Chapter 4 - Kallya Vertiz
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Arkiel Lutifolde stared confusedly at the seven foot faceless humanoid that brought him a sense of awe and a feeling of slight familiarity, he instinctively tried to frown but realized that he was unable to.
As if knowing that Arkiel Lutifolde was incapable of responding, it continued its grandiose speech.
{Arkiel Lutifolde– you are confused, you don’t know anything; and that is fine. You will understand everything in due time.}
Rumble!
The humanoid lifted his hand and brought Arkiel Lutifolde’s soul towards its palm, it began a magnificent chant– the entire sub-dimension trembled in might from the power of it.
{Heed my call! Knights of the old, lost, and ancient Evernight. I am Kallya Vertiz– God of Corruption.}
The words from the chant was from a language that Arkiel Lutifolde had not recognized– not even remotely close to the ones on Earth by how incomprehensible it sounded. However, strangely enough, he seemed to be able to understand it– as if there was an innate power or inherited memory that was translating for him.
{Awaken– for the one and only existing soul of your kind has returned to our side– the time to fulfill your duties has come. The prophecy has finally been realized... It is once more that we shall reinstate our resurgence and carry on with Eternal Corruption!}
Even for an androgynous and unfeeling God like Kallya Vertiz– a hint of excitement could be detected in the raised tone of its chant.
The tremors of the sub-dimension had grown even more severe as it quaked with extreme vigor.
Dong, dong, dong! As if acknowledging Kallya Vertiz’s commands, the heavy sound of bell tolls resounded out of seemingly nowhere– signifying the grand arrivals of the knights.
The illusory Evernight knight spirits arrived– in droves of thousands upon thousands. Each one being unique in their own characteristics. However, there was one thing in common for the Evernights; all of them had missing body parts– riddled with battle scars and no corporeal body. They silently knelt on one knee in respect and reverence towards Kallya Vertiz.
{Rise, my best soldiers. This will be the final time that we will meet… Henceforth, Eternal Corruption will formally recommence!}
The Evernights glanced at the mighty being in front of them with a sense of melancholy; their Creator– God– Allfather– Kallya Vertiz, for the last time before they carried out their final mission.
Roooaaarr!
The last battle cries of the dawning night thundered– the Evernights rushed towards the black blob resting in the palm of their God.
Arkiel Lutifolde could not comprehend what was happening, and that fact had frustrated him to the extreme. From being controlled without his permission and not being able to grasp his own fate– he abhorred it to the very core of his being.
The howling and roaring Evernights came in contact with the black block and buried themselves into the black-colored soul of Arkiel Lutifolde with crazed smiles on their faces as they emitted cackling laughter before integrating into him.
The God of Corruption watched on silently– the black aura oozing out visibly churning around in a state of anticipation.
Boom, boom, boom! Each time an Evernight spirit got sucked into the black soul, there would be booming sounds echoing out– like a fighter jet breaking the sound barrier.
The Evernight spirits dwindled in numbers, little by little– black runic rings in an ancient language were revolving around Arkiel Lutifolde’s soul and grew visibly in size the more Evernight spirits integrated with it.
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Eventually, no more spirits could be seen in the sub-dimension anymore as they were all fully integrated. The black soul grew to the height of Kallya Vertiz’s head and looked distinctly human by now– with facial features present, albeit still illusory.
All of a sudden, Arkiel Lutifolde's soul glowed immensely bright for a single second before all of the light got retracted back into the depths of his soul.
Click! A clicking sound was heard from the inside of Arkiel Lutifolde's illusory body– that was the last thing he remembered as a rush of memories regarding the Evernights entered his mind and he found himself looking at a scene of a massive hall with Victorian-esque styled interiors– the place where it all started.
Arkiel Lutifolde watched on as a group of people wearing thick silver armor were seen kneeling down in absolute reverence to an old man wearing a crown sitting on a throne that was seemingly made of pure obsidian.
Even just by sitting there, the feeling he gave was of a noble person that commanded immense authority and respect– the knights appeared to have been given orders as they announced their stance resolutely.
“I, Lutis Greyford– am honored and ready to sacrifice my life if that brings our Mighty Corrupted King to ascend to Godhood!”
“I, Ballen Nortis– am honored and ready to sacrifice my life if that brings our Mighty Corrupted King to ascend to Godhood!”
“I, Flanne Quince– am honored and ready to sacrifice my life if that brings our Mighty Corrupted King to ascend to Godhood!”
“I…”
The knights declared one by one with complete faith in their ruler.
“Very well. I, Kallya Vertis, the Corrupted King– have received your oaths of loyalty and felt your faith towards me. Rejoice! As this will be our new beginning, do it now!” Kallya Vertiz stood up and opened his hands wide to call forth a power never before seen in their world.
“Your humble servants will see you in a bit, our one and only Corrupted King!”
Shiiiiing!
Schluck!
Their voices echoed out as they unsheathed the sword by their waists and plunged it deep into their hearts without any sort of hesitation.
Blood poured out profusely from each of the knights as they maintained the same kneeling position and flowed on the floor. However, if one looked closely, it could be seen that the blood flowed in a special pattern– forming an enormous pentagram-like blood formation.
Arkiel Lutifolde could not move and watched on quietly with his own thoughts.
In front of Kallya Vertiz, there was a huge ball of black energy with runic rings resembling the ones on Arkiel Lutifolde’s soul– gathering and giving off an oppressive force– the space near itself distorting.
After no more energy could be added into the ball, Kallya Vertiz slowly closed his wrinkled hands together in an attempt to compress the energy ball.
The energy ball got slower as time trickled by, and an hour later, through his continuous efforts– it became as small as a marble. Kallya Vertiz made the marble hover in front of him as he took a deep breath and muttered with a deep and low voice– "Begin."
His whole body glowed resplendently instantly, he quickly took the marble and swallowed it. Dduk, dduk! The sound of his heartbeat intensified as his whole body harmonized with each beat– his body hovering up in mid-air by itself.
“At last! My ascension… to Godhood… will almost be complete…! The last step... Now!” Kallya Vertiz proclaimed through ragged breaths as he felt his energy draining; he used his right hand to stab it straight into his very own chest– like what his loyal knights did as well.
Kunnggg!
A muffled sound of explosion was heard throughout his body as it instantly exploded– blood, body parts and his armor splattered everywhere in the hall– however, in a single second, reconstruction of his body began immediately as resplendent lights filled in his body parts and a black abyssal-like Godspark was born. It served as a substitute to his heart– revolving with a continuous cycle and pumped resplendent lights that were now flowing through his whole body.
A completely naked and emotionless Kallya Vertiz appeared– he walked towards the sword embedded in the chest of one of the knights and used the sword's polished blade to look at himself.
“Hahaha!!! A flawless success!”
Kallya Vertiz laughed in joy when he saw his original youthful appearance once again as he pulled out the lodged sword and sliced his left wrist.
The wound was deep as he used a certain amount of force in that cut. Despite that, no blood was seen flowing out as only dazzling black energy could be seen inside the cut– it healed with speed visible to the naked eye as the skin from the area around the cut connected back together in swiftness. His eyes glinted in amusement as he shouted out loud at the top of his voice.
“The Way of Corruption now flows through my very being…! Henceforth– I shall be known as the God of Corruption!”
As if acknowledging his declaration– rumbling gray thunderclouds gathered in the sky above the castle, casting a dark shadow on the entire castle; an incomparably massive black thunder struck the top of the castle as it exploded in smithereens and passed through everything to strike Kallya Vertiz’s body.
Numerous eyes around the universe instantaneously snapped open as they detected a slight ripple from the ever-dormant Magic Net.
{A newly ascended God…? How long has it been since the last ripple was detected...} An eldritch Devil in the Abyss murmured as he sunk back into the void; the nearby abominations eviscerated from his slight movements.
{I will pray– for the new God to be on the side of Light.} The angels sang hymns of worship in a place that looked like what one would call– Heaven; a Goddess of immeasurable holiness and beauty grasped her hands together to pray.
Kallya Vertiz did not know of the countless reactions from Gods and Goddesses, neither would he care– he looked at the knights that had sacrificed their lives without any hesitation just from a single word from him and spoke with authority from the Law of Corruption.
{My loyal knights, I… am now the God of Corruption– all of you have served me well in your lives and will continue to serve me after death as my loyal legion! It is now that you will feel the corruption of your mind, body and soul– to attain power and smite our enemies in the near future! Return– and bring me glory!}
Kallya Vertiz sliced his throat with the sword– black energy infinitely poured out and flew into the hearts of the fallen knights, merging into a single presence.
Duduk, Duduk!
Violent heartbeats resonated in the massive hall, the hair and eyes of the knights– regardless of its original color– slowly transformed into the signature color of Kallya Vertiz's corruption– black.
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