Acceptance

"Once I pass the Heritage to you, which can only occur when you yourself kill me, I will eventually cease to exist."

He said, shrugging.

"When that happens, you'll receive a message from the Entity… it's the voice that you heard when you first entered The Ark… It'll praise you for felling an enemy stronger than the Great Serpent, granting you the achievement of completing your Trial before sending you back to your world."

Dusk kept smiling even after finishing what he had just said.

So, June would really return alive… but only if he kills Dusk.

He's never killed anyone before, and he didn't want to kill Dusk himself.

Yet, he had to.

What a hard pill to swallow. 

This not only meant that Dusk was doomed with either choice he made, but June would be too. 

If he didn't kill Dusk, he'd be the root cause of the end of the world. 

But, if he were to kill Dusk and take the Heritage, he would have only eleven years to live which ended with him either selecting the next Legacy, or letting himself become a seed of corruption.

So many choices yet not one led to an ending he wanted.

June's head genuinely hurt at this point, throbbing with unease. He brought his hand up and began caressing his scalp in hopes of quelling a bit of the discomfort. 

"Then, after today… you really die, and I have to kill you? But if I don't, you'll die either way, dooming the world in the process…"

June said quietly, looking at Dusk who sat there smiling sadly. 

His expression only further saddened June, he couldn't fathom the emotions coursing through Dusk's mind. 

This wasn't something easy to accept for either of them.

"Ha, no need to feel sad for me June, I've come to terms with it. The hard part was the Critical Aspect of the Heritage, which…"

Suddenly, he stopped himself from speaking.

His gaze lingered on June, then to the fire, and eventually, he let out a heavy sigh.

"...You'll find out soon enough."

With that, he shrugged it off and sat back, staring at the ceiling.

June didn't bother questioning him either.

Rather, he felt the need to stay silent for a bit, allowing Dusk to swallow the emotions of his soon-to-be fate. This also gave June a bit of time to ponder over his fate as well.

A few minutes later, Dusk spoke, laughing as he said:

"I've lived an interesting few years. Made several new friends, cherished my family, and even got a dog. I hate dogs. Yet, I got him… I still don't know why, but I did. I hope he's alright… that damned mischievous bastard."

June silently listened to Dusk who vented to him, his gaze glued to the roof of the Serpent's belly.

"... I even loved, if only for a little. I was aware someone like me shouldn't dare to do such a thing, but I couldn't help it, June. She was amazing, and her soul was beautiful; it was hard not to fall for someone like that. Now, she's likely wondering where I went off to... probably even looking for me, who knows... anyway…"

Dusk cleared his throat, which was beginning to well up with emotion as he looked back over to June who remained seated in silence.

"You know, I still remember the man that passed it on to me… he was brutally beaten and had given up. His eyes told a thousand stories that I couldn't even begin to read. But such a fate was only plausible for a man who defeated not one, or two, but three Tarnished."

June's brows immediately lifted, and his ears perked up as he asked:

"Tarnished… what is a Tarnished, if you don't mind me asking?"

Dusk waited a few seconds, seemingly wondering himself before finally answering.

"Tarnished are the Fallen Gods of The Ark. At least, the ones that are still roaming about. Vexon, Faye, and Hexyz are the only beings who truly died as mere Gods. The rest — which are about three now — became Tarnished. You'd have to be real unlucky to come across one of them, they hold power beyond the grasp of us mortals."

Dusk sounded very stern when speaking, as though he himself had seen their capabilities with his own bare eyes.

If what he said was true, why in the world would a mere mortal challenge a Tarnished and go on to slay not one but three, lessening their number as a result? 

Especially if they had previously been Gods… 

"If that's the case, why did the previous holder of the Heritage challenge such beings? And how exactly did they become Tarnished..?"

Dusk laughed at June's question before answering.

"Well, the first one, simply put, the man was a lunatic. He believed that if he were to defeat all Tarnished, he'd escape the Heritage of The Void and its Strict Binding as well as the Critical Aspect. For some reason, he strongly believed that the Tarnished were connected to the Voidspawn, where the Heritage perhaps originated from."

Dusk adjusted himself and inched over to the fire before messing with the small branches.

As he did, he continued:

"Of course, his beliefs died with him. I wasn't going to waste my last years of living to chase after the Tarnished, no way. I just cherished the time I had and enjoyed life in full."

Certainly, there was nothing wrong with Dusk's choice. 

After all, he was aware of his own capabilities. 

But, what if the previous holder was correct?

Dusk hadn't denied it, and from what it sounded like, he couldn't disprove it.

If so, the man was quite literally fighting to live. No wonder why he managed to slay three Tarnished, all because he yearned to live on, to free himself of the Heritage.

His will was truly strong.

"As for how the Tarnished came to be… even I don't know that. Some believe it was due to the corruption that had spread through the Ark; other murals depict they simply were that way from the beginning."

With that, Dusk finally stood up and stretched his limbs. 

June thought back to Ethope's letter, where he had said he trusted a Tarnished. 

Due to such a decision, he met a horrible ending. So then, how was he swayed into trusting a Tarnished in the first place..? 

Shouldn't he have known what he was getting himself into?

June could only wonder…

Interrupting his inner thoughts, Dusk turned toward June and announced:

"Now, let me explain exactly what will happen to you before you return to your world after felling me."