Chapter 51

The boy couldn't see the monster squirming before him. It was far too dark for that, but he could certainly hear it. Its bone creaked with each movement it made as it howled in pain upon the floor.

The fall had wounded it. How much was a mystery, but he was the only other thing down here in the abyss. He couldn't just leave it. It would eventually track him down if he gave it time to heal. If only to kill the only human in this hellish place.

So he clutched his spear close to his chest and walked with careful steps towards the pained howls.

The boy grit his teeth, and once he was close enough, he stabbed down with the spear. He felt the sensation of the blade sinking into flesh and experienced some level of surprise.

He'd wounded a monster. The very thing to destroy his town had been dealt a wound by his hand, but that wouldn't be the end of it. The monster didn't die from its wound and thrashed about wildly in the dark.

So the boy stabbed it again, and again, and again. Until it finally lay still upon the cool floor of the abyss.

Then he heard the sounds of more bodies impacting the floor, as monster after monster landed at the bottom of the abyss, and the boy got to work, because there was nothing down there for him besides this simple task.

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Keith sighed, "The rest of the story is simply more monster killing. Some more wounded than others, some that can see perfectly in this darkness and some far outside his capabilities, but he killed them all regardless."

Keith chuckled, "I'd almost be impressed if it wasn't all he'd been doing for centuries."

Michael nodded slightly, "Well, I guess that mysteries solved. Maybe I'll pick him up on my way out if he's not too violent."

"Uh, he seemed pretty violent."

Michael waved his hand, "You get what I mean."

Suddenly Michael stiffened. He could feel the pull of space, like when he experienced the dimensional shifts, but this time it was different. It was shabby and decrepit, like the one back inside that shopping mall, and it had come mere days since the last shift had ended.

Then, as if the world wished to devour him, space distorted around Michael as he was shifted to another world.

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When Michael opened his eyes, he found himself amongst a dozen or so men wearing red cultist uniforms and a group of armed men pointing guns at them. Mangled corpses littered the floor around them, and their blood had pooled into a basin at the center of the room.

Out of his peripheral vision he spotted a creature standing beside him. It was a tall man with red skin. He had 3 eyes on the right side of his face and scars where the eyes were missing on his left. His body was wrapped in an evermoving cloak of flesh and Michael immediately backpedaled away from him.

Michael readied his weapons, "What the hell is going on here?"

All eyes turned towards him. All of them. Not a single person even seemed to acknowledge the tall red man besides Michael, and he soon found out why.

The red man stared at Michael inquisitively before chuckling, "The fools tossed their net into the infinite sea of chaos and pulled out two gods of flesh."

He smiled, "How peculiar."

The red man waved his hand and everyone around Michael collapsed to the ground, dead.

"We have much to discuss. Such as how an apostle of Order came into the possession of and tamed such hateful flesh."

Michael didn't take his eyes off the creature as his mind ran a mile a minute. This thing claimed to be a god, and he hadn't actually been sent here by Order, but instead he'd been summoned by some idiot cultists.

After a moment of deliberation Michael approached the god and met its gaze, "So you've heard of Order then?"

The god grimaced, "Yes, I've heard of the epitome of foolishness, but moving past that I must introduce myself first. I am the Grand Karcist Ion, and I can't seem to peer into your mind to find your name."

Michael glanced around the room to the people the god had killed with nothing but a wave, "...just call me Michael. Why'd you kill the cultists, weren't they yours?"

He scoffed, "Perhaps in a sense, but they were driven into it by another organization. The very one who'd been pointing their weapons at them upon my arrival. I refuse to spare a group who was not only manipulated by others, but didn't greet me with respect upon my arrival."

Michael's eyes cut to the dead bodies, "...sure."

Ion opened his arms in exclamation, "But we simply must talk. You're my kin in your own right. Sit with me by the fire."

Michael hesitated a moment before taking a seat across from the god.

Ion grinned, "You're certainly one of Order's, but there's something different about you. You're not truly one of his, are you?"

Michael shrugged, "You could say that."

"Interesting, did you steal an apostle's body the same way you stole the hateful flesh's?"

"Well, it's a bit more complex than that, but the short answer is yes."

A smile spread across Ion's face, "Excellent, that means you have a choice to make!"

Michael raised an eyebrow, "Oh, and what would that be?"

"Every path in life leads to an end, but not for us. Beings of our nature need to see the strings of fate and twist them to our wills. Order wishes to do so, and so do I."

"What's your offer here exactly?"

"I know you're not here of his will. He'd never send somebody like you to me, which means the ritual is truly what brought you here, and that's fate my child. Order wishes to battle the very fate that let us meet. To grab hold of it and slay every abomination, every monster and anyone who questions his rule. Simply put, he wants to cleanse every universe of its monsters. To bring his own kind of order to life."

...

"That seems like a respectable goal."

"Perhaps, but it's the losing side, and you are one of the few with a legitimate claim to the world the Scarlet King wishes to build."

Michael leaned slightly forwards in his chair, "And who exactly is the Scarlet King? I've heard his name mentioned, but I never got a chance to actually ask what he's all about."

The god's expression took on a more somber tone, "He's the antithesis of Order, similar in strength, but the difference between the two is that the Scarlet King has been around for much, much longer. He's the one who will make the world just."

Michael watched quietly as the god continued to speak and came to a certain conclusion rather quickly. He was going to be trouble.

Michael quickly interrupted the flesh god's speech, "Listen, I already have a god at my side telling me to do evil and he's failed thus far. Why are your offers any different?"

Keith sputtered at Michael's side, "Shut the fuck up Michael! I didn't want him knowing I was here."

Ion scoffed, "I was well aware of the Mask, but let me ask you Michael. What is it you truly want? Is it power, to be free, to see a world bowing to you at the knee? Because I assure you that I can give you all of that."

Michael scratched his beard for a second before sighing.

"Look, Ion. Can I ask you something?"

"If it eases your choice."

"Were you ever human?"

The god paused for a moment, but seemed amused by the question, "Yes, actually. My beginnings were those of a slave. The world beat me down, and I struggled to its peak. Despite blood covering my body I toiled, and despite the hate the world showed me, I prevailed. Thus is the way of the Scarlet King."

"But did you ever truly live while you were human?"

Ion looked towards Michael perplexed, "What do you mean?"

Michael paused for a moment as he solidified his thoughts, "Have you ever laid down on the beach and just watched as the waves wash up on the sand? Have you tasted the thousands upon thousands of different food earth has to offer? Have you ever even had a friend?"

Ion stared towards Michael with confusion plain on his face, "What?"

Michael stood from his seat, "Let me rephrase what I just said. From what I can tell you experienced the worst of the world, and only after becoming what we are did you truly start to live. You view life through hate filled glass, and I simply don't."

After a moment, anger began to enter Ion's expression, "You think my thoughts of life are clouded? You think fate manipulates me?"

The wood armrest of Ion's chair splintered under his grip and Ion's frown deepened, "From what I can tell you've seen the best of the world, but not the worst. You speak to me about ignorance while being ignorant yourself."

Michael stared towards the god for a moment, before beginning to chuckle and then eventually breaking into a deep laugh.

"You think I haven't seen the worst of the world? You dare say that to me?"

Michael's laugh abruptly stopped, "I've seen my friends killed before my eyes by nothing more than a touch, I've seen kids have their organs ripped out and turned into toys and I've had my body broken and torn apart more times than I can count. I've seen the worst of the world. It hit me the second I entered yours."

"So you wish to side with Order? He will never achieve what he's set out for. His task is unending while ours is simple."

"Your god wants the world to die in a sea of blood, while Order wishes to cleanse it of its monsters. From what I can tell Order just wants a better world."

"You do realize that you're a monster, don't you?"

Michael hesitated for a moment before walking up to the fire, "I've… thought about that a lot if I'm being honest, but I've come to a sort of conclusion given time."

He watched as the fire slowly burned away the flesh mixed in amongst the logs, "A monster is something that is hard to describe, but I don't think one's body determines it. There are many humans that I consider to be monsters, and they lack the powers you and I possess. I believe that actions make a man, not their circumstances, and I refuse to make any sort of deal with a god of flesh, even if I've become one myself."

Michael turned to face the god, "I am what I am, but I'm not a monster."