Unsealed and Fragmented

Probing through his memories Sirin felt as if she was at the end of his memories or for him the beginning, but Sirin could clearly see the hallway of memories still expanding forwards, but the path was blocked by chains, crimson and black in color the chains radiated an aura of death and doom. The closer she tread the more those feelings of anguish, madness, despair, insanity, and rage clouded her surroundings. The once white hallway was soon slowly turning murky red and the white doors were starting to be tainted in black.

But a voice echoed through the hallway.

"Thou who approacheth this seal. What is thine purpose? What is thine question? What does thine seek from these memories?" A dark and sore voice spoke as a black humanoid figure started to form.

"I wish to see these memories," Sirin spoke in a demanding tone, but that didn't go well as black hands started to cover her entire body and swallowed her into the floor. In a white empty room a wolf cladded in black armor and with white long hair appeared on the other side of the room and growled as it stared at Sirin like she was prey.

Sirin tried to end it swiftly, but no matter how she attacked, no matter how many times she changed her attack patterns only few would hit the wolf and the wolf had already clawed her back multiple times.

Blood was slowly dripping down her upper body as her back was filled with scratch wounds.

"Why doth thou covet these memories? What is it that thy wish to remember?"

"I wish to see what was his life before this, it makes no sense that there would be another memory before his birth," Sirin said as a lance formed on her hand and soon many more formed around her.

"Playtime is over," She said as she charged after launching all the lances she formed. Although only a few lances connected to his body it created an opportunity for her to plunge her lance on its head.

"Do not regret thine decision," The wolf spoke before fading away.

Although the room was slowly dissolving she didn't return to the hallway, she was in a room and turning around she nearly fell down on her back as she saw heads being hung on the wall. Not just any heads, but the head of Ethelred himself.

The scene soon shifted to a grassfield that had spots of blood scattered around the field. In the middle was Ethelred pointing his sword to another Ethelred?

"Why? Why are you doing this? What is your reason for invading my bubble world?" The Ethelred who was on the ground asked, his entire body was littered with dry blood as his left hand was no longer attached to his body.

"Reason?" The Ethelred that was holding his sword stabbed his other self's knee and crouched down.

"We are creatures that hunt Honkai and protect humanity without reason… You think that I would have a reason for killing my other selves? You overestimate yourself," Without even giving his other self a chance to retort he pulled out his sword and separated his other self's head from his neck.

"Why do you hunt your other selves?" A man wearing a gray robed asked, his face was covered with a gray hood that had a symbol in the middle.

"Because I always wondered how I'd react in the face of death," Ethelred spoke in an amused tone as he took out a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped some of the blood that got on his face.

"You know that sooner or later you will get punished for this right?" The robed man stated matter of factly, but Ethelred didn't seem to care much.

"So what? Worst case scenario is that they'll seal my memories," Ethelred shrugged as he reached out for the decapitated head of his other self.

"You are even more twisted than Gehrman, Ethelred first born of Gehrman the blasphemer,"

"I am flattered," Ethelred chuckled as a portal tore open.

"I am an abomination that shouldn't have existed… I am an existence that was never even allowed to exist, yet here I am. An existence even the creator couldn't explain," Ethelred spat as he entered the portal and arrived in the room Sirin saw the first time.

"I am Ethelred, the abomination of creation, Creation of Gehrman the Blasphemer and he who is destined to destroy the imaginary tree," With low mutters Ethelred spoke those words while opening the back of his other self's head and extracting a purple gem that was embedded on his brain.

"If I am to suffer… Then I shall make everyone else suffer," He spoke void of any emotions and expression. Staring endlessly into the eyes of his other self.

Snapping herself awake, Sirin found herself back in her room, looking down at her lap he still found Ethelred unconscious.

"It seems like I found myself a troublesome one, if I screw up just one bit…" Looking at Ethelred with a worried expression one fact was known to Sirin. "He might actually kill all of us,"

"But how ironic. A destroyer falling in love with something that he would have to destroy," An orb showed the image of Fu Hua and him watching the sun setting, Fu Hua's head resting on his shoulder, her eyes closed as she basked in the remaining sunlight of the day. Ethelred on the other hand had a somber look as he watched the sun slowly disappear.

"Now how should I use this to my advantage?" Sirin thought as she probed with his mind for a little while, also making sure she didn't accidentally trigger the end of the world by doing this. But unknown to her. Deep down in Ethelred's unconscious mind a purple pair of like serpent eyes opened, the two purple globes illuminating amidst the black void.

"How long has it been? …. My memories… Are these mine? …. Is this … Me?" Ethelred's voice echoed inside that void that even Sirin couldn't hear even though she was in her mind.

"I see…. It seems like…. I won't be able to keep my promise Fu Hua…. I …. I don't know if I can…. Protect humanity anymore after knowing all of this ...." Ethelred's voice slowly grew louder as his body started to shake uncontrollably which started Sirin.

"Shit," She thought as she immediately stood up on her bed and pierced his heart with a lance, but that wound didn't stop the shaking, it only made it worse and when she saw his eyes gazed hers she tried to run.

"Stop," A monster-like voice spoke, Sirin stopped, but not because he did anything, it was purely out of fear.

The pressure he had around him was enough for Sirin to realize that she couldn't possibly beat him in this state. She needed to use both her gems to even escape alive.

"I am Ethelred, destined destroyer of the imaginary tree… Who are you? And what did you do to my mind?" The eyes of Ethelred seemed like he was struggling to stay awake as his head was ringing because of all the things Sirin did in his mind.

"I.. I am Sirin, Queen of the void," Sirin tried to answer with confidence, but that deranged, mad, and insane look Ethelred had was the same one that she saw when he coldly killed his other self.

"I see.. I give you this one chance… This one forgiveness as gratitude for unlocking my memories… Sirin… become my apostle… use my power to destroy the tree…" His offer surprised her, no matter how mad, how crazy, how ridiculous his offer was. Deep down her heart she knew that this was her only hope to survive.

"I… I accept," Sirin couldn't let her pride or loyalty to the Honkai kill her. She was in front of the one destined to destroy the imaginary tree. Permanently killing her would be an easy thing for him.

"Good… I await the show you'll give me… As for me…" Snapping his fingers a copy of himself appeared.

"This one will inherit just the memories after I was sealed. I would love to see his expression after I destroy his world along with the one he loves," His dark chuckle resounded inside Sirin's room as if they were inside of a cave. His dark and sadistic laugh echoing throughout the room with no signs of ending.

"I have no use for the beast bloods so that will also be his along with whatever powers he got in this world, but just so that it won't be boring…" A sinister smirk curved up on his face as his finger was lit in black flames, pressing that finger onto the other Ethelred's forehead he chuckled.

"Now I shall watch as you do as you please for now, but disappointing me will result in your immediate termination," Although he was still speaking in a calm and soft tone Sirin didn't feel any better, she felt as if she was suffocating in a wall with the amount of bloodlust that was oozing out of him.

"May I ask one thing?" Sirin asked in a respectful tone as she looked slightly down, not daring to meet him on eye level.

"What is it, my apostle?" He asked in a bored tone.

"What will you do next after destroying the imaginary tree?" Sirin was a bit curious about that since destroying it means destroying all life that is held by the tree.

"Trees have their seeds… I want to plant that seed myself… A world of chaos… A world of fun…. A world of frenzy!!" A loud and proud voice echoed throughout the room as he told her his plans and how crazy and deranged it was to her.

"I.. I see," Sirin ended the conversation afraid of annoying the man in front of him.

"I shall be watching you my dear apostle, but please always remember to not disappoint me," With a smile that sent shivers down her spine he disappeared leaving behind the other Ethelred that was unconscious.

"Ju.. just what did I let loose?" Sirin finally came back to her senses as she fell down on her knees.

Looking at Ethelred she was now trying to figure out a way to make sure whatever she let loose wouldn't end the world, but also ensure her own survival. For now fuck the Honkai. She basically just dug herself a grave, a deep one at that.

"Just what kind of mess did I get myself into," She shuddered as she thought about those lavender purple eyes that gazed at her as if she was nothing.

Deep in the Elysian realm a man could be seen preparing dinner, but when he felt a certain burst of energy a small frown appeared on his face. The previous calm and soft face he had was now a small frown.

"How did he undo the seal?" Gehrman muttered under his breath as he accidentally sliced the entire table.

"Shit… It seems like I need to hasten the progress. If he's out there then it only means that he still wants to destroy the tree and since destroying the tree meant basically ending the entire world he didn't have much time.

Although he was one that had burnt the tree previously he never intended to destroy it, he simply did it out of shit and giggles. But this was a different matter. This was something he created that would destroy the tree with every fiber of its being and a simple order from his creator wouldn't do.

"Is something wrong my dear hunter?" A soft voice asked as he felt a pair of slender arms wrapped around his waist, easing his mind, his brows relaxed as his contracted brown pupils slowly returned to normal.

"Something came up. It seems like I need to hasten the process," He held his hand above her hand for a while before continuing his cooking.

"But it can wait until after dinner," He spoke in a soft tone as he continued his cooking while being hugged the entire process.