The King Flares!

What was an Immortal soul?

It was not simply an undying soul, brimming with life. It was a powerful existence whose entirety was restructured. Emotions being fashioned into rigid and sound consciousness, thoughts materialising into actual parts of the individual.

When one became an Immortal, they had to be cautious of not only their power, but also of themselves. The power of immortality would change the way they thought and felt, which was another reason the Ordinals took it upon themselves to monitor what they considered fragile from the potentially dangerous actions of beings that reached the Immortal stage.

Denva was standing on air as below him was something that hit on his emotions in a way he did not quite appreciate.

To his right was a handsome figure, tall in stature with navy blue hair that reached his shoulder. His face was hazy such that it couldn't be seen but that did not stop Denva from recognising him. He donned a light blue cape that reached his knees, dark pants that accentuated his slim figure and a sword in a dark, curved scabbard could be seen as his side.

"Look at this," this figure said as he pointed down at the giant sphere below where scenes were playing over and over again in different sections. "We've been bound for too long in a cycle that we forced onto ourselves. Perhaps it is time to let go."

Denva frowned at the words of the figure.

"Bullshit! Are you suggesting we turn a new leaf or something Freidris? We are way past that point," the other figure said.

It was a shorter man who donned what looked like modern armour. A slick battle suit with glowing neon tubes and armour plates that covered his entirely except for his head perched on his body. A double-edged sword was sheathed at his side as well. Short navy blue hair could be seen on his head while his face remained hazy as well.

"It's not about turning a new leaf. It's about changing our course since we have a chance at it, Zixin," the figure in the cape said.

Denva did not think he would be able to have this conversation so soon. A conversation with parts of himself.

The man with the cape was his older self, the one who had already built an Empire in the Immortis boundary. Freidris.

The other man in the battle armour was his younger self when he reached his peak before ascending into the Immortis boundary. He went by the name Zixin.

These were integral parts of himself that were brought to life when he became an Immortal. They became living consciousnesses in his mind that would often act to balance out his mind. However, it shouldn't have been possible now that he no longer had an Immortal soul but it was the vestiges of his power conjuring them for possibly a final time.

"Are you two here to give me useful counsel or to debate among yourselves?" Denva asked.

"Look at you. Donning another body so immaculately while lazing around. Is this what it has come to? Are you seriously willing to listen to this fool and lounge around in the Mortis as if you're on a f*cking holiday?!" barked Zixin as he figure blazed with a transparent energy.

"What do you mean lounging around?! Does my effort look like I'm doing nothing to you? I desire nothing more than to ascend and get back at those bastards!" Denva retorted with a frown.

"Is that right?" Freidris said as he strolled down to the sphere below them, stepping on the air as if it was nothing. The figures of Denva and Zixin followed, only stopping when Freidris pointed at a large portion of the sphere which was a chaotic mix of red and black.

"You see that? That is the fine line between you and utter madness. When you arrived here, I used every bit of our remaining strength to confine it to a lesser portion of yourself ever since you met that sweet little girl that you call sister," said Freidris as he pointed to one of the images on the sphere, where a young girl with big cheeks was looking at him with eyes full of joy and hope as she sat on the couch beside him.

This was just earlier when he had comforted Charlie.

"I brought out the goodness in you that you have cultivated ever since you found something worthwhile. The love you have been able to give," said Freidris.

Denva narrowed his eyes as he recalled that his rage which had been prevalent on the night that he descended had been quelled a great deal, him finding it easier to live with the Bakors and integrate into their home.

That helped him a great deal but..

"So you forcefully made me to sleep at night despite the fact that I wronged? You mellowed out my memory of this so that I could eventually forget? Even though I need to avenge my family and my wife?" Denva asked with a low voice that depicted his fury.

"Yes," Freidris said. "I've made you into this mix of the young man Denva and yourself. This could be a new start to a new life where we don't have to be associated with bloodshed. Accept it and move on with a new name and new path. I'm doing this for us. Zixin is fighting my efforts by leading you back onto the same path we've always taken."

"Hahahahaha!" Zixin guffawed at Freidris' words. "Am I hearing you well, Freidris? Perhaps you two have turned into hypocrites after forgetting the rules of the real world. It's only I between the three of us that actually remembers the struggle, the betrayal, the cruel nature of all sentient beings when power is handed to them!"

Zixin shot up to Freidris and held him by his neck while the latter did not even flinch.

"I remember you crawling on the floor in grief while mourning over your wife, hatred brimming at your core. Now you suddenly turn to peace?" Said Zixin with a high pitch.

At that moment a melodious voice echoed through the entire space and the trio turned to look at a portion of the sphere which depicted a beautiful woman with lustrous black hair that flowed all the way to her waist and golden almond-shaped eyes that dazzled as she seemed to look at them. At this point in time, she was naked, her flawless skin and bountiful chest being visible as she seemed to rest upon someone's chest while stroking it with her finger.

All three of the men were stunned for a moment before Zixin broke the silence by looking at Freidris deeply and speaking.

"You're certain you don't want to avenge this woman. In 200 000 years, she's been the only constant good in our life and now you want to forget her memory and live the life of a pathetic mortal instead?!"

Denva's emotions welled up in his mind and his eyes became watery as he saw the image of the woman who began humming softly. The image was from his point of view so he could clearly recall this in his memory.

"We can't," said Freidris softly as he turned his gaze from the woman and onto Denva.

"What?" said Denva.

"We can't do this again," Freidris said.

"And why the hell not?!" asked Zixin in a raging voice that emphasised his displeasure.

"Because neither of you remembers how wrong it felt when I cut down enemies that night!" yelled Freidris. "The sensation in my sword as I tore the flesh of thousands, spilling their blood. Their lives being taken by my hand. It felt unnatural."

Freidris hands trembled as he recalled. His voice sounded as if he was disgusted by his actions.

The sphere shifted again and displayed the memory of two hands that held a divine looking sword which slaughtered mercilessly, beheading men and women who screamed as it sliced through their defences and bodies as if they were nothing!

Most chose to run after seeing how the King of Bloodshed blitzed through them as if they were nothing, but he was relentless.

"How could this be a man who tucked his children to bed with a warm smile? How could I be called a loving husband when I relish in the spilling of blood as if it's in my very nature? Yes, ever since that woman came into our lives, we changed. But... what will that change come to when we rise for revenge again and let that darkness consume us?" Freidris said with a bitter expression. "How can I be worthy of her if I don't retain what she changed me into?"

Denva grimaced at his words. They were true. What was the point of transformation when you would disprove it afterwards by regressing?

"Ha... I see. Those are quite the words to throw around casually," said Zixin before he held onto Denva's head and pushed him forward. "Let's remind this fool what we're fighting for!"

The image of the woman suddenly shifted from her comfortably resting on Freidris' chest to her bring dragged by a few men while a portion of her face was charred black, chunks of coal like flesh dropping to the ground while deep gashes were open on her abdomen and back, visible from the way her clothing was torn.

The men took off her clothes, revealing her once elegant body which was now full of scars and they had their way with her. She was too weak to fight. She had fought her way through an ample amount of warriors but was defeated after they swarmed her.

Now... before Freidris who had been defeated, she was molested and ravaged by multiple men as the look on her face turned pale from the bleeding which none of the men bothered to at least tend to. She was not an Immortal after all.

She could barely feel anything other than pain as her tears scrolled silently down her cheeks.

"N...o.." said Denva in a soft voice as he tried to take his eyes off what he was seeing.

"Yes," said Zixin with a solemn expression.

The image showed the woman turn her head to Freidris and show a weak smile as her eyes could barely stay open.

"No," said Denva as the image burned itself into his memory.

"Yes," said Zixin.

The woman could only move her lips as she sent a message to him.

There was no need for words, as Freidris could tell what she was saying.

"I.... love.... you...."

"NO!"

"Yes."

Freidris at the side watched on as he gnashed his teeth. There was no way he could stop Denva from remembering with clarity these memories while they were in here. He would see them all eventually.

The image shifted again and showed his children being made to kneel and face their father, his daughter sobbing in fright while yelling, "Help me, father!".

His son tried to put up a strong front while he was trembling from fright, trying to adhere to his father's teachings about being a man, fearless even in death.

He only looked at his father as tears rolled from his eyes and in the next moment, both their heads rolled, their faces as blood sprinkled from the severed edges of their heads fuelling something within Freidris that he thought he had lost when he found his beautiful wife.

"NOOOOOOO!"