The Resurrection

A voice is perplexing K's consciousness in an unknown place, to the point that he can't even tell what it looks like.1

"What the hell you mean by 'King'?" He sighed, again. "I guess your name is King, 'cause I can't see anything you can be king of."

"My apologies. You can call me Pradi."

"You've got a weird name... Anyways, do you know anything about this place?"

"I already told you. This... this place, at the same moment, is everything, anything and nothing...."

"I don't under-"

"...But the only thing that limits what this place could be is you."

"Can I get an explanation?" K sounded like he gave up.

"This place is just a different dimension, where all consciousness lies and you are here because you are... DEAD!"

"Yeah, I know that."

"Really? I thought it would be a shocking reveal. What a pity..."

"Don't change the subject!"

"Alright, alright. Well, then... Do you know what is happening right now in that place after you died?"

"No."

"Do you... want to know?"

"No."

"Eh? Why~?"

"If I am already dead, why would I give a fuck about what is happening after my death?" As K said it, there was a bit of disappointment in his voice.

"And what if... I told you that you can go back?" Pradi's voice suddenly rose and got deeper.

"Why do I feel like I am getting the main character treatment?" He thought for a second. "...But then I guess... I want to go back."

Suddenly, something like a screen appeared behind his back.

He turned back and his eyes were dazzled.

The screen began to flicker, its surface glowing, even if dim, it was too bright in this darkness.

"This is everything that is happening right now in that place."

K was confused as he watched everything happening before him.

Like a movie, the fast-moving series of the moments after Nandak's attack was going on that big screen: Princess's prophecy, Irnis's angered scream, the frantic run of the soldiers toward Taraka, Irnis's fear, Saevus's arrival, and Taraka's powerful roar as he charged toward the king.

He saw everything happening in the eerie silence. Not even the sounds of his breath could be heard, but he could still hear everything.

K was getting more confused as he watched, his thoughts could not keep pace with the revelations unfolding before him.

He saw Taraka, who was holding the sword which felt familiar to him.

"Who is that man with the sword?" he whispered, his whole brain was flooded with questions.

This stranger's presence was weird since he had never seen Taraka in that park.

As he watched, the battle between Taraka and Irnis unfolded with breathtaking intensity.

K was surprised, his confusion momentarily forgotten.

"It's not possible... how can he be so strong?" K thought that out loud.

"It was necessary..." and so did Pradi, but from somewhere unknown.

"Huh?"

"Hm? Nothing."

The fight continues on screen, and K is left stunned and confused by Taraka's power. He continuously looks at the screen, and slowly, the desire to return to the world of the living starts burning within him, but then he remembers something.

"How did he get there in the first place." K was hanging on to that question.

"I was waiting for you to ask that."

"So you know about that?"

"Yes... This person you are watching right now is actually using your body."

As soon as K heard that, he got even more confused. 

"After Nandak pierced your body, you died, but as soon as your soul left, he took over your body. When he came inside your body, he dominated it, and so you ended up here."

"So, does that mean..." K's eyes remained fixed on Taraka's battle, but his mind shifted gears.

Suddenly, he realized something important and started sensing the conflict within him. He went blank, completely neutral like he was trying to process something.

Then suddenly, like a spark, he got an answer. He giggled, because of understanding, of acceptance, and perhaps, of determination. And slowly, his giggle turned to a laugh. The chuckle grew, slowly at first, then with increasing intensity, until it became a big laughter.

K's consciousness felt like he found a way to get things to his side.

"I need a way..." his voice was cracking with emotion "...a way to go back, to change the course of events."

"So you would?" Pradi said, still somewhere unknown.

"Well, even if I go back now, what can I even do?" He giggled desperately.

"You would answer it yourself."

"What do you mean?"

The screen flickered, its glow dimming slightly, like in response to his words. Its images began to distort, like ripples on a pond, and K felt a strange, cold sensation.

He felt his existence being manipulated.

That screen disappeared and dissipated and he saw a giant gate instantly appearing before him.

"What is that?" K started moving towards it.

As K was approaching the gate, its enormous size became even more clear.

The black surface was absorbing the faint light around K, giving it an otherworldly shine. The strange patterns carved into its surface appeared to shift and writhe like they were living tendrils.

The size of the gate was so huge that K had to crane his neck to look up, and even then, he couldn't see the topmost part.

The void was swirling with strange energy and it looked like the gate was emitting it.

Even though he didn't want to, he started to feel like opening it. Without him noticing, he slowly lifted his right hand which was shaking for an unknown reason.

He touched the gate.

As soon as his skin made contact with the gate, K felt an involuntary jolt, as if his body was being pulled towards it. His consciousness began to take the form of his body. 

His eyes, now aglow with that same faint-grey light during his fight against Irnis, seemed to be drawn into the patterns etched into the gate's surface. K's chest, where Nandak had pierced him, began to radiate with a little, soft white glow.

The light intensified as a gentle ping filled it.

A shimmering energy flowed from his wound, tracing a path down his arm and into his hand. Then his left hand started to regenerate, from the shoulder to the finger. First, the bones, then, the muscles, then, the blood vessels and nerves, and then the skin.

He placed his left palm on the door, mimicking his right hand, and began the process of channeling energy through it. The energy continued to flow, pouring into the gate, causing it to shudder and tremble violently.

The gate shook and creaked, its huge frame trembling like it was about to crash down as energy poured in.

Patterns etched into its surface blurred and shifted, rearranging themselves speedily.

The void started vibrating.

••

Taraka was looking at Irnis and her soldiers, their weapons charging with enough energy to level the whole state, yet, the expressions on his face remained unchanged.

His eyes were fixed on something within himself.

His focus was not on the impending attack but on the strange sensations flowing through his body, especially his sword, Nandak. Something was stirring, awakening from deep within, and Taraka's curiosity took over his other emotions.

His senses detected a gradual decline of his powers, a weakening of his soul.

Simultaneously, he became aware of another presence within him, a soul residing in the body he occupied.

He realized it quickly but instead of shock or alarm, he felt an inexpressible fascination. His thoughts were drawn to the body's owner and he forgot about his waning strength.

The gravity of his situation struck Taraka with clarity — he couldn't afford to waste his precious time on these Dramons. The cost of delay would be far greater than merely losing a physical vessel.

With this, his priorities shifted, and he knew he had to act as soon as possible to prevent that from happening.

At that time, the soldiers and Irnis had conjured up a gargantuan orb of iridescent energy. Its surface was frizzling and was writhing. It pulsated an aura that disfigured the surrounding air.

Its blazing core illuminated the desolate landscape and the faces of the onlookers. The ground trembled beneath their feet as the shockwaves emanating from the orb threatened to shatter the earth itself. The ball of that energy was big enough to touch the barrier.

Then, in a burst of release, they unleashed their charged attack directed at Taraka, and its full fury going to take him down.

Taraka first thought that he would try to reduce this effect by using Nandak and then enjoy his play, but time was short and his power was reduced to just one percent of his initial power, so he had to immediately change this strategy.

He raised his sword up, and then, out of nowhere, from tip to base, Nandak was covered in burning energy.

"Let's finish this here."

Taraka swung Nandak with lightning speed, and the blade flashed, releasing a curved wave of fiery red energy. It cut through the air, revealing a shining, blood-red gash that lingered for a split second. The energy's intense heat, made everything look wavy.

Then, with a thunderous boom, the crimson slash tore through and obliterated the huge energy sphere. The blast was so powerful that it created an earthquake in that place.

The sphere's leftovers vanished, consumed by the slash's raw power.

As it shattered that huge energy burst and went for Irnis and his men and ripped through Irnis's soldiers, cutting them down and splitting their bodies in two. But somehow Irnis managed to evade it.

Taraka's attack power became unstoppable, shattering the top of a formidable barrier, and still went on towards the space, so Taraka dissipated it, with silence.

Blood started raining, on the barren ground.

••

The gate's vibrations intensified, its structure shaking with increased ferocity.

With a loud groaning noise, the gate began to open and its massive doors slid apart with an ear-splitting creak.

Starting with a straight line, an intense, piercing, radiant, blinding light burst forth and enveloped K.

K's sight transformed, and his glowing grey eyes burned with a deep, dark red intensity.

Simultaneously, the base of his spine ignited with a brick-red glow. With a slow stride, he floated forward, crossing into the unknown realm beyond the gate.

The blinding light completely covered him, and he vanished into its depths.

••

Taraka's strength was waning, his powers were fading like mist in the sun's rays. He looked at Nandak, which trembled as his powers faded.

He looked at Irnis, the puppet for now.

"Still alive, eh?"

Taraka disappeared and reappeared right in front of Irnis's shocked face. With insane speed, he grabbed her throat, squeezing hard. Irnis's eyes went wide as she struggled to breathe and he started pushing her back.

Her gaze rolled up, begging for mercy.

Taraka's grip got tighter, pushing Irnis backward faster. The barrier loomed closer and its energy buzzed ominously. Irnis stumbled backward, her body bending, as Taraka forced her toward the barrier.

Slowly, some weird, dark, toxic lines snaked out of the barrier's hexagonal panels, and very slowly they increased in number where Irnis was in contact with the barrier. But suddenly, they pierced her skin and went inside her body. The pain was unbearable.

But, it didn't end there.

She jolted. They unleashed a storm of electricity that torched her veins and started making them charred paths. Her eyes popped, bursting from their sockets as her body went into spasms, muscles tearing apart like ripped fabric. The electricity ripped her apart from the inside out, shredding her nervous system and blowing her mind to bits. Fluids poured out of her body, tears evaporating instantly as her skin shriveled, cracked, and turned to charcoal. Her limbs flailed wildly, bones snapping like twigs and fingers dropping like severed limbs.

Irnis's screams were drowned out by unbearable pain, her vocal cords ripped to shreds. The electricity wasn't burning her but instead, was brutally torturing her.

Her eyeballs exploded, splattering gore everywhere with a sickening splat. Fingers dropped, hands disintegrating into lifeless, burned stumps. Minutes ticked by, each second an eternity of endless suffering. Her body shaking and begging for death to take her as fast as possible.

And, after getting burned for so long, Irnis's body dissolved, consumed by the barrier's deadly energy that left her a smoldering, burnt-out shell.

Ashes scattered on the ground.

Nothing was left of her, except only her severed eyeball and a pile of dust as gruesome reminders of her brutal demise.

The air stank of burnt flesh, and burning organs, thick with the stench of death. 

The barrier used its last energy to incinerate Irnis before collapsing and now it is breaking down in pieces, slowly.

Taraka's eyes locked onto Nandak. He knew the course of action he had to take, no matter how daunting it seemed.

With a resolute determination, he steeled himself for the inevitable. 

••

K looked around.

*"What is this?"* he thought, as the place was just like the void but now it was just completely bright.

Looking from the distance, he saw another gate. It was of the same size, but its color was different. A deep, rich red, like maroon but it was vibrant enough to be called red and it was shining in that light.

"What is th-" he started distorting as if being pulled by something.

"I believe we will meet soon... K..." Pradi's voice came out of somewhere but he still could not be seen, "Though that 'soon' isn't coming any sooner."

"Wh-at-t-he-fuc-k-a-re-y-ou-ta-lki-ng-ab-o-ut-?" K was getting pulled like he was going through spaghettification.

His consciousness was being stretched and distorted and then he got dissipated from there.

"Goodbye, at least for now."

••

K opened his eyes, finding himself back in the same park.

"-the fuck just happened?" his voice was deflated as he looked around and saw those people running towards him. 

"I'm... back?"

He saw Nandak in his hand, and chills ran down his spine.

"So, I am back! I am alive now! And... and now I can hold this sword too?" He was having multiple emotions at that time but, he sounded happy and so were those who were running towards him right now.

But as he thought that it was over, Nandak quivered.