"You are not worthy! You will not be good enough, ever!" a voice crept into Rey's ear.
"Nonsense! I have desired to become a cultivator my entire life! To become one of the greats, and to protect. I will be who I can be. I may not be good enough, but who is? Who is perfect, in this broken world! No one is!" Rey retorted.
Then, the words became distinct and started to form before him. "You can never measure up," it wrote.
"Time to single in on another voice," Rey stated.
"Aizen, he was a good friend to you. Indeed, your relationship with him was...complex. Yet it was a good friendship. You two were life-or-death brothers in the end." the voice said in a soft tone.
"Yes, we were...close and fought sometimes," Rey said, not knowing the trap he was walking into.
"And you killed him? Why? Why do you destroy those around you, and take their life?"
"I..." Rey froze, 'Was this a lie? No, this must be the truth, I did kill Aizen, those Lychni, and almost hurt Riza...' Rey started to doubt himself.
"Must you continue living on this path? You will just hurt more people. Just let go, you are tired. Find rest in me instead." The voice subtly hinted.
'R-rest? I am somewhat tired, maybe that is what I need. Rest never hurt anyone.' Rey thought.
"Yes...That's right, just give up, i-" The voice started to speak again in a warm voice.
"Don't give up Rey!" a different, yet familiar voice resounded in his mind. "Fight on..."
"That's right...Fight on, kid! I did not sacrifice myself just so you could die here."
Rey suddenly became aware of what was going on. 'Aizen? Hibari? That is right, I have to survive. Soma is the one that caused destruction. Through me, they did die, but my heart is far from Soma's heart! I will turn this around, and Soma will not have control over me any longer.'
Another lie floated out of his heart, it wrote, "You hurt those around you, and are damaged beyond repair."
"Again," Rey said with renewed vigor. "I need to grow stronger and break free from his hold!"
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"Kiev!!!! Damn you, humans!!! Cursed be your race!! Come, greet your master!! Or I will destroy this town!!" a bellowing voice of fury reverberated through the air. Everyone who heard it gathered, and soon there was a crowd surrounding a very short humanoid and a tall and somewhat extravagant house.
"King Sig'car?" A voice said in a questionable manner as he walked out in front of king Sig'car.
Suddenly, before Kiev could react, a fist was thrown into his stomach and launched him back a few hundred meters while crashing into various houses and wells.
"Kiev...I put you in charge of a simple and small village to continue to produce revenue for me!!" King Sig'car shouted while punching him again.
"Ki-King Sig'car, please, just tell me what it is!" Kiev said in an anxious and low voice. His face, which was fair, became bloodied and his ribs broken.
"Talking will not bring back my daughter!! Oh...Kiev, you royally messed up!! To think one of your puny humans would kill my daughter, Yu..." King Sig'car said in a slightly deranged voice. "Blood is needed to quench my wrath, Kiev. Where are the damnable humans that killed her?" He said while walking up to the injured Kiev that was resting against some rubble.
"Who was it?!?! Tell me!" He said right before something unexpected happened.
"Mommy! Mommy! You were right, all Lychni really are smurf-sized!!!" A little girl's voice, full of excitement, silenced the crowd. The mother quickly put her hand over her daughter's mouth.
"Smurf-sized, huh?" King Sig'car said in a creepily cold voice. Abruptly, a great radiance filled the commoner's eyes, "Insolence!!" He slowly walked over to the woman while the crowd was fearing for their lives. "You, what did your daughter say you called me? smurf-sized?"
"I am sorry, King Sig'car. I do not know where she picked up that kind of language, the Lychni are highly respected here! Please forgive her!" The woman said while mentally cursing at herself for making that joke.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"Yes, you are highly esteemed, oh king Sig'car!" the crowd started to say.
"Am I now?" He said while scanning the crowd. "You know, if you study one's face, and have good observation skills, you can tell when someone is deceiving you. Kiev, what have you been teaching them? To hate me? I gave you this position to watch over your humans, and all I ask for was complete obedience. You failed, Kiev, both me and your fellow humans." King Sig'car said with disappointment and anger in his voice.
"For those who lied against me, you shall never see again." He said while manipulating light to shine into their pupils at a high intensity, destroying their eyesight forever. "Little child, you were at least truthful, and because you are a child, you shall receive no punishment." He then raised his voice, "But for those who continue to be against me, I will no longer tolerate."
"Kiev," King Sig'car said while grabbing a pair of metallic bones, "Whose bones are these? Who has studied the law of metal to make this color and the law of air to create these light-weight bones?"
"I...will find out at once, my king!" Kiev said while wiping the sweat and blood off his forehead.
- - - - - - - - - -
A week later, about 150 km away from Lorea, there was a blue and red dome underneath the blood river. This was precisely named because anything that touched it died, turning the hue red over the years. Two creatures stood within.
"Hahh, what a strange world, so nice! The earth, and life, so liberating!! Ah, more treats for Ouranos, yum!" Soma declared as he started to eat more fruits. "More...Ouranos needs more. Ah, yes, there's more nearby, come on Ozzy!" Soma said while teleporting away.
"OINK!!!" Ozzy replied.
"I know you dislike teleporting, but I do not think you would enjoy becoming bacon, now would you? Although you would taste pretty tasty...." Soma debated.
"OINK!! OINK OINK OINK!!!..." Ozzy hastily replied.
"That's more like it! Hahahaha!" Soma laughed.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"King Sig'car!! I took a census, and there were two others, a boy and a girl, with a youth that matched those bones. The girl, Riza, has already returned, but the boy is still nowhere to be seen!" Kiev said.
"Bring me to the girl...It's time." King Sig'car said, 'I have been suppressing my bloodlust for this long, but now it is time to exact vengeance for Yu. Damnable Humans...' he thought.
Kiev and King Sig'car flew over to Riza's family.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"Riza, you have to leave! It is not safe! The king himself came over and declared in public that he was going to kill the ones responsible for his daughter's death." Riza's father said.
"No, if I leave, he will...he will-" Riza started to say.
"We will be fine Riza. We'll manage, somehow." Her mother said, "Now go! The longer you wait, the more you put all of us at risk."
"Come with me then!! I cannot leave you guys!!!! You're all I have left..." Riza started to cry.
"Honey, you know we would just slow you down, we are not cultivators. Neither of us would make it out alive if we joined you. Enough talking! Riza, go now before it is too late." Her father said while wiping away her tears.
"Okay, I am headed off then. Please be safe!" Riza said while heading towards a window, looking back at her parents. She then jumped out the window, seeking to get far away from Lorea.
"You too, and...do not look back, Riza" Riza's mother and father said to themselves.
A few moments later,
"Johnathan, Teresa, and Riza Arriero...Come on out! Your king, Sig'car, demands you." Kiev shouted
A moment passed, and Kiev started to get worried, 'please be there, or he is going to become reckless!!' he anxiously thought. Soon, they started to hear the sound of walking. A man and a woman came out.
"Where is your daughter, Riza?" Kiev said.
"She is not here. Why?" Johnathan replied, acting as if he did not know.
"Enough," king Sig'car said, "I know she was here, tell me where the girl is. Vengeance is necessary for what she and the boy have done to my daughter." He said.
"We do not know where she is. Now please, let me and my wife get back to what we were doing," Johnathan said.
When king Sig'car realized that they were not lying, or at least, were lying very well, he became infuriated. "Kiev, you are sure about your sources, that she was here?" he said.
"Your Highness, my sources are never wrong, she was definitely here," Kiev said.
"In that case, it would seem that she has left. Is this your doing?" He said to Johnathan and Teresa.
"We have had no part in this, we have not seen our daughter in over a week!" Theresa quickly interjected.
"Hmmph, what a blatant lie! If you had just told me the truth from the beginning, maybe this situation would have been better. Alas, I have been holding in this vengeance for too long, and my patience is already gone. For your insolent crimes against me and helping a prisoner flee, I sentence you both, to death!" King Sig'car said in a tongue full of hatred.
"Very well, we have no regrets, so go ahead. Theresa, I love yo-" Johnathan was in the middle of saying before a fist was thrown to both his head and Theresa's, instantly killing them before they could feel pain.
"Kiev, clean up this mess, I need to...vent some more." King Sig'car said, flinging the blood off his hand and walking away.
"Y-yes your Highness!" Kiev, immediately replied, 'How scary! I, an Evolved level 8, still have no way to contest against him, much less defend myself..."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Gulp!
"Delicious! Ouranos needs more fruits! Oz, do you some?" Soma said.
"Oink!" Ozzy said with drool starting to form. He went to quickly eat the purplish fruit, but when he was about to put it in his mouth, Soma snatched it and ate the rest. Ozzy then proceeded to stomp at him and cursed inwardly for having such a teasing master.
"Enough, you funny-looking beast! Stop!" Soma demanded and lifted Oz up into the air.
"Let's see how far Ouranos has come" He pondered.
///
Name: Soma ******
Age: Lost track long ago
Bloodline: Human bloodline (46%) Space King bloodline (54%)
Space law - High-tier affinity - Adept stage 4
Soul law - very low-tier affinity - Novice stage 5
Space Energy - 18,632 / 20,000 - recharges 250 points per hour
Soul Energy - 1/1 point - recharges 8 points per hour
///
"54%, Ouranos needs way more to be born..." Soma said, "Come on Ozzy, stop floating up there! We need more fruits!"