Lowly Ascent

Cain endured.....no, he prospered.

Over time in that dark room, he began to relish the pain, it fueled his rage and hate for everything around him. It twisted his mind and changed the way he thought.

At some point, he could think properly again. Perhaps he was lucky and the viruses mutated and canceled each other out, at some point removing the brain fog that hindered his thoughts. It didn't matter how, what was important was that it occurred.

His brain could now help him ponder thousands of thoughts a minute, and his thoughts led him to scrutinize why he wanted to help people in the first place.

Cain still didn't know himself, memories were locked hiding the truth, hiding the context of his pitiful life.

He knew pain was all that was on the other side of that wall, but he was already experiencing hell.

And so..... he broke down the wall and remembered himself. All of it.

Silence ensued inside the cell, it wasn't a calm or peaceful silence but one of eeriness and anxiety. For the first time, the maniacal laughter from the black beast stopped. This was foreboding for the inhabitants of the prison.

In his cell, Cain finally understood, his eyes leaked tears of blood. His eyes opened slowly.

As even more time went on, hour by hour, his eyes once again turned bright crimson.

His eyes didn't stop there, as he continued to remember his eyes continued to darken. His eyes became so dark someone would be more inclined to say they were black.

Finally, Cain remembered everything, he now knew who he was and understood it all. He was a tool his whole life, all of it was a lie. He went through life as a tool that went from one hand to another.

To be emotionally manipulated again and again. He was used as an experiment, mental support, a resource, an expendable soldier, and ultimately a pawn.

All his life, Cain has been used and this wasn't the end of it. He then realized why, he knew he was being manipulated and controlled, everything was because of that tree!

It was so clear yet he couldn't see it, his entire existence was practically fabricated to work as Numineer's pawn!

Yet, Numineer was a manipulator, not a brainwasher. It was about time he realized he was being used.

The hologram in the vault explained as much and even more information was stored in the documents in the vault which were now free to read in his mind.

Cain found he had been unconsciously learning many things, including what Numineer was and how his abilities worked. It was like another part of him was waiting for him to see the truth.

Everything happened due to an emotion Numineer preyed on. He used many individuals close to Cain to control him as he pleased. He preyed on John's obsession, Luna's inferiority, Ander's sorrow, and Rebecca's loneliness.

Yes, that was it! His entire environment was being pulled by Numineer's strings!

They were all pawns to turn Cain into Numineer's knight, they were unknowingly leading Cain to despair. They were tools to break him down so Numineer could sprout his seed to corrupt him.

'I've always been under his watchful eye huh, the most compatible piece for the board and game he wished to play?!'

Anger rose, but Cain wasn't Cain any longer. His mind already changed, already shifted. He was different, he was.....new.

Cain didn't hate Numineer. It instead fueled his hate for humans more.

'So easily tricked, so weak and useless! Why are we like this, to be preyed upon and exploited!? What is the point of this!'

Cain didn't hate Numineer, he was similar to him. The tree just wanted freedom from being trapped under the earth. What Cain hated was the world, and the people living in it.

They were ignorant! The Union, who are the only ones who know of such a threat like Numineer and Zimo, did nothing at all!

They never planned to finish their ancestors wishes and instead ignored a threat and allowed themselves to fall into the Great tree's trap!

'Our own emotions end us...our own sins lead to our downfall.....'

They allow themselves to become lazy, prideful, and lustful. They envied each other and wanted everything that didn't belong to them. They ignored everything for their own greed!

Couldn't they just work together? Couldn't they just find a way to have all these things without fighting over them?

'We were given consciousness, we should be greater and wiser than mere beasts! So why are we no better than them!?'

But this wasn't what angered Cain the most. What he hated the most was how he allowed this to happen to himself, he let his emotions lead him to losing the people he cared for. He blinded himself from the truth and fell into Numineer's lap! He almost became his slave!

'No...it isn't the people's fault, not entirely. It's this world that breeds such emotions and sin.'

'What really is this place? Why are people trapped here? Why was I sent here?! Why was I brought here with my memories erased!?'

As Cain's anger rose, his mind bubbled. The calm lake was becoming hot and he was going even deeper into madness. To his appeasement, Victor entered his cell, whistling like normal.

Cain's anger slowly hid itself and the lake became still. But not before becoming red with malevolent thoughts.

Abruptly, Cain spoke for the first time. He didn't cry or scream but spoke. 

"Thank you for this, I now realize that nothing matters. My goals were... idiotic. The world isn't black and white and it isn't grey either, it is an array of colors. But all the colors eventually wither.

"I realize hope doesn't exist, a consensus will never be made. Humanity is doomed to fall. We are sinners. Sinners who fool and lie to ourselves."

Victor stopped and slowly turned his head, he looked at the should-be husk. He found someone who stared at him with clear bright eyes, who looked fine like he wasn't enduring horrible torture. Cain's clear eyes seemed to pierce Victor's mind!

Victor kept a straight face and answered with curiosity

"I suppose you are right. But that's just how the world works, what can you do..."

Cain grinned, "You can destroy it."

"What?"

"Simply destroy the flawed world and rid it of its disgusting existence."

Victor looked back again to see Cain staring resolutely at him.

The lunatic then became wary, the longer he looked the more he realized Cain wasn't normal.

Cain's eyes slowly began to flicker with insanity, his eyes held a great expanse in them that went on forever. The expanse showed a great scene of despair as the world inside it was destroyed, everything was erased with a triumphal echo of blood-curdling screams.

Victor seemed to find the screwdriver for his loose screws, his sanity slowly returned in the face of something more unhinged than him.

He began to scowl at Cain with fear.

'I created a monster! I must kill him now!'

Cain suddenly spoke once more, "He shouldn't be watching right now, he should have gotten bored a while ago, plus this is a room made of Graystone so he shouldn't find out."

Victor was unnerved by Cain talking to himself.

Quickly grabbing a syringe, he turned back to Cain. His face began to grow even more fearful.

He felt an indescribable instinct as he saw Cain's wounds bubbling, as his flesh and blood became a crimson mist.

Victor's entire body was screaming to run.

He tried to run but with a simple command from Cain's mind, the mist overtook Victor and the man's vision went black.

...

Victor woke up, he found himself standing on an ocean that expanded to the horizon. He looked up to see a sun that had an imprint of the royal family's seal.

'This is...that place my lord spoke of. The place that houses the soul?'

Victor didn't have time to be amazed.

The ocean began to boil and it turned crimson. The waters became thicker than blood, Victor tried to move but bloodied hands seeped out of the ocean and began to pull him down.

The sky turned dark and the sun began to change. It slowly changed into a giant red eye that looked into the depths of Victor's soul.

"What are you?!" Victor's voice echoed with terror, his body began to fail him as he tried to look at this 'thing'.

He only got a single phrase in response but it was enough for him to lose his sanity, hearing its voice destroyed his already fractured mind.

A voice that wasn't human resounded in the space, it was powerful, causing pain when hearing it.

Its words tasted like slimy ink, smelt like putrid rot, and felt like a sharp needle in the brain. It was a horror that Victor could only imagine in his nightmares.

"I am Destruction."

It spoke as if this was the absolute truth, and the figure of Victor quickly turned to dust.

Victor Kushen died.

...

A person wearing a military uniform stood up in a prison cell, their face was old but slowly regressed into a young man with black hair and horrifying eyes.

'So that's what he put on me, can't let him know I escaped his grasp just yet.'

Cain was staring at his remains, he saw that part of his bone was turned to wood, it had a green glow and some yellow-like pus seeped out. Perhaps it was sap?

'Oh yeah, it seems that transferring heals wounds and scars but doesn't stop the aging process, my DNA is just copied and rewrites the victim. This means no immortality.....'

Cain quickly took the wooden bone and took a minute to open a hole in his side to place it inside.

'The runes I carved are gone....oh well.'

Cain sealed his wound and left the cell. He didn't care about Victor's viruses but did search himself and found a letter in his coat pocket.

It had the royal family's seal. Inside it details a handoff location between the Empire and the Kingdom.

The trade seems to consist of giving devices for an item as well as future cooperation for something. The location was in Free City which piqued Cain's interest. 

He memorized the time and date before burning the note. 

As he left his cell, some guards spotted him and immediately their faces lost color. Cain sprinted at them as they yelled for help.

He bashed one against the wall, coloring it a nice red. He then grabbed the other by the throat and slowly watched their face turn blue. He finally let go when he heard a pop and watched the lifeless body hit the ground.

By now, numerous guards made their way there and surrounded Cain as he looked at them excitedly.

"You should let all the prisoners out to help"

"What?"

Cain smiled, he had the look of an animal staring at prey.

"I plan to kill everything alive in this place, your best chance of survival is to have quantity since you lost the only qualified person to fight me!"

The guards became weak feeling Cain's bloodlust. Multiple guards ran to do as he said while others held their ground.

What commenced from there was carnage, Cain was bloodthirsty and he got what he wanted.

The entire complex ended up joining the defense, personnel and prisoners alike grabbed weapons as they tried to fight back Cain for their lives.

The monster simply laughed seeing the flooding halls, crushing necks and bursting skulls. His physical strength was unnatural and his defense was even more so.

No one could stop him. No one could deny him his bloodlust.

Similar to the siege of Free City, the defenders began to lose hope. Many began to cry and others found suicide the best way out. Less and less headed for Cain and instead tried to run.

But Cain didn't let them off. He drowned himself in bloodlust as he drowned his victims in their own blood. Like a brand, he used this bloodbath to imprint his madness in his mind. 

When he was finished, there were bodies littering everywhere, he created a lake of blood inside the complex. After playing cat and mouse with the last few remaining guards. He headed to the exit.

There were a few guards there Cain missed there. 

Cain could hear the fighting outside and the clashing of swords, he calmed himself and began to control his bloodlust and emotions. He then picked up the last weeping survivor and threw him outside.

He then began to walk out.

Cain saw a scene of two groups looking in his direction. Looking in front of him, he saw a familiar face. 

He kept an indifferent face, although his eyes betrayed him.

Remembering he threw someone, he looked over to see they were still alive and trying to crawl away.

He held back the urge and turned to the youth staring at him.

"M-Master....?"

Cain responded, "Yes?"