Chapter 70: Humanity

Slowly I walked toward the chasm of the abyss. Thinking about something I noticed about the system recently. It has been unusually unresponsive. No new quests, no new titles, just the occasional message about defeating bosses and leveling skills up. Even the inspect skill is janky.

It kept refusing to respond to me as I used it here, not on Gwynevere not on a random piece of rubble. No achievements either even though I have been consistently clapping cheeks since I arrived here.

I used such thoughts to distract me as I knew nothing of what is going to happen. I don't know what to do. /I never do./

I am wading through an infinite maze wearing a blindfold. Constantly lost and blind. Nothing makes sense, everything seems blurred. Like I am going through the motions.

Can you blame me?

My parents were taken from me at a young age. My life was cut short and I was forcefully stuffed into a goddam asylum for immortal beef jerky's.

Yet I fought my way out. I beat a demon a dozen times my size with just an iron blade forged with nothing. I have died dozens, hundreds, thousands of times.

My feet carried me through the chasm, the humanities parting before me in what seemed like reverence. My mind felt unusually calm as my journey flashed before my eyes.

As I went closer and closer the pressure felt heavier and heavier. To the point where it started affecting the physical realm. I felt like I was threading through heavy water my surroundings bordering pitch black even with my enhanced eyesight.

I shed my helmet and armor, baring only my body as I stood over the chasm leading to Manus. No hand grabbed me, instead of aggression I only felt intense sorrow and melancholy alongside an emotion I was far too familiar with.

Suffering.

Ignoring the pressure I jumped down the hole. And there in front of me stood Manus himself. His very being warped into a bestial shape resembling an ape a demon and an amalgamation of various beings. Red unblinking eyes adorned his horns. He held a giant staff in his normal arm while his other arm was gigantic and twisted, formed my abyssal tentacles that squirmed and his hand had teeth-like protrusions.

"/ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!/"

His roar of rage shook the very space around us. It shook my soul to its very core but now it all clicked for me.

*Step*

The familiarity I felt between him and myself wasn't just because of the darksoul. It just lined up far too well.

*Step*

His godlike power crashed down on me but my own darksoul prevented me from getting crushed.

*Step*

Even my transformation in apoleptic mode resembled his. Two holders of the two halves of the darksoul.

*Step*

Two souls who were made victims of fate. Taken from their lives to this world and tortured by it. Both were denied their rightful deaths. Two beings of emotion, two holders of the dark soul who were warped by this world. That's why he felt so familiar.

*Step*

Manus' screams stopped.

*Step*

I know his pain too well. And so does he know mine. We are one and the same. He is an image of my future, a monster that had lost itself to this world.

*Step.*

I stood in front of Manus, only a meter between us, I felt the connection between our souls. I felt his emotions and he felt mine, no words were needed. I brought out the pendant and Manus let go of his staff, grabbing it with his only humanlike limb and hugging it to his chest.

After a few moments, he lowered his head to my level as I put my hand on his forehead, his red eyes dimming slightly. I felt his intentions. It felt like we were long-lost siblings as we stood still.

Manus just wanted it to end. The endless torture that was his being, now that he was reunited with his pendant he wanted nothing. His last wish was to be put to rest, and aid me, his new soul brother who helped him fulfill his last wish.

"Thank you, Manus, you can rest now."

"Rghhhh..."

I closed my eyes and put my forehead onto his. The connection between our souls intensifying, it felt like the world around us didn't exist as the frequencies of our souls started to match up. The more it did the more it felt like I was in his body and he was in mine.

But as it went on it felt like less of him was inside me and more of me was inside him. Our souls were slowly connecting.

Normally it would be completely impossible. Manus' ego would have completely smothered mine and he would get complete control over my body. That was the problem with absorbing souls that were still alive. And Manus was far, far stronger to an impossible degree.

But it felt like I was getting control over both bodies instead because Manus wanted it so. He was the main guide over our souls thanks to his immense control and knowledge of the darksoul.

After a while, I felt the connection finally happen and everything went black.

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<Synchronizing...>

Nothing.

And then something bright. A giant flame. For the first time hot and cold. And light. For one that dwelled in the underground in fear of dragons, it was mesmerizing. 3 beings rose up and claimed 3 bright souls that were the manifestation of the disparity, overflowing with power. Giving them powers over the new disparity that had been borne.

But while the others gained souls from the flame he had noticed something. A tiny flame unlike any other, barely bigger than a finger and abysmally weak compared to the others. The one who claimed it was a nobody, easily forgotten and overlooked. No one but a furtive Pygmy.

The 3 lords formed a coalition, wanting to overthrow the dragons. They even allied with one of the dragons, a scaleless one that betrayed his kind in envy. They built up their armies and gathered their power. While they did so he shared shards of his own soul with his descendants, fragments of his soul that was unlike any other. Giving birth to a new race.

Humanity.

A race deemed inferior to lords who were stronger, faster, taller, and more powerful than their human counterparts. Yet they still conscripted humanity into their ranks, so the humans improvised and adapted, creating spells and weapons from the darkness. But Gwyn seeing their immense potential as a threat to his rule and age of the gods, shackled their souls.

Yet even shackled, humanity still managed to become strong, even adapting to their shackles and using them, extremely powerful ringed knights, capable of matching or surpassing even the silver knights of Gwyn. So alongside the gods humanity fought against the ancient or everlasting or whatever the fuck they are called dragons.

Yet they were never lauded. Their efforts and courage lost to history. Instead they "rewarded" with a city of their own, the ringed city. They rewarded my people with yet another shackle. A city built to contain us, the dark soul.

Cowards.

To keep us in check they put their hound on us. A dragon they raised purely to forever keep the power of the darksoul in check. Eternally fighting in the abyss.

Fucker even left his daughter here.

Yet we flourished yet again. We adapted and overcame. An absolute fortress of a city that would last until the end of even time itself.

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Darkness, peace, tranquility.

All of it was shattered. The grave was pried open by the hands of greed and gluttony.

For what? More power.

They, not satisfied with sealing the darksoul of men away, wanted to harness its power for themselves. Hundreds tortured until their vessels broke. They were still not satisfied.

Lulled by the words of the traitorous snake they dug up my grave.

Torture. They ripped off my nails, shattered my arms, flayed my skin, melted my eyes, tore off my lips and teeth, disemboweled my guts, boiled my blood, tortured my children in front of me, tortured me until death and then healed me using their magic, flaunted the power they gained from my torture in front of my eyes. Took everything from me.

The only thing I had left was my pendant. Yet they took that too, the last part of myself, and shattered it in front of me. They broke the last part of me.

Humans are beings of emotion. So what if you pushed that beyond the limit?

Better yet, what if you did that to their proteigner? What if you pushed them over that edge? The most primal and potent form of humanity?

All of my anger, rage, wrath, indignation, fury bursted forth. Turning into an endless abyss that sucked all humanity into it, transforming into something that made nightmares. I wielded the abyss and brought it down on them. Warped their entire kingdom and sunk it into darkness.

Yet that didn't bring my humanity back. What was lost didn't return. My pendant and the last shard of myself was sent across time and space in my rage. No matter what I couldn't find it. I used my magic to scour across the entire world yet it couldn't be found, only a small remnant on a girl but nothing, she didn't have it either.

Yet he/I/you found it. Brought back the last shard of myself back to me/you to remind myself/you of my/your long-lost life.

Thank you.

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My mind felt like it was hit with a mallet the size of the galaxy. Understandable considering it felt like I had an entire history of a race just shoved into my head alongside experiencing the pov of the worst torture imaginable.

I felt it all. I felt everything Manus felt, what made him this. Honestly, I am surprised my sense of self is still here. Speaking of here...

*sigh* this shit again...

"Where the hell am I?"

I was inside a dark void. So dark that I could make out a wall or ceiling, the ground felt like rough glass and had a faint whitish hue to separate it from the pitch-black void. A familiar dark space. I noticed that I was still unarmored but more importantly.

I spotted a figure a 100 meters ahead of me. Same height as me and wearing my armor, or well a version of it, made of pure black that reflected no light that was adorned by white-ish flame-like particles. A monstrous version of myself that looked like a demon with its visor forming the shape of a row of sharp teeth.

So I guess this is happening now.

❕The first 5 chapters of Fate/beyond are out on my p*treon.

❕The volume 1 of this story is completed on my p*treon.

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