99 The Destroyer II

...??? PoV...

Where am I?

I look around; the area isn't looking good. Destroyed furniture litters the large room, and the remaining decorations show that this place was once a luxurious area. I wonder what happened?

My eyes wander on my large open hands, and my head suddenly feels like it's going to explode. Hundreds of different images flood my mind at once, and I scream my lungs out while something writhes under my skin.

The memories don't make any sense. In some of them, I'm a smaller creature, and in another set, I'm another one. But the more terrifying ones are of when I was a massive being.

EliMiNaTe.

DeStRoY.

PuRgE.

A distorted voice echoes in my mind. Each word sends pulses of pain into my body like it is forcing me into action. The memories of the enormous creature become even brighter, I think I can understand the thoughts of the beast.

I was- No, it was sent somewhere to do something, but something went wrong and-

A pained scream escapes my lungs as I roll on the ground, memories of imprisonment resurfaces. I revive hundreds of years of feeling like my very core was ripped apart and my body cut open.

DeStRoY!

The voice comes back in full force, and I barely notice that it has taken control of my mouth.

"I'Ll DeStRoY yOu!" another voice echoes, this one comes from outside my mind, so I open my eyes that I closed when the memories resurfaced.

That's when I finally notice it.

An armored humanoid creature wearing a red robe is staring at me while aiming a black stick towards me. It's enduring a volley of attacks from what looks like tentacles made of distorted flesh, so I-

I fall to my knees when I realize that the tentacles are coming out of my arm. I feel sick, and about to vomit. The memories belonging to the small creatures tell me that I shouldn't be like this. They say that I'm an abomination and-

My thoughts are interrupted by a blinding flash of light, and something sears my flesh. I want to scream, but my throat is obliterated before any sound can come out of it. I feel immense disgust as the same parasitic-looking tendrils of flesh repair my damaged body.

What am I?

Who am I?

I feel like I'm in a trance as I stand up and endure another blast of energy. This time the tentacles pull something from my insides and use it as a shield. From what I can see, the black plates do a fantastic job of stopping the terrifying attacks of the red figure.

I can't do much as another surge of pain assault my head.

New memories resurface, and I can almost distinguish some names.

"Wurk..." I mutter, and it's enough to send me into a frenzy as I collapse while convulsing. A warm liquid flows out of my ears as new memories assault me.

My head feels like it's been split in two when the memories of the other creature similar to Wurk meld with what is already flashing. I barely notice the attacks of the red-robed monster since the tentacles do a fantastic job of protecting me.

What are all those memories?

Why do I have memories belonging to different people?

Why do I feel a mix of hatred and anger towards myself, and towards everything else?

KILL!

I want to shout at the voice in my head. I want to yell at everyone and everything in the hope that something can give me the answers I seek.

"Prometheus!" a voice shouts, and I force my eyes open. I notice another creature clad in a red robe, similar to the one who is enduring the relentless assault of the tentacles.

He must have companions!

I wonder what's it's like to have friends.

It must be nice. So why do I have none?

It's NoT FaIr!

I get up and shout; the shockwave sends the creature named Prometheus and its companions flying. I feel a sudden connection to the tentacles, a flood of information enters my brain as I take control of the appendages.

The anger welling inside my stomach explodes when I realize that Prometheus has been severing parts of my body.

What have I done to you to deserve such hatred?

I want to shout the question at the ruthless monster, but a growl is the only thing that comes out of my mouth.

KILL! REVENGE! DESTROY!

The voice in my head is shouting so loudly that it covers everything else.

The memories meld together, and I feel a surge of energy gathering in my palm, I soon learn that this is called a 'spell.'

I fire the spell towards Prometheus, who raises his arms and grunts as the vortex of flaming energy tears through his flesh.

A grin creeps on my face. I feel something that I soon identify as 'happiness' as my enemy dies in front of me.

Destroyer.

A name suddenly surges in my mind, and something tells me that this name fits me.

But all traces of happiness vanishes from my body when I realize that Prometheus is still standing.

And he's unscathed.

I don't have time to react when four ethereal constructs appear above Prometheus, and large metallic objects smash against my body. The tremendous speed of the projectiles is enough to break my insides. I feel the cold bite of the ambient air on my now exposed entrails.

The cold doesn't last long since powerful vortexes of energy destroy everything in their path, including my body, on a fundamental level.

I can't see, smell or touch anything. I have been reduced to a small fist-sized ball of flesh, which is protected by the tentacles holding the remaining plates of black armor.

Is this it?

Am I going to die so soon? My existence barely lasted a few minutes-

A sudden surge of power comes from within me, and new spells invade my mind as my body regenerates at a fantastic rate.

I sense another volley of projectiles, but I react first. I raise a barrier made of the seemingly endless power flowing into my core. The shells grind against the barrier, and the explosion shakes the entire room.

But I'm unscathed.

I laugh and send a pike-shaped tentacle directly into the torso of Prometheus, but the bastard somehow predicted it and teleported away thanks to those blue magical constructs.

"We ArE iNvInCiBlE! We ArE eTeRnAl!" Prometheus shouts before firing another volley of projectiles.

"YoU, iNvInCiBlE? DoN't MaKe Me LaUgH!" I reply with a similarly distorted voice as I fire a beam of condensed energy towards the robed figure. The laser destroys everything in its path, but Prometheus still avoids it.

I grit my teeth and glance at my hand. I feel immense satisfaction as a brand new black shell forms over my body. The powerful inscriptions on its surface make me feel like my power has been increased by orders of magnitude.

But something that's slightly concerning is how similar our voices sound.

Or rather, how similar is Prometheus' voice compared to the one in my head. Could we be linked?

I barely notice a volley of smaller projectiles as I take a step towards Prometheus. He may have the answers I need about my existence, so I need to make him talk.

A fireball distracts me, and I notice one of his companions, which is firing continuous spells towards my immortal body.

My memories tell me that striking at his companions would be the best way to break Prometheus' spirit and force him to answer me. The mysterious foreign minds have been helpful so far, so I see no reason to ignore their wisdom.

I raise my hand, which I make bigger with the help of the tentacles. I'll crush this puny creature, and then-

Something blocks me. I hear pained groans, and creaking metal as a large number of metal sticks hit the floor.

"DiE!" Prometheus shouts, and I stifle a chuckle as I slap him into a wall. Now there should be-

A magical construct appears in front of me, and hundreds of beams of energy smash against my face. The blinding light hurt my eyes, and large projectiles hit me in the back. The puny attack doesn't affect me in the slightest, but it tells me that Prometheus is somehow still standing, and willing to fight.

"Do NoT DiSrEsPeCt Me!" I shout. How dare this small critter stand in my way? I am getting stronger by the second, a clear sign that I'm superior.

So why won't he surrender?

Prometheus glares at me, so I send a flurry of tentacles towards him. Getting shredded into small pieces will show this puny creature what happens when he disrespects the Destroyer.

By my grin fades, and a pained expression soon replaces it.

The tentacles that enter his body are supposed to shred him from the inside, but they are cut-off as soon as they reach their objective. My own flesh can't merely be vaporized; it's too strong for that.

So why does it keep happening?

I stop the attack. It's better to stick to spells until I understand why this is happening.

Another beam of energy comes out of my chest, this time it's aimed towards the other companions of Prometheus that were hiding in the back.

I grit my teeth when Prometheus appears in front of the beam. But, even if I didn't accomplish my original objective, I still heavily damaged him. Most of his limbs have been vaporized, so-

The previously destroyed limbs are back in an instant.

I don't even have time to be astonished since Prometheus shouts. His shout, unlike mine, carries no real power. But even then, I feel some unease at the back of my mind as the creature stands up and resume its futile attacks.

"PrOmEtHeUs WiLl NoT fAlL!" he shouts as he teleports at the limit of my barrier.

Then he punches it.

His attack is nowhere near strong enough to damage my barrier. In fact, it makes his shield groan as the barrier surrounding him explodes and regenerate before blowing up again. His protection then suddenly stops working, and his arm explodes.

But that doesn't stop him.

He punches with his other arm while the other is healed in an instant. His hand touches my barrier so arcs of energy attack his limb that keeps exploding and regenerating.

He still doesn't stop.

I can feel it; his progress is very slow. But he's getting through my barrier by somehow deleting some parts of it.

A kick should send him flying, but he's planted in the ground and, even if his ankles just broke, he doesn't move.

I fire a spell in his chest, it leaves a gaping hole that is immediately closed.

I stop for a moment when another construct appears behind his arm that he tries to push through my barrier.

"We ArE iNvInCiBlE!" Prometheus shouts as a single vortex of energy blast his arm apart.

The reason behind his seemingly senseless act becomes evident when the limb grows back, and it's further into my barrier.

I can't believe my eyes.

He's using his attacks to propel his arm.

The unease I started to feel grows, so I focus a few spells into some tentacles before slapping him with all my strength, this should-

A detonation echoes as soon as my attack smashed into his body, the stream of energy produces enough force to keep his body in place despite my attacks.

Each time I attempt to kick him away, another explosion echoes to keep him in place.

What is this creature?

What have I done to make it endure so much for the sake of destroying me?

Even his companions are silently staring at the back of Prometheus as his self-destructive tactic pushes him further into my barrier.

"How dare you?" I shout as I blast him with a constant stream of spells.

But Prometheus keeps making progress no matter what I do.

His insolence has gone on for long enough! Let's see how he'll stop this!

I fire countless beams focused on his body, it should vaporize him in an-

But my beams deviate. His hand slowly reaches for my protective shell, and shivers are coursing through my body when his hand touches me.

My tentacles immediately react and constrict him.

The creature doesn't say anything while a large pool of blood forms on the damaged ground. We are both losing the precious liquid; the mix is so abundant that I cannot tell who is the most significant contributor to the miniature lake.

We keep exchanging blows until Prometheus stops attacking. He moves as if I wasn't even attacking him, and he puts his hand on my armor. Another blue construct appears above his hand, and a pen falls into his open palm.

This weird gesture stuns me for a second, and Prometheus glares at me.

It's the first time that I see his eyes through his visor; it's enough to make me raise an eyebrow. His spirit has already broken, so why does he keep fighting?

But my enemy doesn't wait for me to reach for a conclusion and starts to jam his pen into my armor. I feel the mysterious tool chipping away at my protective shell, but the quantity of removed material is so minuscule that it regenerates behind the pen. Prometheus then suddenly stops his carving and throws the pen into another magical construct before resuming his futile punches.

I slap him away, causing nasty cracking sounds to come from his body. He gets up like it's nothing, and I take my time to observe him. His armor is, weirdly enough, not very damaged. His body also looks like it's in pristine condition, it just doesn't make sense considering the blows we've been exchanging.

One of those sizeable metallic projectiles appear beneath my feet, and the blast blinds me for a brief moment. I then suddenly feel the ground disappearing beneath my feet. It brings a new set of painful memories of a similar situation, so I fire a bunch of tentacles to grab onto the nearest wall.

But I can't grab onto anything to stop my fall.

My eyes soon heal, and I realize that I've been teleported outside the building. Looking at the massive construction sends shivers down my spine. I can smell my blood above me; Prometheus must be there, so I need to get back.

I WoN't LeT hIm Go!

I brace myself as I launch a thick tentacle on the wall, it sticks to the surface at the same time as a magical portal appears above me.

The sudden increase in velocity tears my limb, and I grit my teeth as the bleeding appendage is absorbed back into my body. I ignore my melted skin and fire a bunch of large tentacles all at once, causing a massive headache.

Giving up isn't an option, so I endure and grit my teeth as the limbs stick. My great velocity, which is further increased by another exploding projectile, causes me to slam headfirst into the wall.

Pain coursed through my body as I fly through the massive Tower before appearing on the other side. I repeat the same movement; it seems like Prometheus lost track of me since his shells are no longer pushing me down. I slam into the wall and go through yet another floor.

I repeat the cycle a few times until I finally lose all my extra velocity.

My body hurts everywhere, a few of my bones are visible, and my armor is cracked. I take a deep breath and activate the power flowing inside me, which is still as plentiful as ever. This sudden surge of magic causes another flurry of memory to appear, and they are all related to spells.

I grin as I learn about new spells, which are way stronger than the ones I previously knew. My body regenerates, and I climb the Tower from the outside. I even remember something called 'Blink,' which allows me to link two points in space and to go through that tunnel in an instant.

It requires a bit of time to cast, and I need to not be disturbed but it does its job, and reality starts to distort around me. I feel a slight change in velocity as I suddenly appear above Prometheus with a loud popping noise.

I cover my body in purple flame and raise my fist.

You're going to lose, you BaStArD!