Achelous was knocked back 50 feet from the shack through rubble, stuck on one of the black marks on the ground. "Ow, what the hell was that?" He took inventory of his surroundings. It was now nightfall, the rain was heavy but no thunder could be heard. He felt a brief moment of peace noticing his clothing was getting a good clean from nature until he heard his little brother.

"BIG BRO, ARE YOU OKAY?" Terran was flying frantically towards Achelous, attempting to give him a hug and managed to go straight through him and into the now muddy ground. He hovered back up to make sure his older brother was okay. Achelous, looking back at him, asked, "It'll take a lot more than that to kill me, let alone injure me. How long was I out?" His little brother, baffled at Achelous's response, replied, "You really feel fine? You've been out for two days!"

The white in Achelous's eyes could be seen as a chill went down his spine. "TWO DAYS?! WHY DIDN'T YOU WAKE ME UP?!" Terran put his hands behind his back, dropping his eyes down as he sank back into the ground, clearly afraid of his big brother's anger. Achelous took a deep sigh, realizing his brother was still so young, "I'm sorry, Terran. Are you okay? What have you been doing the last two days?"

Terran, rising above the ground, said, "It's okay, big bro. I've been talking to the nice lady in the shack!" Achelous was now confused. His little brother started explaining the previous 48 hours to him.

48 hours before Achelous was knocked out, Terran had flown above to see what he did not know yet was a death formation. He flew back down to his brother to figure out what it was, his heart skipping multiple times as he understood many people had died. He then also heard the same cry as his brother. Terran decided to get a bird's eye view in an effort to scout for his big brother. Shortly after looking back down, he could see his brother slowly walking towards the shack, although not quite hearing what was said. Suddenly, a massive wave of red sparks shot out in every direction, knocking his big brother back.

Terran, worriedly flying to his big brother, wanted to make sure he was okay. Arriving at his body, he noticed his chest was still moving and he calmed down rather quickly after realizing there was no follow-up after the red sparks. He started pacing in the air around his big brother, thinking to himself, "What was that? I thought my big brother was really strong for his soul? What is in that shack? I thought it was just a li-." His thought process was quickly interrupted by the sound of a familiar woman's voice. "Well, well, well! What do we have here? A 6th rank spirit tied down to this lowly plain?" Terran, frozen in place, couldn't help but rebuttal, "Wait, you can see me? Who are y-" Before Terran's ghostly eyes was the spitting image of his mother. Tall, pitch-black hair, slender, wholesome eyes that would make anyone feel safe and welcome, Terran couldn't speak, so she did, "Oh crap, do I look like someone to you? My apologies, I take the form of people's loved ones, be it family, a lover, so on. I am also tied down to this plain like you are, not able to move on due to these accursed chains. Care to help me out?"

Terran mustered the ability to speak despite the image of his lost mother, "Help you how? I can't touch anything since my brother bound me."

"Your brother, eh? I think I accidentally killed him when he startled me awake."

"No no I checked on him he is still breathing," boasted Terran confidently in his brother's absence.

"That's... That's impossible. I've killed everything in my path, not on purpose but because this plain can't handle my power." The image of his mother started to become confused and thinking to herself, 'That's impossible... That fucking immortal placed me here to consume this world and chained me down so I couldn't do anything but grow and consume. How is that brat not dead?'

Little Terran felt the urge to help this person, so he asked her, "Can I help you do anything? Do you want me to look for some food for you?"

"Sure, kid, maybe your brother can bring me something when he comes to. I'll see you in a while."

Terran spent his time finding wildlife and a nearby lake. When he was above the lake flying downstream, the water started pulsing. "What a strange pond?" He saw some fish below it and took note of it and moved on.

Time flowed on for two days as he surveyed the land around them.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Achelous stood there with his jaw hanging slightly. He took a deep breath and sat down for a minute to gather himself as he tried to decide whether to approach the lady or to just leave. This death formation was not set here by someone of this world. He had seen death formations before but on a much smaller scale. As he pondered his decision, he noticed one of his tendrils growing very bright and leading him in the direction of the lady who apparently looked just like his mom. Achelous took a deep sigh, stood up, and looked at his brother with narrow eyes and a cold aura about him, "You may want to go back to that stream for a time. What's going to happen next is not going to be pretty." His little brother attempted to say something, but Achelous started walking past him emotionless.

The lady in the shack quickly realized Achelous walking towards her. The ground below him started to crack as he walked over it, tiny purple sparks could be seen around his torso as it shredded parts of his sleeves and coat. She also noticed rain started to part around him as if unable to touch him, his eyes growing bright in the night as he looked towards her and locked eyes.

A chill now going down her spine, "Hey, you must be that kid's brother!"

"Yup." He was briefly taken aback by the appearance of his mother. His newfound strength from the 6th soul shard, however, had given him the conviction to ignore it. He stood over her roughly 3 feet away, the energy from him making her hair stand up and flow backward, "Before I banish you from this world, do you have peace?"

She broke into laughter, "You think you have the strength to kill me? BAAHHAHAHA." She was unphased and could not help herself. How could she? She was born of a completely different race than humans and at the celestial level no less, she had been alive for countless years honing her power and strengthening her soul.

So be it then. Achelous had this thought, and in his right hand, a Vanta black weapon had appeared, absorbing any other light around it, finally taking the shape of a sword with no hilt as if it was merely an extension of himself.

The lady suddenly refelt that chill go down her spine as she saw this blade in front of her, prostrating before him. "Where did you get that soul weapon?! I thought those only existed in the Abyssal realm plain, not with MORTAL." Clear disgust and no respect for the lives in his world, but confused, she started to beg for her life. "Please, I have so much more to live for, break these chains, and I will serve you for a thousand years!"

At this point, she didn't have the energy to knock him back again, she had been there for 5 years now, she expended her energy right away at that town along with the occasional wildlife passing through, but unfortunately, it takes much more energy to consume just animals every few months to eat. But she was greedy and wanted to enjoy what she could until she entered a deep rest for a few years before Achelous startled her.

Achelous yelled in fury, "Worthless garbage! Burn in Purgatory!" He slashed her from her head to her stomach, igniting black flames that devoured her from the inside. She screamed in agony. Achelous stunned that she wasn't disintegrating immediately and shouted, "WHY WON'T YOU DIE?!" In his rage, he chopped at her, severing limbs that fell and scattered around the shack.

He heard a soft yet familiar voice come just before her head was entirely consumed. "Thank you, my son."

Achelous's heart plunged to the floor. His thoughts running rampant, 'SON? MOM!? Tears started streaming down. Was this actually my mother? Was she corrupted by some sort of demon? Impossible! I saw her die. I held her in my arms... She is the reason I have this weapon... WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO?!' His body was shaking, streams of tears could be seen through the rain as he looked up and opened his arms at the sky, shouting at the storm above him, "WHAT THE FUUUUUUCK!! WHY AM I SO CURSED!" Thunder started to rumble back at him as if it heard his question.

Little Terran had seen everything happen before him. His brother's soul brightening and the strange black weapon that had just slain what looked like his mother. The best part about being so young was that he believed the woman when she said she simply took the shape of loved ones. And that made it simple for him as he floated towards Achelous, "It's okay, Big brother, that wasn't mom." He then proceeded to attempt to rub his big brother's back and console him as the two brothers sat there in the rain.

A day had passed, the sun coming over the mountain had cleared the overcast from the two nights. The two brothers were still sitting in the shack watching the last bit of their "mom's" body before them, and then a soul shard appeared. Blood red in color, Achelous mustered the energy to stand up and walk forward, putting his hand over the orb, and pulling it into his heart.

From Terran's point of view, it looked like a wondrous red aura was radiating into his brother, binding into the other shards. Turning his previous prismatic soul into a dark violet orb. Around Achelous, the rocks around him started to roll away as if an invisible force was clearing the way for him. "WOAH, THIS IS INSANE, BIG BRO!!"

Achelous stood there brooding while looking at the floor and sat down to begin meditating. "I need some time to ponder what just happened. To me, to her, this new power surging through me. Keep watch, Terran." In a stern tone still processing what he just did.

Terran understood this, "I'll keep watch and make sure to tell you if I see something coming."

Achelous sat there on the floor, 'I'm sorry, mom, watch over me and Terran as we grow. Maybe we will meet again in this strange new era.'