702. Realm of Darkness

702. Realm of Darkness

Two voices tugged on each half of Deiman.

The left side of his tiny wings and mask were dyed black, and the right in white. Microscopic bristles found on each wing shivered as a newfound strength coursed through his veins.

He looked down at his palms, unable to fathom what was happening to him.

All he knew was that he was granted power, but the battle between the two voices was not yet over. Memories of the past riddled his mind like the barbs of a porcupine.

Gustus similarly did not know what happened to Deiman. But he was not going to let this opening slip by. He moved far faster than his body should have allowed. A devastating punch connected with Deiman’s chest, throwing him backwards like a bullet.

“Half fox, and half avian! An abomination like you is a stain to humankind!” Gustus further pursued Deiman, refusing to give him an inch of breathing space. “Consider yourself lucky that they want you alive! Now clench those fangs, animal!”

A barrage of consecutive strikes pushed Deiman back as he struggled to make sense of his powers. Each strike from Gustus knocked the wind out of him.

“Does this feel familiar to you!? Did you forget your place after Autumn took you under her wing!? Let me disillusion you! Remember what you are!”

Was this what Autumn had to endure for our sake? She... knew that she couldn’t fight him. I don’t understand.

“Does it matter who suffered in your stead, when you have suffered more than them?”

The voice was accompanied by a vision of bloodied chains, syringes with needles thicker than a finger, and mana channels torn from captured Demons. He remembered a prison enshrouded in grey, and humans who operated on Demi-Humans like him with golden instruments.

Phantom pain associated with each gruesome image afflicted him. Shackles that once bound him, and surgical instruments that flayed flaps of skin from his back enraged him.

Finally, Deiman held a candleflame of hatred in his voice.

“I didn’t choose to be like this!”

A black, fragmented halo appeared on his left wrist like a bracelet. Surrounding his reeled fist was a formless, malevolent aura of pure darkness. He locked his feet in place, resisting the heavy blows of Gustus.

Then, before the man knew it, a devastating blow dented his steel breastplate.

“Who are you to tell me what I am!?”

The sound of glass shattering accompanied it. Black cracks formed in the space where Deiman had struck, pieces of reality fizzling away like the walls of a cracked egg. It took Gustus by surprise.

“Magical augmentation? I’ve never seen such a technique before. A Demi-Human, not even a third of my size, dares to go against a human?”

It barely damaged him despite Deiman’s immense power. He brushed it off, cracking his neck as he acknowledged Deiman, but still did not see him as more than a dog. His inner pettiness leaked through a sinister grin.

“How selfish. Autumn nearly gave her life to protect you. Look at how he throws it away!” Gustus and Deiman traded blows, the impact of each of their fists shaking the very air.

“Do you believe that you only have yourself to trust?”

“I STILL HAVE AUTUMN!” Deiman roared, uppercutting Gustus with his right hand.

However, he was not able to conjure the same power of his left. His knuckled bled against Gustus’ rugged helmet.

“You’re a fool. But that is the norm with your kind.”

His arm was caught, and Gustus unleashed a flurry of strikes, beating Deiman down like a living punching bag.

“Autumn had no intention of helping you out of the goodness of her heart! There is no such thing in Grandis! Think for a moment! Remember why she took you by her side! Then you’ll realize that the reason why she chose to partner with you was not out of kindness!”

Deiman remembered what Autumn said.

... She stayed by my side because she also wanted to see Frost.

“Why did you believe that Autumn was by your side?”

The dark wing on his back outgrew the wing of light. Cracks formed along his body. The dark mask threatened to swallow the white as darkness invaded the corners of his eyes. The world twirled as Gustus flipped Deiman over his head with astounding ease, smashing him down into the ground like a sack of bones.

“... Thelma... was the one who saved me in the beginning.” Deiman whispered.

Suddenly, he felt a hand clasp onto his ankles.

“I never... thought of you... as a throw away...” Autumn quivered as she held onto him.

She didn’t try to beg for her life or try to lock Deiman in place for Gustus.

She held onto him protectively.

Small pebbles floated before Deiman’s eyes.

It was all Autumn could muster.

Deiman remembered.

Autumn helped him when they first met. There was no reason to, and yet she drove the bandits away for his sake. Frost did the same thing as well...

“Rather than being caught up in the past, wouldn’t it be better to strive for something you want?”

“Tell me, Deiman, what matters to you the most right now?”

This voice did not tell him what was right or wrong. It did not ask him to condemn anyone or showed him pieces of his past. Rather, it pointed to moments that were recent.

Moments that mattered the most.

“... I want to understand why this duality exists in all of us.” Deiman whispered.

“... I... just always knew... that things would end up this way... if I got myself involved with a Demi-Human... That’s why... I’m sorry... if you thought that I was just using you... I wanted to see Frost...”

“It seems that I didn’t punish you enough Autumn! Humans that mingle with Demi-Humans have endured worse than what you received! If you’re lucky, then maybe you’ll find a good master once the Red Rose brand you as one of their goods!”

“Autumn is a victim of the dualities that exist in Grandis. But you know that she unconditionally saved you when you first met. Thelma did the same. She did not know you had the mana channels.”

“Is your wish to do the same thing?”

It tried to reinforce a part of Deiman that already existed. A single ember of a dying light caught in the monsoon of his own shadows.

Gustus cleaved through the lances, each slash carving the earth. One slash was all he needed to put Deiman down for good, and with Autumn so close to him, they’d both be killed in the process.

He fired multiple lances, leaving his staff to float in place as he reached down to carry a whimpering Autumn. Deiman did not know how to fight, let alone know how to use his other powers – if he had any at all.

But that was perhaps why the ticking voice tried to lure him onto her side.

“Autumn has always looked at you strangely. Can you truly trust her?”

“I will be your only guide to the truth.”

“Everything can be how you wish.”

Unfortunately for Elysia, Autumn confessed as Deiman considered it.

“... I just... wanted to be allowed to touch your tail. My leers... must have scared you. You’re a Shell... so you’re not going to know what I was thinking...”

“Even the voice was trying to bring me astray. Why? Why would it try to lead me to hate you...?”

Deiman suddenly realized Elysia’s intentions.

She wanted him to embrace his repressed hatred. That way, he would be able to weather the storm outside of his Shell no matter the cost. It would have ruined Deiman as he knew it. All of the experiences, connections, and people he met would disappear the moment he embraced those desires.

He was a vessel...

... a Shell waiting for an Ego to occupy it.