finger to her lips, although Gaius’ schoolmate seemed disinclined to scream. Her body was shaking, presumably from both fear and shock, and she covered her mouth to hide her ragged breaths.

Kleopatra clutched her rifle tightly, feeling the ground rumble under the sheer weight of the abomination’s footsteps. She felt it stop for a moment, before suddenly turning in their direction.

Crap.

She ushered Parthena along as the girl scurried over to their next cover. Sure enough, the monster looked over the broken window a few seconds later. It groaned in apparent frustration, and lumbered away from the devastated office room.

“Hey. Hey, look at me!” Kleopatra whispered urgently, shaking the girl whose eyes were still glazed over. “Gaius came with you, didn’t he? Where is he?”

Parthena’s lips trembled, but she remained silent.

“Answer me, damnit!” Her voice grew increasingly desperate. “Parthena!”

The Soothsayer yelped, touching her face where Kleopatra’s palm had grazed her. She whimpered as pearly tears rolled down her face.

“I’m sorry,” Kleopatra muttered. “Are you awake now?”

Parthena nodded meekly.

“Gaius… he told us to leave,” she said. “He was supposed to hold the monster off, but… I don’t get it- I don’t understand why it’s still here.”

Kleopatra’s stomach lurched, and her mouth turned dry instantly. Gaius had always been the type to risk his own life to protect others, sometimes even when it was not necessary. If the abomination had managed to get past him, then he must have…

“Don’t worry. Gaius is skilful enough to take care of himself,” Kleopatra spoke, more to herself than to Parthena. “Where was he?”

Parthena pointed into the darkness behind them.