CHP68: Helping a Broken Man before Heading to Hell Pt2

Next up, a little meeting and info for Guts.

Hope you enjoy.

Peace-

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The Idea of Evil.

What is this thing or what does it represent.

It is a primal entity residing in the Abyss. It is responsible for dictating the fate of humanity through its application of causality, acting on the species' collective unconscious will.

The unconscious minds of human gave it the reason form and it in turns gives human power to act out freely.

Reasons for pain. Reasons for sadness. Reasons for life. Reasons for death. Reasons why human lives were filled with suffering.

Reasons why their deaths were absurd. Humans wanted reasons for the destiny that kept transcending their knowledge.

And so, that being produce's those, as it is what it has been brought into existence for.

Evil humans, and evil Gods, they go hand in hand with one another.

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[Astral World]

The tide of time waits for no one.

In a pit of ever wailing souls, in a place of darkness.

The Abyss is the home of the Idea of Evil.

It has a vortex of souls, an endless swirl of consciousness. It was a place that feels as if all the evil in the world were gathered there.

Which in a way was true.

But down in the center of the swirl of souls, there floated a fleshy egg-shaped thing.

It looked like a brain or a heart almost, but it had mouths on certain parts of the body.

This thing was the Idea of Evil and the unconscious will of humanity given shape.

But right now, this God or Being was awaiting on its executers to arrive.

There was much to discuss pertaining to a certain individual that arrived and decimated the army of Apostles.

The idea's body throbbed every time it remembered that person gazing at him.

It wasn't afraid, as it didn't feel normal emotions like humans.

Instead, it was curious about this man.

*Shwipppp*

But these thoughts will have to wait as his Guardian Angels of Desire have arrived.

And from the looks of things, they were shaken.

The Idea turned its body a little sideways to look upon them.

The GodHand themselves upon arriving all stood before their God.

The face of a few of them were contorted with an emotion that hasn't affected them since they could remember. 

Femto especially, he remembered seeing the man erase his army and nearly kill his incarnation in the process if it wasn't for Zodd.

*Clentch*

Bawling his right hand into a fist, Femto also remembered that the man was there for Guts of all things.

He paid little to no attention to him!

This made Femto very mad, and even more jealous of Guts.

Then his mind turned towards what if Guts obtain power without his approval, that man he deemed unimportant would he get rise above him.

His eyes constricted sharply.

Femto realized deep down that even if he wouldn't admit it, that if Guts obtained power like him and the GodHand along with the indomitable will he has.

The same will that has driven him to keep going after all Femto has done, then none of them would be able to survive.

That was the truth, no matter how much Femto didn't want to accept it.

It was the same thought going through the other GodHand minds as well. They were all worried very deeply.

Except Slan, she was moist and horny just picturing Guts ramming her through again with his sword.

But the others, they were secretly worried about this new power arriving here.

They could feel their hold over causality weaken as the time went by.

Their control over the world, the power over the people.

"All of you seem shaken."

The childlike voice of the Idea spoke to them.

"Though it is to be expected, even I am shaken."

"But now, we must plan what to do when that being returns with that beast in tow."

The GodHand knew it was speaking of Guts.

Femto knew this was going to be a long and grueling time.

'I will not allow you to escape me, GUTS!"

'No one will, this is my story, and all are beneath me.'

He thought darkly to himself.

Who knows what's instore for this world and for the GodHand.

We can only wait until the time of Guts' return back to the physical plane.

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[Void of Space]

*Shwiinnnnnggg*

"More speed, don't lean all the way into the strike."

The voice of Wrath echoed out, and the sound of metal clashing against each other followed.

"Grahh!"

The beastial yell of Guts boomed out as he pressed on the attack.

He rose up is sword with both of his hands to strike, yes Guts now has both hands again. As he rose it up a black aura lit ablaze on the huge sword, making it look like it set aflame with fire.

Guts reared back and struck with full force at Wrath who was smiling at him.

*Clangggg*

Wrath parried the attack with a simple looking metal stick.

But Guts followed up with a surprising move, he opened his mouth and a red storm of energy shot out at insane speeds.

*Shwaaammpp*

*Boooooooom*

It was like a nuclear boom went off in the area that they were both in, and a huge cloud of smoke blocked the view.

Guts stood at the ready as he knew that attack did nothing to his opponent.

Sure enough he was right, as no sooner did he raise his guard did a simple clap blow all of the smoke away from the area.

*Clappp*

*Thwooosh*

And in the center of the area stood Wrath unharmed and undirtied, he stood with a proud little smile on his face.

"Good, very good."

"You are ready for the next step Guts."

"Let's take a little break and then we will start the next phase." Wrath said as he proudly looked upon his little creation again.

Guts nodded and sat down on the ground, he laid his huge sword on his chest, and he rested his head against it.

Of in the distance not that far from them, Visera in her snake form sat upon a simple table Wrath made earlier.

She watched the spar between the two of them and when she heard her Chosen's words, she couldn't help but agree.

The young man has done well in so little time, but it is to be expected, her chosen was the one training him after all.

After another look, she closed her eyes and began a little slumber.

Wrath gazed over at the former broken man in front of him. He was proud at how far Guts has come and in just only five years with him.

Then Wrath also sat down and began thinking of Vhaalku, he hoped all was alright with him and the family.

He'll have to go and check on the realm soon, but before that he needs to finish this little project and the mission Vhaalku gave him.

Smirking to himself, he began planning his next few steps after he leaves this place.

Over with Guts, we can see him relaxing as he meditated on his newly obtained power.

Guts looked completely different than before, and he had a different aura surrounding him as well.

As you already know, Guts has had his arm regrown.

But there was more to it than this.

Guts opened his eyes, yes both of them.

He has his other eye now, but he opened them and looked over at the man who he probably could call his teacher, savior, many things.

But the one that stood out the most was the man's genuine attitude.

It was something that allowed Guts to somewhat trust him in the beginning and grow to trust him even more now.

Guts remembered the conversation they had back before his transformation.

/Flashback/

"YES!"

Guts bellowed as tears streamed down his face.

Wrath peered at him, then said, "Good then, go on ahead and get up."

"I much to tell you about yourself, your home world, and your enemies."

Guts got up as he wiped his face with his only arm.

Wrath turned and said, "walk with me as I talk."

Nodding Guts began to follow him, but then he remembered his sword.

Spinning back around he was stunned to see it floating behind him.

"It's a really great work of art, but it needs a bit of reforging to really be effective."

Wrath spoke bringing Guts attention back to him, Guts decided to just let sleeping dogs lie and began walking forward following Wrath.

Wrath seeing him keenly looking at him began his little speech.

"Your creation or your home world is governed by an Entity known as the Idea of Evil."

"It's made up of the unconscious thoughts from the human race, all of what their flesh desires."

"Or what lurks behind the rational minds of man."

Wrath spoke as he saw the wheels turning in Guts' head.

"So, this thing is like a combination of all of the evil, hidden desires, and things normal people wouldn't do in fear of concequnces then."

Guts asked with a stern looking his eye.

"You are correct Guts."

"And you know what else, The Godhand or the parasitic demons act as its enforcers." 

"They boast all about allowing people to have the will and desire to do whatever no matter the consequences."

Wrath said as he saw the fire burning brighter and brighter in Guts eye.

Then Wrath said somthing that shocked Guts and made him hate them all even more.

"Just like your enemy Griffith, the others in his little group were all humans, and the only reason they got to be like they are."

"Was well I'm sure you know already; you experienced it first-hand."

Wrath stopped walking and looked at the Guts who was clenching his fists together so hard that the Berserker armor made screeching sounds.

Wrath could see in his soul that the beast of his inner darkness was growing more and more violent trying to consume Guts.

*Papp*

So, he just flicked Guts head, bringing him out of his own mind.

"Ow." Guts yelped out as he looked over at Wrath a little annoyed.

"Don't let your emotions rule you all of the time, you can get killed like that." Wrath spoke to him seriously.

"Hahh."

Guts breathed out slowly and nodded in agreement, he knew Wrath was right.

"Now, would you like to learn about the source of their power," Wrath said looking at him.

'The power that has allowed Griffith to reach a place beyond the current me.' Guts thought to himself.

He looked at Wrath and nodded.

"Whelp, what drives the forces of this creation is the concept and power of Causality."

Confused Guts asked, "Causality, what is that?"

"Well, it is the principle of cause and effect in the world," Wrath said.

"On its own, causality is simply an abstraction and is divorced from destiny/fate. Which is an arbitrarily powerful enforcement of predetermined events in conjunction with the inevitable events predetermined by such an enforcement."

Wrath looked at Guts who had stunned look on his face.

'Right, he isn't in a world where they prioritized academics.' Wrath thought to himself.

Then he said, " In a simpler term Causality is like cause and effect."

And example would be, you kill a man's entire family, the man finds out, tracks you down but he doesn't find you, so he gets mad and starts looking for you."

"But in the process of looking for you, he finds out you also have a family, a son."

"So, he decides to give you the pain he has, and so he kills your son."

Wrath smiled as he spoke seeing it finally click into place in Guts head.

"So, it is like going tit for tat, I slap you and you slap me." Guts asked.

"Correct," Wrath said.

"And the Idea of Evil applies causality in its d of humanity's destiny. Thereby getting power and he lens this power to his underlings, theGodhand."

"They take it and after sacrficing things close to them, they transcend their mortal coil, effectively becoming a demon," Wrath said.

"It is how they know almost everything and everything you seem to do is never enough."

Seeing Guts getting a little down in his spirit, Wrath said, " It may be their power, but it is also their weakness."

Looking up Guts said, " How?"

"Simple, their arrogance in thinking their above it all kept you alive, and from you suffering but never giving in all the way to despair your soul grew to the point of being able to use a slightly weaker form of Causality."

"Example, you prayed, and I answered, because it was your will, your desire for help."

"So, the rules of your very own creation had to obey, and the so-called gods couldn't stop it as it is what they represent."

"They represent the will to be free and do whatever they desire, but they keep people like humans in the dark from realizing that their power comes from the collective minds of you all."

Wrath looked at the dumbfounded face of Guts, he could almost laugh but he didn't.

"So, how do I fight and kill them then," Guts asked Wrath.

"Simple you need to be reborn outside of Griffith's power of Causality, it was the reason why you never could harm him."

"You see, Griffith thinks of you and the world as nothing more than toys in his story, so once he transcended his mortal coil, the power he received cemented that into the rules of the universe."

"Only his group are unaffected by this as they have the same type of power." Wrath spoke.

"What that means is that anyone inside of his story or marked by him, will never be able to beat him."

"You almost escaped him in your younger years, ya know."

Guts widened his eye and practically screamed as he asked, "HOW?!"

"Remember your duel back then, when you wanted to leave, that was the first time you ever beat him."

"You didn't know it at the time, but that greatly devastated Griffith, and you almost escaped his story, but he was captured and you feeling like you owed Casca went to help free him.

But what you didn't know was that he planned it all, his mind was connected to the GodHand, they promised him much and so he or castrated his imprisonment to get you to come back to him."

"And you in love with Casca went, not knowing that was the last thing you should've ever done, and once the opportune moment came where he could get all he ever wanted, he took it."

"The Eclipse." Guts absentmindedly said out loud.

"Exactly." Wrath responded to him.

"FUCK!!!" Guts screamed into the void.

"THAT SON OF A BITCH!!!"

"FUCKKKKKK!"

Guts was seething with anger as the words echoed in his head.

Wrath seeing this decided it was time.

"But now, because of your will, I heard you and I have a way for you to be reborn."

Guts looked over at him and said, " What do I have to do."

Wrath gave a little grin as he said, "What you have all ways done....

"Suffer and Survive."

/Flashback End/

After that, Wrath removed the Berserker Armor from him and melted it into goo.

He said that it wasn't nessecasry for what was next.

And then a red flame lit on his hand, confused Guts was about to ask what that was but Wrath simply threw it on him.

That fire burned Guts body free from the mark, the control of Causality and pretty much everything related to Griffith.

The anger was still there in him, but it was calmer and not raging like before.

When the painful process was over, Guts stood naked with a full form again.

His skin was fresh like a baby, he had his arm back and even his eye.

Plus, he felt even stronger than before and the beast of darkness in him was docile, no longer wanting to take control and kill everything.

Now it was more like an extension of him, Guts could now summon it and use it to attack or defend.

Wrath had joked with him and said that he had his very own Bankai, whatever that was.

But Guts didn't care, he was free, he felt it, and he knew that this was the opportunity for him to be able to erase everything related to those filth in the Astral World.

Up next was his training, and that gave him very great results.

Wrath had showed him some simple and basic sword moves, it was just to give Guts the basics to rely on with just fighting and he was trying to conserve energy.

Then Wrath gave Guts the way to sense a formless very sharp energy.

It was called intent, sword intent to be technical.

The time he tried learning it was difficult, but the results were wonderful.

Guts found out that he had a great disposition for sword intent and that elevated his strength even more than it already was.

But Wrath has him practice that and his control over the beast of darkness before he moved on to anything else.

So that was how he spent the last four years, and now he was ready for the next lesson.

Guts was very eager to know all about the thing Wrath called laws.

If it was anything like the Sword Intent, then it would be really worth it.

So, Guts sat and rested as he waited for when it was time.

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[Falconia, Seven Years after Wrath arrived]

Falconia, the capital of Midland, situated near the foot of the World Spiral Tree atop the land where Wyndham once sat.

The city surfaces as if from thin air following the Great Roar of the Astral World, and it is said to serve as the sole safe haven for humanity in Fantasia. 

Today like any other day, the city which was the place to be was buzzing as large troops of military personal could be seen patrolling the large kingdom.

And unlike how it is usually the air or atmosphere of this place was filled with a stench of darkness and a heavy pressure.

The people of the kingdom felt like there was a weight pressing down upon their necks.

All of this started seven years ago when the king femboy himself Griffith retuned with his army.

He sent the monsters and apostles into the Pandemonium where they live and fight against each other.

Now to the outside world this kingdom would be a paradise for them.

But to the trained eye, they would know that all of this is sham.

This place was a place filled to the brim with demon kind, the humans although opposed at first where all convinced by their king Griffith that the demon kind fights and bleeds for them and the kingdom.

So, that really made the human people just go along with it and fight alongside them without question.

But lately ever since Griffith had returned those seven years ago, the people felt that his vibe was off.

He was stricter in his ruling; he didn't tolerate anyone speaking of other kingdoms and politics.

All in all, this pace of his has caused civil unrest in the humans of falconia, but it was only a small bit of them.

As most of the other humans have given in to their fleshlier desires and became apostles in the king's name.

The humans in the right state of mind felt like they hand no choice in the matter, so all they could do was hope for a chance to escape.

This little hope of theirs was about to come true, but not in the way that they would like.

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Far of in the sky, approximately about hundred miles away from the kingdom of Falconia, a small spatial line formed.

The line split was only about the length of a house door, it then split wide open forming a spatial passage.

A dark armored foot stepped through the passage followed by another foot, revealing the full form of the new and improved Guts himself.

His new black armor and cloak, his huge sword the Dragon Slayer looking even more menacing in the light.

Guts took a moment to breath in the fresh air of his world.

Then he waved his hand and grayish light shot out from it creating a dome above him and the closing crack behind him.

Guts surrounded in his own separate space looked at the shinning kingdom of Falconia.

He couldn't help but be disgusted by what saw.

The horridness of it all made what he was about to do all the more necessary.

Pausing for a moment he thought of what his mentor said to him before he left.

/Flashback/

Guts standing in his newly made armor fastened his sword on his back.

He still can't believe he got this strong, feeling the power coursing through his veins, Guts just couldn't believe it.

"Before you head out, I'd recommend you invite that skull guy to accompany you in your attack."

The voice of Wrath spoke from behind him.

Guts finished with his preparation looked back at him and said, "The Skull Knight."

"Yeah him," Wrath said.

"It's only fair, after all he has been at this longer than you and he has saved you quite a few times."

"So why not team up with him and do what you plan to do together."

Guts hearing the truthfulness of it nodded in agreement, then he looked at Wrath who was picking up that horrifying black snake and said, "What are you going to do now?"

Wrath looked at him and said, "Me?"

"I'm going to have a little chat with the self-proclaimed god of this creation, after that it's all up to you Guts."

Guts looking at the man that has given him so much and gave him a path to free himself couldn't help but be a little emotional.

He could sense that his would be his last time seeing Wrath.

But he swallowed it and said, "I wanted to thank you for all that you have done and given me."

"And I won't let your efforts go to waste, I promise."

Wrath smirked at him and said," Go on ahead and free your home Demigod."

After that, Wrath and the snake on his shoulders teleported out of sight.

Guts breathed deeply and went on his way.

/Flashback End/

After all that Guts cut open a pathway to this spot he was at now.

He still was a little annoyed that Wrath called him Demigod.

Guts didn't like to associate anything with the GodHand.

But the burning feeling of power rushing through his body made him feel like a god of some sort.

*Snort*

Remembering all of that, Guts snorted and decided to send a message to the Skull Knight before he began.

So, with a little movement from his hand, Gut's cut another line in space leading to the area he sensed the Skull Knight.

*Shwipppp*

And he spoke into it saying, "Hey, you want to end this once and for all."

A horse's neigh was all he got in return.

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[Astral World, Abyss]

The Abyss is the deepest level of the Astral World

It is called Hell by some of the beings that inhabit the Astral World.

It is usually a very loud place, filled with the wails of misery from the souls that swarm in this dark place.

But right now, it was as quiet as a mouse.

The reason?

Because of the visitor floating in the air with semi large black snake on his shoulders looking around the place.

Wrath after he left Guts, teleported to the astral world because he had some business to attend to.

Looking around at the number of souls just floating around, Wrath shook his head in disappointment.

 "Hmm, it would see that I was right, there is no heaven anywhere in this creation."

"Not even a safe haven for poor souls who have done nothing wrong or even if they were very good people during their lifetime."

"No wonder those people have such unchecked power, and that thing down there came to be, no place for the souls to go so eventually bad things and people fill up the space."

"Then you get pieces of crap like them."

Wrath mumbled to himself.

"It would seem so."

"So, my chosen, what do you intend to do now that your thoughts were correct."

The snake on the man's shoulder asked him.

Wrath thought to himself for a moment, then he said, "Well Visera, now that I know this, I am first going to talk to entity down there."

Wrath said as he directed her attention to the swirling orange cloud of souls leading down into a deeper hole in the Abyss.

"Then after that, might as well make a place for the poor good people to reside and make them be able to either erase their memories and reincarnate back into the world."

"Or, become much more than just human, an angel if you will."

"An enforcer for good, and protecter of innocence, the one who chose to become angles can reside in heaven."

Visera nodded in agreement thinking it over.

"Hmm, sensible, that would reduce the amount of soul concentration in this place, and it won't allow those people to have such an endless supply of souls and power."

She said to Wrath, then another thought came to mind, so she said, "Well you have angels, then what about God himself."

Wrath pondered a moment to himself.

Then he smiled a little as he said, "Well I was thinking Guts, but he'd probably reject it."

"He has his own path anyway."

"He will become the Judge of the Astral, Physical and Ideal World, if any one of those people overstep their grounds, then he will judge them."

"Hevean included as well, so he will either be their judge or Executioner."

"But for the position for God himself, the opposite of the thing down in the Abyss, maybe that Skull Knight fellow will be up for it."

Wrath shook his head.

"Up to them really, but besides all of that, it is time I have a little conversation with ole buddy down there."

Visera nodded in agreement with Wrath's words.

After that, Wrath began flying into the swirling orange cloud of souls.

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End-