2025-02-06 19:18:55
KaizaAs Alex moved down into darkness, the world above him going away, it was his one final thought before he disappeared; would he come out of it alive, or had he finally sealed his ticket to forevermore?
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Bargain Infernal Episode 155: Fragments of Fate—Part XXVII
Alex's body fell down the abyss, a swing of shadows and burning heat that felt like everything had torn it in two. The chasm roared like a storm, for it tightened its tendrils around him, pulling him deeper. His mind screamed for freedom, for an escape from this torture, but his limbs seemed heavy, as if the air itself was pressing him down. It felt like everything the whole drama of life and struggle had ended for a moment.His senses are overwhelmed by this endless void; his vision was blurred by flashing lights and darkness. He can no longer feel which way was up or down, and the oppressive weight of the rift threatens to drown him in its presence. But in the darkness, something whispered. A faint voice, familiar yet distant, called to him.Voice: (soft, ethereal) "Alex.The voice pierced through the noise, faint but clear. It was like a lifeline in a sea of madness, a thread pulling him from the depths of the rift. He reached out, instinctively, grasping for anything that might pu
Bargain Infernal Episode 156: Shards of Destiny Part XXVIII
The battlefield before Alex was unlike any he had ever faced. Creatures from the rift monstrous, twisted abominations swarmed toward him. Their eyes glowed bright with malice. They moved in such horror as could only be described as a grotesque harmony, a mindless tide of destruction. Yet, through their savage howls, Alex felt something else a force tugging at him, drawing upon his very soul.But they were more than just brute beasts. The rift had begotten them and, like its parent, fueled them with a darkness that corrupted everything around it. Alex sensed this connection to them, almost a kinship. It's like the dark is calling for him, like he should simply surrender and stop fighting, as if he needs to let himself in to his own power within him. Alex was not quite ready for it. Not now.Alex: (gnashing his teeth, his voice steady) "I'm not like them. I will never become one of them.His voice was strong, but the words felt fragile against the sheer weight of the rift's pull. He cou
Bargain Infernal Episode 157: Shards of Destiny Part XXIX
The air was heavy with tension as Alex's flames fought against the pull of the rift, a last-ditch effort to hold onto his humanity, to resist the crushing force that sought to drag him into its depths. The earth beneath him trembled with the weight of the dark power that had awakened, but his determination burned brighter than any hellfire.The figure towered above him, radiating with this energy that made his eyes glow with malevolent intent. A being of pure darkness, he seemed to move in a different shape every moment, as though not entirely restricted by the confines of reality. Alex could feel the rift drawing closer to him, its energy an asphyxiating grip. He didn't have much time left.Alex: (gripping his teeth, tortured) "I am not letting you take me like this.".The figure didn't say a word. It didn't have to. With one motion, it raised its hand, and the ground beneath Alex cracked open wider. The chasm below deepened, its inky blackness calling to him, threatening to consume
Bargain Infernal Episode 158: Shards of Destiny Part XXX
The rift roared once more, its furious energy flooding the battlefield like a tide. Alex and Selene stood side by side, hearts pounding, bodies tense with anticipation. The figure before them, a being of pure darkness and malice, loomed like an unstoppable force. The rift's power swirled, threatening to consume them both, but there was a glimmer of defiance in their eyes a spark that refused to die.The figure's eyes glowed like burning embers, its malevolent grin growing wider as it took a step forward. The air grew heavy with tension, and Alex felt the weight of its power, a crushing force that seemed to permeate every inch of the air. It was a power beyond anything he had ever felt—a power that seemed to bend reality itself.Figure: (low, sneering) "You think you can stop me? You are no better than ants under my heel."Its voice swept across, touched with a dark authority. Alex shivered as it spoke. He set his teeth, standing firm. Hellfire burst and roared inside him, a brilliant
Bargain Infernal Episode 159: Shards of Destiny Part XXXI
The shadows shook. The pressure in the air thickened, like the very atmosphere was holding its breath, waiting for something terrible to happen. Alex's chest tightened with each passing second as the figure before him swayed in and out of focus, an ever-shifting shape, its presence like a storm on the horizon, pulling at the threads of reality.His body was heavy, encased in an oppressive silence that gnawed at his mind. The rift—he could feel it—was still there, its endless pull, its hunger. The figure before him had seemed to vanish into the darkness, but it was still there, watching, waiting.Alex: (panting, voice hoarse) "What is this.?"His words barely cut through the suffocating void. No answer came. The only sound was the faint crackle of distant energy, the whisper of something ancient and terrible that lurked just beyond his comprehension.The crack in the earth's pulse grew stronger, and the following growl shook through the earth itself to the very heart of the land all ar
Bargain Infernal Episode 160: Shards of Destiny Part XXXII
The world cracked open like fragile glass, shattering in every direction. Time seemed to stretch, twist, and warp, as if the very fabric of reality was no longer able to hold itself together. Hellfire raged in every direction, filling the void with its relentless fury, but even it seemed small in the face of what was coming.Alex breathed in ragged gasps, his chest thudding like a drum in his ribcage, but his mind seemed to hover on the outside, distant, apart. The fire crackled all around him, but something was pulling at him, darker than the flames themselves. The earth gave way beneath him, and all stopped.He felt light as air, floating in space between worlds. Far away, the deer was thumping away with its unbridled energy. It is a black hole: everything in the way of such a creature must be sucked inside. Its monstrous and gigantic shape loomed up at the periphery of his vision, the dark eyes glistening with cruel intent. It was coming.Alex: (desperate, hoarse) "Selene! Selene!"
Bargain Infernal Episode 161: Shards of Destiny Part XXXIII
The world tore apart before Alex's eyes, splitting, fracturing, collapsing into itself like a dying star. Darkness consumed everything; then, with it came the feeling of weightlessness, being pulled toward something ancient, something beyond understanding.Alex's breathing quickened in the air thickened with such raw, unbreathable energy. Whispering, this cacophony of disjunctions came now like loud screams, biting at his consciousness, tugging him in some direction or the other. What were words any longer when they were perceptions, impressions, and memories that somehow belonged to an alien life that was not him? They went tugging into him, shards of something he could not determine, something inhuman.Alex: (stiffening mouth, forcing control) "Am not" he muttered"not like you…"But the doppelganger, that distorted image of himself, only laughed a noise that pounded in Alex's bones, uncomfortably unnatural.Doppelganger: (coyly, caressing) "Oh, but you're like me, Alex. Don't you fe
Bargain Infernal Episode 162: Shards of Destiny Part XXXIV
The world seemed to pause in time. It battled within each nook of Alex's brain, and with the reaching-out hand that radiated so intensely that a beacon of light went out in that oppressive dark encasing him, the feeling that clung from the tear hung like an umbilical from his very soul. Monsters and the ghosts of lost and great, black-robed silhouette figures awaited his answer.In this short moment of creepy silence, Alex's heart was racing with him standing on the edge of something much greater than himself. The ancient voice once again resonated in his ears.Figure: (serene, commanding) "Choose wisely, Alex Mercer. The light will offer you redemption but at a cost. The darkness will offer you power but at a cost. Which path will you walk?"Those words struck him like a physical blow. A choice. Redemption or power. Light or darkness. His mind was already in chaos; he had been so for what felt like an eternity, with the constant barrage of torment that had hounded him since his fall
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Episode 200: The Day of Redemption
The earth had been rent asunder. The heavens had cracked open. But now, in the aftermath of the battle, there was a stillness. A calm that seemed almost unnatural, as though the world itself had been holding its breath, waiting for this moment.Helena stood alone at the edge of the ruins, her hand pressed to the cool stone of what had once been a great wall, now reduced to rubble. Her fingers traced the cracks, as if seeking some sign that the world she once knew was still there, beneath the destruction. She closed her eyes, taking a slow, deep breath, and the weight of everything they had lost pressed down on her chest.She thought of the faces they had seen fall, the countless souls who had given their lives to this war. Friends. Strangers. Heroes. She thought of the world that had been swallowed by darkness, of the innocence that had been torn away. The battle had taken everything. And yet…A whisper of wind brushed her cheek, and for the first time in what felt like forever, she s
Episode 199: Final Descent
The fight had been on for hours, but Alex and Helena were not done. They were drained of their last drops of energy; every punch was a swat of finishing blows. The sky above was split apart by the crash of calamity, the earth below their feet cracked and blood-soaked, the battleground. They were a relentless force of abyssal creatures, clawing their way up from the very depths of hell itself. And above them, the dark creature they had been battling the twisted, monstrous being of molten rock and shadow—did not back down.Alex's eyes were wild with fury, his entire being charged with the hellfire he had summoned. Every breath burned like the underworld's flames. His body had become a vessel of destruction, and he was fighting this battle for what seemed like a lifetime. It was not just the creature in front of him but the darkness within himself, the abyssal power that threatened to consume him with every passing moment.Helena fought at his side, her blade slicing through dark creatur
Episode 198: The Horizon
The light had changed the battle scene, returning what was lost. The earth cracks had closed, and the lifeless land was now dotted with the first green shoots. Yet with all this peace, Alex couldn't shake the unease growing in his chest. The light was pure, potent, and alive, and it had pushed the void back. However, with its presence came something darker, something ancient, which had awakened from its slumber. The battle was far from over.As the warmth of the sphere ebbed away, the air shifted around them. The air, once still and inert, had become dense and heavy; it seemed almost as though it were waiting to break into the daylight, out of the shadows. There was a humming, pulsating vibration through the ground that lay in the pit of Alex's stomach. Like a heartbeat almost, but life's not this: that was deeper, much, much older.Alex: (on point, grave) "It's coming now."Helena: (eyes scanning the horizon) “What is it? The darkness… It’s not gone, is it?”Alex: (tightening his gri
Episode 197: The Spark of Hope
The light ahead flickered like a dying ember, casting a pale glow over the shattered landscape. It was faint, but there was a small, stubborn defiance against the darkness that had nearly consumed the world. Alex and Helena moved toward it, their footsteps echoing in the hollow silence left behind by the chaos.The air was still, heavy with the remnants of the abyss. Each breath felt weighted, as though even the atmosphere had been scarred by what had passed. The ground beneath them was cracked and barren, but there was something about the way the light shone through the haze that made Alex believe just for a moment that there was still something worth saving.Helena: (quietly, observing) "It feels like, like everything is waiting. Like the world is holding its breath."Alex: (gravelly, focused) "It’s not over yet. Not by a long shot."They pressed on, the journey heavy with the weight of the battle they had just fought. The path was uncertain, littered with debris, but Alex’s eyes we
Episode 196: Aftermath
The explosion had stopped. The sound was deafeningly silent. Helena's ground crumbled as the remnants of the abyss dissipated, but it wasn't a relief. There was no victory. Just emptiness that engulfed her.Helena: (whispering frantically) "Alex. Alex, where are you?"She scanned the devastation around her, her heart pounding in her chest. The rift was gone, its tendrils retracting into the ground like the remnants of some nightmarish creature. The air was still thick with the lingering residue of darkness, and yet, there was no sign of Alex.The sky above them, once twisted with shadow, was now eerily calm, the storm having passed. But this calm felt wrong like the world was holding its breath, waiting for something more.Helena: (shaking, speaking to herself) "He has to be here. He can’t be. gone."She ran through the rubble, calling out his name, but only the wind answered. Her hand tightened around the hilt of her blade, the weight of the weapon a hollow comfort in her grasp. She
Episode 195: The Final Hour
The air stank of smoke and rot, heavy with an acrid flavor. What used to be a city lay strewn before Alex and Helena as if it were a graveyard: buildings shattered, broken, rising like tombstones in the deserted land, all skeletal and speaking of the desperate fight they went through. Now, the world felt colder—as if the air had been hollowed out.Helena: (soft, grim) "How much longer can this go on, Alex?"Alex: (determined) "As long as it takes. The abyss isn’t done with us yet. And we won’t stop until it is."They had just finished dealing with the last of the creature's tendrils. The rift had closed, but there was no peace. The storm had calmed, but the tension was palpable, as if the calm before the storm held something far worse yet to come. It was clear now: the abyss had a plan. It wasn’t merely an enemy to be defeated. It was a force, a presence, an ancient evil that had only begun to reveal its true form.Helena: (with a sigh) "This place. It's like nothing is real anymore.
Episode 194: Descent Into Madness
The world had become a battleground. The city lay in ruins behind them, a monument to the chaos that had overtaken their lives. Alex and Helena, standing amidst the devastation, could feel the weight of what they had just accomplished. The creature, an embodiment of the abyss, was gone, but its shadow still lingered in the air. The ground was cracked, the sky darkened, and the very fabric of reality seemed to pulse in unnatural rhythms.Helena: (low, somber) "What are we even fighting for now? This place. It's a graveyard."Alex: (gritting his teeth) "We're fighting for the world that's left. We don't stop until it's all gone, until it's finished."Alex's voice was heavy with the weight of their struggle, hours of fighting, endless battles, and the constant, gnawing pressure of the abyss clawing at his mind. They had come so far, yet there was still so much to do. The world, what was left of it, was a fractured reflection of its former self. And Alex knew that, deep down, the abyss wa
Episode 193: The Reaper’s Reckoning
The remnants of the city loomed behind them, twisted steel and concrete jutting out of the ground like skeletal remains. The air still smelled of charred flesh, burnt remnants of a world that had nearly been consumed. Alex and Helena stood in the shadow of the destruction, their faces grim as they stared into the horizon, where the first signs of the coming storm appeared dark clouds swirling ominously in the distance.Alex: (gritting his teeth) “I thought we had more time. I thought we could end this.”Helena: (softly) “We can still try. But whatever we’re facing, it’s not just demons or the abyss anymore. We’re up against something older, something more dangerous than we can even comprehend.”The ground beneath them trembled ever so slightly, sending a shiver down Alex’s spine. He could feel it the pull of the abyss, as if it had sensed their uncertainty. The darkness was alive. It responded to their fears, feeding on it, growing stronger.Alex glanced at Helena, her sword still gri
Episode 192: The Storm of Violence
The air was heavy with the acrid scent of burnt flesh and smoke, and hellfire still hung faintly in the air. Alex and Helena stood together amidst the ruins of what had once been a city. The battle was over, but its aftermath clung to every corner: destruction, chaos, and the silence that follows the storm of violence.Their breaths were heavy, the adrenaline of the fight still coursing through their veins. Helena wiped the blood from her face, her sword still in hand, its edge now darkened with the stain of the battle. Alex could feel the weight of the abyssal energy within him, like a constant hum in the back of his mind, a reminder that the war was far from over.He looked over at Helena. Her eyes, which had been bright with determination, were dulled now with fatigue. She was standing yet still fighting, but Alex could see the cost of the fight, endless as it was. To both of them.Alex: (softly) "We did it… but it's not over, is it?"Helena: (shaking her head) "No. It's only just
