BOOOM!!
BOOOM!!!
The Central Fractured Zone had officially become an all-out battlefield. One must know that in order to fight for so many years like the Two Abyssal Lords had been, they would have to be holding back.
It would be impossible to fight for so long at full strength.
Kaelthyr felt the combined might of the Womb of Refusal and the Hollow Monarch and allowed a smile to cross his face.
The Hollow Monarch swung a frozen greatsword that made no sound, yet Kaelthyrâs ears rang with the screams of billions of souls. The Womb of Refusal struck from behind without a weaponâno, not this time.
Before, the two Lords had clashed over the Egg of Kyron, but never with the intent to kill. They both knew that without one of them, the Lower Dimension would fall into an imbalance like nothing before...
She reached out into the air, grasping at what seemed like nothing. Yet in that instant, Kaelthyr, poised to charge straight at the Monarch, came to a sudden halt.
BOOOOM!!
BOOOOM!!
The frozen greatsword struck true, sending Kaelthyr hurtling into the icy lake.
The surface splintered beneath him like fragile glass as the Hollow Monarchâs blow landed, ripples of force cracking the ice for endless distances.
He plunged through layers of frozen soulsâsilent, shattering figures bursting into pale lightâbefore slamming into the cold, unyielding depths, a spray of blood freezing in the air as it left his lips.
It was worth notingâthese two lords werenât just attacking.
They were the rulers of this place, and their power here was so amplified that Kaelthyr didnât even realize he was changing.
Their very presence touched his soul.
The Hollow Monarch didnât just strike; he wore you down.
Every blow, blocked or not, chipped away at identity, making the target forget who they were. Subtle, but in battle, it could be devastating. Worse still, he stirred his enemiesâ anger until it burned out of control.
Advancing without a sound, his glasslike body mirrored Kaelthyrâs own twisted, rage-filled faceâdistorted and hollow, eyes blazing with fury not entirely his own.
Each step seemed to strip the air itself, unraveling nearby souls, replacing memories with swelling resentment until nothing remained but blind rage.
From behind, the Womb of Refusal pulled at nothing once moreâyet Kaelthyr still felt it.
Unseen tendrils gripped his soul, tugging with a cruel, almost maternal force, trying to drag it into her roiling belly where billions screamed in endless birth.
She fed on everything the Hollow Monarch amplified. Any hatred or resentment thrown her way was swallowed whole and reborn as warped, tormented souls.
"YOU DARE... OPPOSE ME?!" Kaelthyr bellowed as he soared into the skies once more.
To the casual observer, it seemed little had transpired in the past few minutesâjust a handful of exchanged blowsâbut inside, Kaelthyr was fighting for control of his very soul.
His fury ignited without hesitationâthe audacity of these creatures to defy himâand she absorbed it hungrily, the fractures in her form widening as black ichor surged faster, pooling into grotesque new spirits that rose like vengeful wraiths, slashing at him with claws of pure darkness.
Darkness?
Although Kaelthyr wasnât in the right state of mind, darkness felt like home to him, the place that cradled him most. He had never truly known this feeling before, but the Heart of Eternal Night made it so.
SHK!
SHK!
Kaelthyr roared, sword flashing as he cleaved through the wraiths... each strike severing dozens, but more birthed faster, feeding on his growing fury.
The trio battled over the Central Fractured Zone for hours. As Kaelthyr used skills at random and fought with reckless abandon... it was beginning to catch up to him. And the more he fought it wasnât just his mana that was creeping up on him....
But past memories that heâd long buried.
-----
As the Central Fractured Zone rapidly transformed into something unrecognizable, Kaelthyr found himself slipping into memories of a life he longed to leave behind.
Suddenly, he was back on Earth, in the year 1998.
The world of Earth had always been shrouded in mystery.
Long before humans could even comprehend it, there were stories, myths, and tales of the impossible.
From countless gods to endless fantasy creations born from human minds, all of it was somehow considered ânormal.â But how normal could people and a place truly be if their imaginations could conjure things deemed impossible?
And what about the histories that spoke of times when beings beyond the ordinary walked the land?
It was all strange... and in 1998, Kaelthyr experienced that strangeness firsthand.
"System?" Kaelthyr called out as he gazed at the familiar scene before him.
Just the sight of it made his heart race wildly. The vampire who had lived for centuries and taken countless lives now felt fear at facing his darkest memories.
His system stayed silent....
He watched as a younger Kaelthyr, just 31 years old, strolled down the sidewalk. Dressed in a suit and carrying a briefcase, it was clear heâd just finished work.
One could also tell by the sunset...
Up until now, Kaelthyrâs life had been nothing short of perfect. As the top lawyer in the country, he never lacked for anything.
With two kids and a loving wife, he lived happily.
"Bullshit... bullshit!" Kaelthyr muttered under his breath as he watched himself nearing his home. It was a nicely sized two-story house, and though he was wealthy, he preferred to enjoy lifeâs simple pleasuresâlike taking a walk now and then.
Kaelthyr watched as the next moments unfolded, changing his life forever.
Walking into his home, the silence greeted him. He set down his things as usual, nothing out of the ordinary. With his children spending time at his motherâs, there was no rush. All he had to do now was wait for his lovely wiâ
"AH~ YES!"
Both Kaelthyrs froze. The one who had just sat on the couch felt his heart start to race, while the Kaelthyr watching the memories felt his heart shatter all over again.
He slowly rose from the couch and made his way upstairs, each step feeling like a descent into the depths of hell itself. With every step, the sounds grew louder.
"MORE!!!~"
"AHHH MY HUSBAND IS ALWAYS TOO BUSY!"
The sounds of his wifeâs pleasure shattered him to the core. Fueled by rage, he stormed into the room, only to be struck silent and stripped of all reason by what he saw.
SLURP!
PAH!
In the room stood four men and his wife... but the strangest part was that every man looked exactly the same.
Not like quadrupletsâno, they were identical in every detail, from their eyes and hair to the shape of their noses. Each one had horns and a tail. It was clear they were incubi, yet to Kaelthyr, all he could see wasâ
"Dâdevil!"
"A-AHHH! HUSBAND!" Even through the sounds of pleasure his wife was shocked to see him.
Yet she couldnât stop... no she didnât want to stop not at all.
The incubus glanced at Kaelthyr without a word, his lips curling into the cruelest smile as he tormented his wife. Feeling powerless, Kaelthyr rushed to his top drawer and hastily pulled out his gun.
"All of us can die together!" he shouted like a madman.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
He fired eleven shots straight at them, then turned the gun on himself. But the incubusâs voice startled him so badly that he dropped it.
"Shit, look at you causing a damn scene!" He grumbled as he dematerialized the barrier surrounding Kaelthyrâs wife. He then took his shaft from out the woman as his clones disappeared. He then approached the shaking Kaelthyr with a frown.
"Itâs a shame I canât take your head for ruining my fun...." He said but then a cruel smile formed.
"However, donât worry... I will be making this place my new home."
----
That was the day Kaelthyrâs life spiraled into a nightmare. That night, powerless to act, he walked away... feeling betrayed by the woman who stayed silent through it all and haunted by something he couldnât explain...
He moved into a hotel, and for weeks he watched as the Incubus, disguised as a human, played house with his wife. It was a pitiful sight, especially considering that before meeting Kaelthyr, the woman had been nothing and had nothing.
Kaelthyr bought the house, cars, and everything else, yet foolishly put both their names on all of it. As a lawyer, he knew getting anything back would be a fight he couldnât win easily.
[A/N: Ahem... If Iâm wrong about these things just go with the flow. Iâm not too in tuned with marriage politics!] ;)
For years, he lived alone, spending time with his children while funding the life his wife shared with another man. But around 2008, something changedâhe began devouring novels like never before.
Itâs worth noting that, despite everything falling apart, he managed to keep his job and hold onto his well-being.
Mentally, though, he was a wreck and never quite the same. One night, while reading a novel, he came across a description of a creature that sounded eerily familiar.
"An incubus?" he wondered.