Heart and mind

"Blood..." The title of the Strongest had been with Arlok since birth. Everyone in the Alliance knew his name and title; everyone knew why he was bestowed with this title. And this man had never seen his blood, let alone from his throat. His bloodied palm was far more shocking than the open gates, but Carnage wasn't someone who would stand there fearfully and do nothing.

His breathing stabilized, Arlok quickly regained a shaky balance and composure.

"Alliance..."

The title bestowed upon him alongside the title of the Strongest - Grand Admiral, the title of the Supreme Enturion of the Alliance and its defender. And the words of that creature trampled his confidence in fulfilling his task...

"Anna, what is this place?" Andro jumped from platform to platform, hurriedly following the girl.

"I don't know, but it's definitely something like a tomb of our ancestors!" The girl examined the symbols on the walls, and the largest ahead - golden gates and three stars.

"It's incredible, how could something like this exist in our world?" Andro couldn't take his eyes off the blue water in the pond.

"If the legends are to be believed, the people of the past were similar to the gods of today..." They reached the altar.

This altar was small amidst a huge lake, just like the island it stood upon. There was a recess, as if something was supposed to be there, but it was empty.

"Anna, are you sure? Maybe we should still leave. I'm scared of those gates on the wall; it's like someone's animal eyes are watching us..." The guy wasn't sure about what he was saying; it was dark there, although the lake illuminated most of this vast space, the golden gates seemed deliberately poorly lit.

"You could have left whenever you wanted, but now that the truth is in front of us, you decide to say the same thing again?!" She was irritated when her young man was scared because he, of all people, saw the whole picture.

A closed chamber where the gates slammed shut as quickly as they had opened, a strange altar resembling some cult, symbols shimmering on the wall in white light. And most importantly, the strange depiction of gates and stars.

"I don't want to tell you anything like that, but it seems to me that touching this altar is dangerous..." He constantly cast fleeting glances at the girl and then away.

"You deliberately do this, be a man! You've changed a lot since coming down here, where's my brave Andro?" She spoke roughly.

"Brave, I'm not even sure what I am anymore! This place scares me incredibly; just look at these drawings. And you, continuing to touch something that shouldn't be touched!" He pointed at the altar with both hands.

With a gentle movement, Anna's fingers barely touched the altar, and there was a click, as if something had turned with a distinct sound. Bluish lines started moving from her bracelet toward the center of the altar.

Drop by drop, water from the lake began to rise and hover around it. It was a strange and beautiful sight. Even when the drops numbered in the hundreds, the lake didn't change by a millimeter; it remained at the same level.

These drops began to converge toward the center of the altar, the same place where the blue lines from the bracelet converged into a single point...

"My body is shaking..." He looked at his hand while standing at the steps leading down to the bridge made of hundreds of slabs.

"Aria?" - There was no response.

"I rushed in here!" He turned, but the gates had already closed.

Symbols that were inscribed on all the walls shimmered in white light, and the scales ahead stopped moving.

He tried as usual to use his force to step into the air, but nothing happened. His foot simply fell to the step below, and he nearly lost balance, almost rolling down dozens of steps.

He attempted to summon his sword, but nothing came forth. It was as if all of Eden had disappeared.

"Incredible," he quickly reached behind himself; somewhere there on his belt was a gun. It was a weapon Arlok had never used but always kept with him.

"Not much should have been expected..." The weapon was unloaded; without Eden, not a single projectile could be fired. "It seems this space won't allow Eden, and has Corrosion stopped affecting me as well?..." He touched his abdomen, but his body was still as heavy. However, what had disappeared along with Eden was the hum, the Core itself. Arlok couldn't feel anything inside himself, no hint of the "infinite ocean."

"Never seen a table of this shape before," he began descending. "If I'm not mistaken, this resembles an altar for sacrifices... Are you asking me to give something?" He spoke, looking at his hand, the only thing resembling remnants of a person.

"Heart or brain? Why are they on the scales?" His eyes wandered around the enormous room, trying to find an answer.

"And these symbols, intentionally made so small, yet placed so far," it was difficult for him to speak; the blood from his throat made Arlok nervous, causing him to move more cautiously and breathe unconsciously.

"Slabs and water," he removed his glove and touched the azure lake with its tip; the glove remained unchanged. "It's not dangerous, at least not for clothing," he decided to walk on the slabs, avoiding stepping into the water. However, he didn't touch the glove, carefully carrying it in his other hand.

"Why isn't the blood flowing anymore?" But abruptly, he noticed the altar, which was now very close to him.

"This is the second place I've been against my will," he didn't dare touch the altar. "What do you want from me, taking away my strength?"

The crystal he held in his hand began to change, but as soon as the threads began to form and move towards the center of the altar, Arlok seized them firmly. His crimson eyes glanced first at the altar and then at the wall.

"You think I'll dance to your tune?" He didn't release those threads; he tightly restrained them, although it was incredibly difficult.

Suddenly, a strong stream of blood began flowing from his hand. He forced it onto the scales, causing one side to plummet - the brain, the mind, or what it was trying to appear as. The white symbols around turned red, and the azure lake lost its light.

But the crimson eyes looked at something else, at the center of the altar, trying to understand how something made of steel was able to control his Eden Crystal like that.

The entity, slightly taller than the altar, began to form its shape. After each blink, the appearance of this entity changed from female to male. In its chest, one could see numerous strange stars.

"I'm incredibly exhausted, and if you understand my words," he pointed at it. "I advise you to release me from here immediately!"

But the creature had that smile on its face again, and in an instant, Arlok's eyes widened. He saw how this entity incredibly quickly penetrated his forehead. Afterward, he saw this room and his body from above. Carnage saw how his body fell into convulsions, and the entity disappeared.

At first, the room; then the view from a distant planet; then a star system with eight planets; then hundreds of stars amidst cosmic darkness and emptiness; then the sight of galaxies that seemed incredibly small; finally, everything dissolved into colors until it all disappeared. A white crack in the dark space and gentle words spoken by different voices but seemed to come from one person.

"Peace!"