Path of Corruption(1)

Ares's savage eyes began to dim as he continued to stare at the spot where Bola once stood.

*Step* *Step*

"Doesn't it feel unreal?" questioned Foere while landing and walking close to the crushed figure of Ares.

"..."

However, Ares completely ignored his presence.

"Hm? Oh, are you worried about all those lives that are being slaughtered right now because of you? You know, those slaves might've found something worth in their enslaved existence but you shattered that dream completely," Foere said with a small chuckle.

"You might see us slavers are evil, but we are just the suppliers who do the job given to us. If there weren't such a high demand for slaves, we wouldn't even exist. But you know... you made us lose quite the money today..." suddenly Foere's eyes turned cold as he grabbed Ares's bloodied hair and began dragging him to the island's shore, and just as he closed in on the destination, Foere began talking.

"You know what's funny? I'm pretty sure your execution was just a couple of weeks away, so whether you chose to escape or not, you would've died either way." Foere stated while standing on the shore.

"The lake surrounding this island is low-tiered meaning that monsters that live here are comparable to either the 1st to the 3rd Layer individuals. So let me ask you, what would happen to an injured boy with bones shattered, muscles torn, and bleeding from untold amounts of stab wounds to be thrown in the middle of it? They would be like fish food begging to be eaten. But someone like you wouldn't beg... no, you will struggle until your last breath just to be consumed by the inevitable." lamented Foere as he began lifting Ares using wind and threw him in the middle of the lake with tremendous speed.

*WHOOSH*

"I used up all my mana for that but the satisfaction far outweighs the minor inconvenience I gain knowing that you suffered a death no man would ever wish to experience. So, nameless slave, may you suffer until your dying breath." asserting those final words, Foere turned back towards the cell house.

****

A bloodied boy was seen floating over the wicked current of water. The longer the boy floated, the less he tried to keep himself alive, no, the more he gave in to the embrace of death.

'This viciousness that grips my heart, tears my soul, wishes for it to be let out. This entity wishes to be brought in front of the world and make others experience the pain it feels. What should I, that entity, do?' Ares thought as he continued to leave a trail of blood from his deep wounds.

'I'm nothing. Absolutely nothing. Let's fall... yes, let's fall...' Soon Ares's struggle completely seized, and let himself descend to the untold.

After an untold time, a foreign yet familiar voice spoke in a questioning tone.

'Is this all there is to it...?'

Opening his eyes calmy, Ares turned his figure to see the figure who was also sinking with him. He was a boy 2 years of age, with short horns, lilac eyes that held ancient mysteries, short messy-raven hair, jet-black reptile tail, and a simple onyx dot on his forehead.

It was Ares.

'Why do I fall...?'

'To give in.'

'Give into?'

'Damnation.'

"Damnation for?"

'Foolishness to not understand others, let alone myself'

'Is such a thing really foolishness?'

'How can it be not?'

'Do you need to understand others?'

'...'

At this, Ares turned silent but eventually, he queried himself.

'Elaborate.'

'Do I need to?'

'How so?'

'Don't I already know?.'

'...'

'That human blamed me for the lives of those slaves.'

'That's right.'

'But did I really care about anything he accursed me of?'

'No.'

'Why?'

'Because I don't belong'

'I am just a thing trying to be a person; to imitate them yet failing so gracefully. I am but a blur that lay within a body: a vessel to hold me. So what should I do?'

Suddenly Ares began laughing maniacally and soon answered.

'Don't I already know?'

'To continue moving with madness akin to a calamity; to incur catharsis that lay within me; to unveil the discrete between the aberration that is me, with the common; to shatter the tyrannies and vice that bring about shackles; to discover preeminence to that which subdues me. That is my Path.' declaring as such, Ares opens his corporeal eyes.

Then he inspected his body which still had 3 swords buried in it, crushed bones that could only flail around, ruptured flesh, and stab wounds leaving a trail of blood through the icy water.

As for the environment, all Ares saw was darkness making it clear that he had been descending for a lengthy period.

'It's a miracle I haven't been eaten but besides that... I need to form the 1st Layer.' saying so Ares began spreading lilac energy to his surroundings.

Every single living being has a unique energy that makes an ID for the cosmos to identify them. The cosmos too has a unique energy and the closer one can make their energy to the cosmos, they will gain parts of its power; the threshold to each gain in power is known as Layers.

Ares knew that gaining Layers would tremendously help him but 2 key risks prevented this. Foremost, just like Ares was able to identify the Layers of the guards and team leaders, they too had the same capabilities. This meant that the moment he broke through, they would immediately feel the difference in strength and without hesitation execute him. Another issue during each breakthrough was that it sent a wave of energy after completion, and with so many guards around, Ares would never have the chance to develop his strength in secret.

Suddenly nebula-like energy began to be forcibly pulled toward Ares's energy to fuse.

*Sizzz*

However, the cosmos's energy seemed to be rejecting the mixture between Ares's and its energy.

Ares was dumbfounded and immediately thought of a bleak idea that sounded psychotic yet an authentic depiction of the current situation.

'Is the cosmos rejecting my existence?'