Prince of The Abyss

Why does the word hate change? Why did the people enjoy living in the same world over and over again? He could never figure it out, as much he tried.

Why, whenever something different happens, do they break their routine to fix it? It was all such a mystery to him.

He grabbed his sword, taking it out of the chest of a dead body. Their blood lingered on the blade as if it wanted to ask for one more chance.

Why, whenever he had started to kill the Knights, to give them freedom, did they start turning on him? Wasn't this what they wanted, what they had been longing for? Why did they start trying to conquer the zones, specifically the ones he had taken?

Did they really think that if they took the zones and killed him, they would go back to their lives?

No!

The world had changed, and it will continue to do so, with or without him. All he was doing was planting the seeds; they grew on their own. If he died, then it would only fuel the cause even more. It was too late to stop it, so why did they try so hard?

He wanted to understand, he really did.

...

As they saw one of their friends die, the other backed away slightly, hesitant to attack anymore. They were only three now, so they could win; they had to retreat and get reinforcements. If only leaving were a choice.

It was the second time they had come here, and while he had forgiven them the first time, he wasn't dumb enough to make the same mistake as The Ace.

So he killed them, every last one of them. He wasn't going to let one escape, as even rats can kill, slowly but surely. He knew that too well.

...

It did hurt; he couldn't say it didn't, he didn't like wasting lives and power all because some people couldn't understand that the world can't be the same anymore, and want to live in the past, instead of embracing the future like they should.

But he wasn't going to let go of his goal just because of some people who were too delusional to see the truth. They weren't even real, just characters in a story, so why should he care?

But it has become quite common now. People are coming to challenge him at one of his zones. Especially after he took the zone, and the life...

Of The Three.

...

...

Aether groaned in pain as he clenched his stomach. He couldn't fight all that much anymore, but he couldn't stop, not after he had come all this far. His grip on his blade tightened as he let go of his injury, preparing to attack or deflect.

"Oh, Aether, it's so weird seeing how pathetic you have become."

The Three kept their distance, shooting arrows at him, but they never hit, as, happily for him, having to hide from people made him quite fast. So he could avoid the arrows without being hit. Well, not every time, but most of the time.

After a barrage of arrows, he saw an opening, rushing forward, and drawing his swords, and before The Three could draw his arrow, he plunged it right into his chest, twisting it around to do the poison fastened.

The Three screamed in pain, not long after, not being able to handle the poison anymore, and falling to it. Dying.

...

But it wasn't over.

This had not been the first time he had killed him, yet somehow he came back. And he did the same now. But this was his third life, and probably last, so he just had to push one last time.

One thing he had noticed about his ability was that he had gotten weaker after the first time he had died. He thought that that was his flaw, and that it had also happened this time, too, meaning he was much weaker this time than he had been at first.

And he was right.

The Three had tried to fight again, but their attack were much, much slower. It was almost pathetic, really. But, he wasn't going to show mercy.

He dashed forward, which had made The Three stagger slightly, letting go of his bow, and trying to punch him, but he had been too slow. After dodging, Aether swept his foot off the ground, making him fall. And before he could figure out what had happened, he thrusted, right into his skull. Blood gushing out all over him.

[You have killed a Seeker demon, The Three]

[You have gained a relic]

His eyes lit up as he saw that he had gotten another card. They were valuable, really valuable.

[Relics]

—[Hair extension]

— [Cloak of Dread]

—[VoidPiercer Wound (Replica)]

—[Card of The Beggining]

—[Card of Harmony]

—[Card of Repetition]

He already found three of them, and each had memories stored inside them, but he wondered if the description of each card had any hidden meaning or was related to another.

[Card of The Beginning]- This relic was never meant to exist, yet was created with the death of The Ace, the first of the Queen Knights. His life was taken by the poison of something mighty, unknown to all, wielded by the Promise Child.

Category-Card

Class-Reader

Rank-fragment

Abilities- [Memory]

[Memory]-Knowledge is a powerful weapon, way sharper than any blade, and way more durable than any steel, but only if used correctly. This ability makes it so whenever the relic is used, the reader would relive some of the memories of the original owner of the card.

He still couldn't believe it was a reader rank, but his perception of relics was already off in this world ever since his blade.

If soul attacks are the Abyss's powers, why did this blade have it? It wasn't related to it, and neither was it to Praise. Maybe because of the Daemon's power, that was the only reason he could imagine.

[Card of Harmony]-This relic was born with the death of The Two, the twins who once shared the same face. Their bond broke under lies, leaving only tragedy behind. One lived, one fell, yet both were bound to the same fate. The relic was created the moment their tragedy was put to an end by the Promise Child.

Category-Card

Class-Reader

Rank-fragment

The ability was the same, and with the same description, so it didn't matter. But he had to say, The Codex really went into detail compared to the first. It was almost as if it hinted at what memory the card held.

[Card of Repetition] – This relic was born with the death of The Three, a knight who would not stay dead. Twice he returned from the grave, each time weaker than before. But even persistence has its limits, and the last fall left him silent. The card was never meant to exist, just like the others. Yet brought to life by the Promise Child.

So he had been right, his ability allowed him to come back, from the dead, just that weaker, which made things easier, so in the end, after the first time he died, he had already lost. It was an ability with great potential. Both The Ace and he had great power and great potential for abilities. It was probably the case for The Two also, but he had killed him before he could see.

But he couldn't stay there anymore, as the place was already fallen down.

...

That was how he had conquered his third zone, and he had already seen the memory. It was just that it wasn't so important. While his life was interesting, it held no help to his question. The Three was a poor boy who almost died from hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and many more, before the world froze, and he arrived to give him his powers.

It was sad to see, as none of the Knights were bad people, and it also made him guilty that, in the end, they had died because of him, because he had chosen them, and they were corrupted.

...

But he wasn't going to let any guilt stop him; he had gotten this far and only needed ten more. Were they stronger? Yes, but his blade was also stronger when facing people like them. And while he had gotten destroyed by The Jack, it won't be the same the next time.

He was sure that by the time he was close to him, he would be close to being an echo, which meant he was going to be stronger. He hoped that power was enough.

Killing The Two and Three had been relatively fast, so he was back on track and could waste some time if needed. But he wasn't going to. He wasn't just going to wait and try to learn his abilities and retreat to be in the best shape.

He was going to kill The Fourth the second he saw him. No matter how injured he was.

It was a test, if he could do it. He would have the right to say that he will kill the Queen.