BXBX NOVEL Chapter 118: It is up to you now [1/2]
Silent graveyards known only to the dead.
Vast, desolate plains where not a blade of grass could grow.
A continent frozen in ice, where night reigned forever.
Volcanic lands engulfed in fire, ash, and darkness.
Hot, dry deserts where the sun burned the ground.
Dark lands besieged by cataclysmic storms.
The landscapes were varied and endless. Each evoked a sense of wonder and awe. I had never seen any of them before, yet I was somehow at home with all of them.
As I looked at the landscape, sadness and frustration gripped me as my anger began to rise.
At the center of each scene was a lone man standing atop mountains of corpses.
Whether they were his enemies or my allies, I didn't know. The man's armor and weapons matched each battlefield. Somehow they had the same face and the same commanding presence.
The similarities didn't stop there. Each warrior had empty eyes and bodies devoid of strength. Yet, even though each man looked exhausted, they all got down from the piles of corpses and picked up their weapons.
Even though they were all badly injured, they kept walking.
Some had lost an eye or an entire arm, yet they continued toward their goal.
At that moment, my vision split like a kaleidoscope. I could see each warrior's movement on the fragments while hearing the same masculine voice.
{Thou art a blinking idiot, despite all thine sacrifice none rememberth thee. Time after time thou aimed to try the impossible.}
Each warrior ignored the voice as they pushed forward.
{Unprevailing it haply thou continuest to fight. Not one of thy so-called allies remainth. They all fell, betrayed or deserted thee! }
The voice grew more agitated as it roared. But the lone men continued on to their respective horizons. In the battlefields of ruin and death, they were lost, alone, without enemies or supplies, yet they all pressed on.
{E'en thy beloved kindred art no more! No matter which life, thou hast failed to save any of 'em! Forbear thy resistance! What more could thou even hope to achieve?!}
Probably knowing that anger would not help, the voice changed to that of a seductive woman, her soothing voice captivating the ears.
{Submit to mine authority, surrender and I shall grant the world at thy feet! Accept mine love and none can oppose thee.}
What the hell was this voice? It spoke like someone from another century. If it's words were to be believed, he seems to be the enemy of the warriors. at his word all the warriors froze on the spot.
{Forswear all thy hopes and embrace thy destiny. I shall bring back thy lovers and thou shall be together in Elysium, blissful for all eternity.}
Personally, I could understand that. As long as my loved ones were safe, who cared about the rest of the world?
{Yes, forsake thy weapon and bid upon mine name. Thou art beyond spent and alone for far too long.}
The warriors dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground. It seemed as if they could not go on. In such a dire and hopeless situation, the promises of the voice would be all the more tempting.
{Now bid upon mine name and end thy suffering. Reunite with those thou love and awake from this nightmare.}
But what happened next shook me to my core. All the warriors suddenly looked in my direction. From the kaleidoscope of visions, their eyes peered into my very soul.
Then they all opened their mouths and roared with one voice. Their bellows were wrapped in more souls than even David!
"Away from me, thou vile serpent! I will be the one who will end you! If not now, then in another life. Until the day I cleave your head off your body I will never yield! "
The voice, or snake, then changed back to a male voice and roared like thunder.
{FOOL! THE DEAD CANNOT BE STOPPED! I AM IMMORTAL! }
Despite the arrogance of the voice, the snake almost screamed his words in anger.
{I AM OLDER THAN TIME AND MORE POWERFUL THAN THE COSMOS! HOW COULD THOU EVEN FIGHT ME?}
Behind all the voices' rage, there was another emotion.
{Thou hast one last chance remaining! It shall be the like as all the rest! and thou shall fail!}
It was fear.
"Even so, until my soul breaks. I will try again. Wait for me, serpent! Our dance will continue for one final time!"
{NO! CEASE AT ONCE! AGAIN THOU REPEAT THY BRAINSICK CHOICE!}
Then I witnessed a scene I could not understand. An immeasurable number of souls erupted from each man that began to dissolve the fabric of reality as they shouted.
{REWIND ULTIMATUM: RELIVE!}
Everything the souls touched turned to white light.
Like white ink on a black canvas, the worlds all dissolved into nothingness and vanished without a trace. A silence reminiscent of outer space was all that was left.
Soon even color and shadow vanished from this white world. Then the men all stood up to me and pointed in my direction as they smiled.
"It is up to you now," they whispered at the same time.
Before I could say anything, my vision suddenly disappeared and I felt my body fall.
When I opened my eyes, I was back in the Uber that was taking me to my hotel. Unable to understand, I squirmed in my seat and looked around. Maybe someone was using a mind-controlling {Fate} or something? Otherwise, what I had just seen made no sense.
What the hell is going on? Are these dreams? Illusions? What could they be? I tried to play dumb, but there was one statement that gave me a clue as to the nature of my visions.
Rewind Ultimatum: Relive
[My Lord? Are you all right? You seem shaken, has something happened?]
"..."