NOVEL NEXT Chapter 404: Destruction of Welmion
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Dale got up from his bed, stretching his arms and legs as he moved to the window, opening it slightly to stare at the outside.
"Yawn... Nighttime... No, the sun is about to rise." He mumbled as he stared at the weak blueish tint of the sky
'Has it been a few days, or have a few hours passed?...'
To quickly check that, Dale moved to the right, grabbing his pocket watch from his drawer.
"... Interesting, only a few hours have passed."
'Maybe the Gods are giving me a pat on the back.'
He smiled, feeling great. The less time he lost, the better.
To keep his momentum, Dale went to the bathroom to relieve himself before returning to bed.
He was a little hungry, but it would be best left for later.
It was time for his last memory. One that would only last for a little while.
Soon enough, Dale's mind left his body, going somewhere far, far away...
...
/Open!/
Dale opened his eyes to see a wooden ceiling very much like that of his room.
A simple room without much in it, a humble but decent abode to any.
Seeing this, he wasted no time.
He immediately stretched his body, not feeling pressured to move, knowing full well there was no way to change the end of this Memory.
Anyhow, after changing from his pajamas, he left his home, saying goodbye to his 'parents' in this life.
It wasn't pleasant to do so, but he did nonetheless, out of respect for the person he possessed.
... Out of respect to all who passed...
...
While the other two memories started amidst bloodshed and chaos, the sun was bright here, and the sky was pure blue.
A beautiful hamlet built along a few hills was peaceful and ordinary. Nothing happened here, nor was there a need to; this was but a simple abode for simple people trying their best and most challenging to live their lives.
Growing their cops, tending to their farm animals, socializing with their friends, selling their excess to passing by merchants...
They were part of no tales, the common folk, the kind which would gasp at the news of far distant lands...
The ones who submitted to the rules of others... Not that there was anything wrong with it...
...
Dale made his way to a nearby mountain, the tallest of them all; it would be the perfect place to end this story, once and for all.
On the way, he greeted everyone he came across and they waved back at him.
Good people they were... Unaware of what was about to happen...
...
In no time at all, he arrived at the mountain, and after circling around it a bit, he began climbing through a path in the woods, reaching its top within an hour.
"Huff... Huff... This body's physical conditioning is... Terrific." Dale said amidst gasps as he sat down on a rock near the mountain's edge
There, he looked at the distant horizon, the Hamlet at its foot and the shadows of another Village far in the distance.
"..."
Dale had no thoughts at all... There was nothing to think about...
In the first place, this was a relatively straightforward memory, and if there was some sort of secret here, Dale couldn't tell.
Instead, he looked at nature's beauty before him, witnessing and enjoying its final moments before everything reached a standstill.
/Silence.../
It began with the birds and insects, they suddenly went silent...
/Shuaa shuaa shuaa!!/
Flocks upon flocks of birds took to the skies, flying away in desperation, fleeing from something...
/Shine.../
/Tremble.../
Then, a powerful light rose from the West, as powerful as the sun itself, followed by tremors that shook the earth, causing people to panic.
"..."
Dale, however, remained focused, not taking his glance off the strange phenomenon.
In his first attempt, he wasted too much time down there, and by the time everything ended, he barely witnessed anything as he wasn't in the right place.
It wouldn't be the same now.
/Crack.../
Then the sky began to split, and an all-encompassing darkness emerged from the other side, bloating the skies, scattering the white clouds, and threatening to devour the whole world.
"..."
'It's here... The end of this world.'
That's right, this wasn't a story of glory, it was one of despair and pain.
The end of life, of destruction and madness, this was... The End of the World.
If the first two memories were stories of growth, adventures, blood, and sweat. This was a story of acceptance...
To accept that your days are numbered and that not even the Gods can help you.
Dale gazed at the distance, and for a moment, he witnessed what seemed to be a hand manifest from the darkness.
"?!"
/SPLAT!/
When he did so, he felt his body contract and his heart skip a beat. His eyes began to cry tears of blood, and he vomited blood, staining the pure green grass.
"Huff... I can't stop now... I really hate this memory."
'What is that Creature? An Abyssal monster? Some sort of higher entity?...'
"A God?"
He thought as he tried to keep his eyes on it.
Although he felt he was about to die, Dale did not stop looking at it, trying his best to understand and comprehend it, as maybe one day, he would be forced to face something similar.
Azimuth was in the middle of a time of strife, itsend may be no less than this, a battle he nor anyone else will be able to avoid.
Just like Zenith, a War that will involve the will of the very Gods.
/CRACKLE!/
Lightning stroke across the skies, falling and ravaging the earth as destruction began to spread.
/CLING!/
Golden chains materialized around the arm, trying their hardest to keep it at bay, but they only bought a few seconds as soon enough, the arm moved.
"... What's that?"
It was hard to say what was happening since he was very far away from its source, but there seemed to be something near the arm, someone...
AHero,trying to prevent the end of the world.
'Yeah... That's right, this is why this is the Memory of a Bystander, someone who witnessed something, powerless to interject, clueless to opine...'
Dale could only witness in 'horror' as the light of the Hero faced the darkness.
It was like a firefly in the darkness, howcan it scatter it all away?
"... Where are the Gods? Are they watching this unfold, their people, believers, apostles... Die?" Dale mumbled as he saw the Hero be thwarted by the hand
Soon enough, it touched the ground.
/CRUMBLE!/
The Continent began to tremble, and massive fissures formed with the hand at the center!
For a moment, Dale saw the shadow of an entity emerge from within the crack in the skies, and for a split second, their gazes met.
/Pop!/
In the next moment, Dale's head exploded into a dozen chunks of meat... Thus, the memory of the bystander came to an end.
But the destruction did not end as the Godly being continued its rampage.
As people ran away in fear and despair, mothers carrying their children, men protecting their wives... From high and low, their emotions were all the same, regardless of birth, regardless of pedigree...
In times of desperation, all were Human.
/CHAOS!/
There was no salvation, no light, no redemption, nothing.
The beast of destruction opened its mouth, and the Souls of the beings he slew were devoured, being sent to eternal torment inside its belly.
It tried to devour Dale's too, but someone strange happened when it did...
Golden light fell from the skies, pulling his Soul from its clutches and stunning the creature momentarily.
It looked upward, gazing at where Dale's Soul and the light vanished.
...
/Meanwhile.../
/Tremble.../
Testros watched in horror as the Arch-Devil walked towards the Wall, trembling on the bodies of thousands as it inched ever slowly.
Yet, despite its slow movement, with each stride, it covered dozens of meters, becoming bigger and bigger as it reached them.
/Shake.../
"..."
Unknowingly, Testros began to shake as he held his sword, trying his hardest to keep his composure. Unfortunately, he wasn't strong enough.
The Commander saw that, but he didn't offer him any words of consolation or action to help the boy; he knew that the best way to surpass his fears was to confront them head first.
But for that to work, he had to give him something to hold onto, an anchor of faith so his mind wouldn't crumble.
"They're sending their big hitters."
The Commander knew the fight was reaching its climax. Now, the Arch-Devil, later their leader.
/Shua!/
As he saw the Threant move across the battlefield, a group of people landed near himandTestros, battered and somewhat bruised,theypossessed an undistinguishable aura.
It was evident who they were, they were the Generals underneath the Commander, the Division Heads of the Corps!
How long had it been since Testros saw so many gathered in one place... He didn't remember.
"You're all here, in one piece I wonder." The Commander said with a light joke without taking his eyesfromthe Devil
"If you're joking then things must be really dire." The woman from before said as she moved her hair around, trying to clean it a bit
"Welxa is right;lookslike there's no escaping this time... We'll have to leave that time off for our next life Commander." A burly man spoke on the side as he chuckled
As he said that, he looked atTestros,as he tried to remain tall before the approaching monster, and for a moment, he chuckled, leaving the boy to 'face' the beast alone.
"We'll have the time forthatFerdinand, thingsaren't that bad yet."
"This is probably the worst invasion we had since the establishment of the Corps... Although it isn't, by far, our hardest battle fought."
"That's right, we're usuallythe onesgoing aftertrouble." Ferdinand said with a chuckle as he patted his chest plate armor
"What's the plan?" Someone else spoke as they looked at the distance
Due to the voice, it was hard to say if it was a man or a woman, and because they were clad ina darkrobe, it became even harder to pinpoint their gender.
"... We'll use the Cannon, blast it off in one go, and buy ourselves some time." The Commander replied as he placed his arms behind his back
"If we use the Cannon, there won't be another shot for the rest of the day, not with our supply lines this messy." Ferdinand said as he turned to look at the soldiers on the wall
"I know, but if not now, then never. It's clear the enemy wants to test us and spend our resources. The Cannon is meant for these kinds of circumstances, if we don't use it now, we may not have the opportunity to use it later."
"You have your orders, shoot that thing down!"
""Understood!"" The Division Commanders replied in unison
/Shua!/
They all dashed in different directions to execute his orders.
"..."
This left the two of them alone again...
However, after gathering much of his courage... Testros decided to speak.
Something he was holding down for a very long time... A fear he had to see correct, now or never.
"... Commander..."
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