Chapter 69 - Anna's Plight

Anna was stuck in a void inside her mind. The everlasting breeze connected to one's psyche touched her skin and moved elegantly. She saw nothing but a void, devoid of color or light. Without light, there is no color and without light, there can be no darkness, only a void. A bottomless pit was her mind, blinded by her aspirations to know the secrets to magic.

She was the one who introduced dark magic to the sect. She knew this well, she knew the demons were her fault and she knew that her sins will perform retribution upon her like a gauntlet. In the void, she did not float, in actuality, she was being pulled down.

Her nȧkėd feet touched what could be described as the ground. She saw a faint splash appear after she landed. It felt like she was stepping on a puddle of water. She then strode through the void, she acted like a child.

She felt peace, something she never again experienced the day she took on the vow to serve the God of Death. The God of Death, a once ethereal and benevolent deity whose vision and mission was corrupted by the temptations of magic. A temptation he passed on to his most loyal follower, Anna The Sorcerer.

In the world of magic, there was the universally accepted 'mage' they were the backbone of the magical community of the continent, led by either an archmage or a religious authority figure. But, there were also outcasts, scorned individuals who have fallen to the ill-will and temptation of magic. These were the sorcerers and witches.

A sorcerer was a person who had taken upon themselves the wishes of the deity they follow and worship to explore and gain ever more magical power. With the help of their masters, they gain immense magical power in only a short amount of time. Although these persons are powerful and can even outmatch those of the powerful archmages, they were restricted by the blood pact they form with the deity.

And thus, if they stray from what was ordered or agreed upon by their deity, they will die. And so, they tend to be more conservative and secretive.

Witches, yes, unlike the sorcerers, witches are only limited to the female denizens. They do not form a blood pact with any deity nor do they serve any master but they have the same will of a sorcerer. They explore the land to learn more about magic, the more they learn, they are further enamored and corrupted by the alluring power.

Eventually, a combined effort of sorcerers and archmages eliminated the witches, massacring them by the thousands before eventually, they went into hiding. Ever since then, mages, sorcerers, and witches have been caught in a silent struggle and so far, the mages are on top.

Anna was one of those sorcerers after she formed a blood pact with the God of Death a hundred years ago when she was on the brink of death, she was never the same. She inherited the will of her deity, a cursed will.

The void in which she now was walking upon, reflected how blind she has been. How, after all these years of searching for the true nature and reason for magic has made her devoid of any self-satisfaction or will of her own. Under the control of a deity who sought to overthrow the very foundations of heaven, she was a lost cause.

If anyone were to know of her true self, they would ask, "Then why did continue serving the blue goddess?". There is a simple answer; because the blue goddess was the youngest and most powerful of the deities. The downside was, she was an idiot.

"Hm," Anna smirked at the thought. She was unwavering in her ways and never did she regret. For she hated death most, and to be offered by death itself to serve him in exchange for what could be called eternal life was something so extraordinary yet appealed her.

"What are you doing?" A hard and low voice echoed across the void.

Anna stopped. She stood still and looked around. An ominous wind blew around her causing her hair to stand and a chill to run down her spine. "What do you think you'd accomplish if you stay here?" The voice asked.

"I know, but what can someone like me do, I am trapped here inside my mind, in other words, I cannot wake up," In other words, Anna, you're in a temporary coma.

The wind blew furiously, the voice was angered.

Anna heard those words and was confused.

"They fear the metal men?"

The voice suddenly laughed. The laugh echoed through the void and Anna was bombarded with a burst of laughter.

"Of course they are! To think that the world they destroyed themselves a couple hundred years ago would suddenly travel here and have their revenge is certainly something to be afraid about,"

"They aren't from our world?" Anna was amazed.

"No, they come from a different world, a different existence similar to ours but only consisted of humans,"

Anna was hearing all of this for the first time, it was a wonder why the god of death only decided to tell her this now. The wind calmed and went back to its original state, it breezed around.

"That's why I told you to gain a position in the council, this is why I told you to spread the teachings of dark magic to the underworld," The voice seemed resolute and satisfied.

"This is part of your plan to overthrow heaven, huh?" Anna realized.

"Of course, but we need to be certain that they can be of use,"

"What do you mean?" Anna asked.

"We need to be sure that they have the power to kill the gods themselves,"

Anna was shocked.

Kill the gods themselves? How could mortal beings even match such a feat! Not even the most powerful of magic users in the past, those who declared themselves above the heavens did not survive the might and power of heaven! So how would a collection of metal men accomplish something like it?

The wind then began to blow again in a fury.

"I know your thoughts, I can see them, do not underestimate the beings that wiped the floor clean with your sorry excuse of a crusade,"

Anna was insulted.

But she decided to keep her cool or else she would get punished or otherwise, killed.

"Death, how will they accomplish such a feat that not even the most powerful of magic users could do?"

The wind stopped in front of her, she felt the figure of death itself touch her right shoulder.

"They possess a power beyond your comprehension, gods are immune to most magic and could only be matched by magic of 7 or 8. These metal men, however, I was there that day when I visited their world. Heaven had been brutal, they had slaughtered billions of souls and these souls flowed through me, it gave me pŀėȧsurė, so much pŀėȧsurė. But, what they did next, that I could not forget,"

Anna then felt Death himself quake in fear.

"The horror, the power they showed. It was not magic, no, they did not need magic. This power, they made it in their own right and required not the blessings of any god nor goddess,"

Anna felt the god's fear also flow through her.

"Tell me, Anna, have you ever wondered that there may be too few deities up and below heaven?"

Anna thought for a while.

"No, were there more gods in the past?"

"Yes, I had brothers, I also had sisters,"

Anna was silent.

"They all died that day,"

At that moment, Anna realized that even deities could die, they were not completely immortal.

"Then, how did you live?"

The wind suddenly shook her and she felt the hand shove her and she was thrown afar.

"IT'S BECAUSE I AM DEATH AND BECAUSE I AM DEATH, I CANNOT DIE,"

The God of Death was angered. But, Anna felt something unusual.

"I WATCHED THEM WITH MY OWN EYES DISAPPEAR IN FRONT OF ME, I FELT THEIR SOULS FLOW THROUGH ME, MY BROTHERS, MY SISTERS, THEY WAVED THEIR GOODBYES WITH THEIR SOULS. THIS IS WHY I WISH TO OVERTHROW HEAVEN ITSELF, THAT IS THE REASON WHY I CONDEMN EVERY SINGLE DEITY THAT STILL LIVES! IF THEY HAD NOT MEDDLED WITH THE AFFAIRS OF THOSE PEOPLE, IF THEY JUST LET THEM BE! I WOULD STILL HAVE MY LOVED ONES WITH ME!"

"THIS IS THE LIGHT, THIS IS THE LIGHT THAT DOES NOT GIVE HOPE! NO! THIS LIGHT IS THE PRELUDE TO THEIR DEATHS,"

The light was immense. Anna felt a sudden pressure envelope her body until she fainted.

-

Strange sounds of wheezing and crumbling caught her attention. She slowly opened her eyes and saw the smoke-choked sky. She has finally awakened. She felt her magic had depleted a large amount and that she could no longer perform another summon. She could not hear clearly but the muffled sounds of popping in the distance and screams she could still hear.

She moved her right hand to touch the back of her head. She lifted her head up despite the pain and touched it with her hand. She then placed her hand near her face and saw it stricken with blood.

She moved her head and looked around. Rubble of houses and stone buildings that once stood surrounded her, accompanied by bodies of those unlucky. There was the body of a child, judging from the size of the boy, he was just a few years old, supposedly 4. His body lacked two of his hands and the entirety of his ċhėst and face had been burned.

"This is cruel," Anna whispered. She felt a bit of remorse but what can she do? The boy's soul has now flowed through the God of Death and brought to the afterlife.

And then, there was an explosion. The ground shook and dust fell on her face. She turned to the side and saw the cloud of dust and out came one of her bodyguards, Fary. She was thrown out of the cloud of dust with immense force. She painstakingly landed on her feet, her body bruised and magic almost depleted. She held her rod of fire tightly, clenching her fists hard around it.

She was grinning at the direction of the smoke, a silhouette of a person could be seen. The silhouette slowly made itself through the smoke and revealed himself. He was a tall man with long hair that went down his forehead and was wearing a black uniform, something she had seen before.

His body structure was refined and what skin that was not under the uniform he wore had cracks that glowed blue. His eyes also glowed blue, despite his appearance as a human, his expressionless face could only mean one thing.

"Metal man!" Fary shouted. She suddenly felt a searing pain in her gut prompting her to back off a few steps.

The man did not reply. He only continued to walk towards her.

"Shit!" Fary tried to lift her rod to block but was too slow. The man suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Sleep," The man said.

A sucker punch to the gut was all it took, Fary vomited blood before collapsing onto the floor.