Unfortunate Event

They felt in their hearts that they were the targets of Rex's animosity, and it was obvious to them why it was so. Each activated their Aetheric Runes which began to glow with a multitude of different colors, triggering their Talents. One had tongues of flames dancing on his skin as his hair blazed upwards, another was covered in a layer of stone as different sized boulders hovered around him ready to be hurled.

Rex also triggered his Archaic Rune in his palm, a spear of light materialized in each hand as he himself let off a soft light. However, there was nothing soft about the look in his eyes.

Rex decided to not say a single word as he rushed towards his former allies turned enemies, there was no use wasting words on the dead. This time he was going all out. It was a completely one-sided massacre, everywhere Rex ran through blood and flesh flew, and the smell of burnt flesh was permeating through the air.

Rex displayed excellent skill with the spear as he pierced and swept through the battlefield unhindered. There were those who realized the hopelessness of the situation and tried to flee back. As long as any one of them made it back and relayed what happened here it would be over for him.

But Rex was aware of what they were scheming as he threw his spear towards the runners. The spear seemed to have a mind of its own, it displayed incredible speed, accuracy, and agility as it pierced through the vitals of all those fleeing.

In the end, it was Rex standing alone on the bloodied battlefield with a few wounds on his body. All were dead. In their final moments, they finally understood why it was him chosen to lead everyone else, his strength was head and shoulders above the rest.

...

Even after being impaled by Rex's spear of light, Emir was very much still aware of his surroundings and what was happening. While he could not open his eyes nor move his body, he could sense what was happening around him using his soul sense.

Although, it should be mentioned that the range and sensitivity of his soul sense was largely diminished. Each time he tried to expand his soul sense he felt pain due to the lack of Soul Essence, and he knew that to survive this ordeal he had to hold on for as long as the Gem needed to complete its preparations.

Therefore, he could not perfectly discern the details of the events around him. Losing a big chunk of his Soul Essence hindered his mental faculties and made him extremely groggy. Every thought came with extreme difficulty and effort. He began to feel uneasy because he sensed someone darting towards him at a high speed, he could not quite make out whom it was but he instinctually felt a threat to his life.

Now that Rex was pretty close to his position, he realized the severity of the situation. He attempted to stand up but his body refused to cooperate. Rex reached his hand out to snatch the Gem from Emir's dead hand. Rex displayed a dangerous glint in his eyes coupled with a mad grin plastered on his face.

However, right before Rex could snatch it the Gem miraculously completed its preparations and the green light it was letting out partially solidified covering the entirety of Emir's body. It was a warm and safe feeling, as if a mother was embracing her child with love and care.

"Finally, its preparations are complete. But what next?." Emir pondered.

Emir felt a suction force originating from the Gem which absorbed his powerless soul from within his body. The Gem then ripped a hole in space and disappeared into the void.

The Gem housing Emir's soul rocketed through the storms of the void at an immense speed. To say that the journey was arduous would be an understatement.

"One catastrophe follows another. Is there an aura of misfortune attached to me or something?"

Emir found himself preferring to battle Rex to this. He could only guess the repercussions on Rex and his group for letting him escape, especially since he was escaping with the godly item still in his possession. A part of him wished he could remain to witness the harsh consequences on those fools.

Traveling through the void is a major risk as anything can happen. The void is a repository of chaos, everything, and nothing can be found here, it exists parallel to the world and around it.

Darkness exists where light does not touch, in the same vein of reasoning, the void exists where the world does not. There have been whispers that legendary and mythical locations exist within the void, but it all sounded like fabrications to those with intelligent minds. How can such rumors exist when no man has ever ventured into the void and made it out to tell the tale?

Emir was sincerely hoping that he would be the exception and make it out alive at the very least, the last thing he wished for was to end up as an addition to the number of fools who ventured into the void only to lose their lives. That would be immensely unfortunate and rather depressing.

However, the situation currently was looking bleak. A few minutes earlier, the glow surrounding the Gem began to gradually dim. It started as a bright green light at the beginning of the journey through the void, but the green light appeared rather dim, and it looked like the Gem was losing its luster.

A few minutes later and the green glow dissipated completely, the Gem was decelerating rapidly, and it began to shake violently which caused some pain to the already fragile wisp of Emir's soul. Emir was not sure if this was supposed to happen, probably not.

And to make matters worse, cracks started forming on the Gem's surface which lost the brilliant glossy sheen it previously had. This didn't seem like it was supposed to happen either.

How unlucky was he? At this point, Emir was almost convinced that the aura of misfortune was real. From the assault of Rex and his goons to losing his physical body, and now his life-saving trump card was also failing him.

"Well... I'm screwed."

Emir was lamenting his predicament. He was hoping the Gem would not break but sadly it was not up to him. His only option was to wait, either for salvation or destruction.

He completely hated and avoided situations like this where he left his fate in the hands of a third party. He always rejected others and only used them when it served for his benefits. Whether live or die, he took his destiny into his own hands alone.

But now he was forced into a circumstance completely against his instincts. All he could do was suppress his screaming instincts as he put his trust in the godly item to get him out of there.

More and more cracks were forming, and the already existing ones were becoming deeper and more pronounced. Emir could sense that the cracks were becoming deeper and were getting dangerously close to where his soul rested.

He instinctually felt that if his soul were to come in direct contact with the void, his soul would be extinguished like a candle's flame in a storm. Despite the imminent danger, Emir was unable to do anything. After all, he was just a soul that was both trapped and protected by the Gem.

It was both a blessing and a curse. While he managed to save himself from the assault of Rex, he ended up in an even more treacherous situation. At least he could do something previously, but at this moment all he could do was wait and pray that the Gem was able to guide him to safety.

"Damn, the Gem is losing its durability. Seems like it will not last long" Emir was worried that it might shatter before completing whatever it was trying to do.

If it were not for the Gem he would have died anyway, so even if he were to die now, he would not feel bitter nor angry. He would simply feel disappointed. Just like before, he was always prepared for his death.

"I guess this is the end for me." He chuckled to himself in disappointment.

At that moment the Gem let out a burst of light as a symbol materialized at the center of the Gem right beside him. Emir remembered it as the previously blurry symbol he saw before but could never make out its specific shape. As soon as it appeared, the symbol immediately moved towards Emir and disappeared.

"Huh? Is that it?"

This was truly unexpected, he thought that something significant would happen but his overall situation remained unchanged. The cracks on the Gem grew deeper and longer until it broke and shattered into tiny pieces.

Emir was now at the mercy of the void. And true to its notorious name, it took no longer than a second for Emir's soul to complete disintegrate and disppear. And not a sound was heard.