Drax gasped back to life, his eyes flung open, and he adjusted to the environment almost immediately, and his body became tense. He's back at the place he never thought he'd visit again. The place that harbors his dread memories. A place of great anguish. A tortured place for unlucky beings and a paradise for the devil. A beautiful place for the Titans and a tormented place for both pure-blood gods and demigods. The underworld.Beside him, Garry and Kusandra Dracaena gasped to live, too, and their bodies tensed as the aura of the underworld overwhelmed them."The underworld," Garry commented, his eyes looking around like a robot. "It's the underworld, indeed."Drax ignored him and stood up, his armor making a clang as it met with the scabbard of the blade that was tied to his waist. He stretched a hand out to the two of them, and as they grabbed it, he yanked them up.As they let go of his hand, Drax examined the atmosphere. Nothing had changed. The earth, a dark, gloomy, and scary sk
“No!” Rey hollered. He shrieked with all his might. He tried to focus on everything he had as the atmosphere started to change. Furthermore, he calmed his mind, closed his eyes, and forced himself to think that it was just an illusion, a fragment of memories that had been plucked somewhere to torment him. An illusion that was crafted into images of those he loved.“This is not real,” he assured himself, his eyes still closed, and he hoped with all his might that the memories would vanish once he opened his eyes. “It's just another illusion. I shouldn't allow unreal images to hurt me.”Rey opened his eyes, and he wasn't surprised to see that it was still the same. Nothing changed. Of course, he should have known better. It will never change. He was struck here in the underworld, sentenced to eternal torture because of the souls he had killed.Did I deserve it? Rey asked himself. No, I'm not cruel; they all deserve it. Starting from the military man he killed at the beginning of his qu
Theme: Crisis in another realmThe six pillars of the underworld appeared in front of Rey Reed Smith again, a dirty smile plastered on their faces, and they looked eager to begin another round of torture on Rey.Weakly, he raised his gaze to meet them, and he could feel his brain starting to imagine how excruciating the next round of pain would be. He didn't need to peer into their thoughts before he knew they had a lot of things under their sleeves that they would be unfolding soon.Rey looked deep down for his power, for the strength of his hellhound, for the divine power that was granted to him by Lord Rey, but he was empty. He's as weak as an ordinary human. He's useless. He couldn't feel his beast power, nor the one that belongs to Lord Rey.Eventually, Rey started blaming himself. He had been so eager to save Arianna that he ignored Lord Rey's warning against the barrier. Only if he had to step back and find another way to break the barrier. He regrets acting in haste. Perhaps,
Theme: Crisis in another realmAfter what seems like an eternity, the scene finally changed, and Rey found himself standing in the fountain again; this time, it's alive again. It's floating, lively, and enticing once more.Rey looked around, and he knew that he was free. He's no longer chained to pillars, and he looked awesome, energized, and robust. It was like they had just finished refreshing his energy. He didn't feel any urge to eat or thirst. He's strong.This isn't real, Rey thought, shaking his head to push away the imaginary images. All this is an illusion. They are playing with my mind. None of this is real."You're still battling with what's real and what's not," came the voice of the pillars. "What you just saw are your memories. They are what happened to you in your previous life, how you were killed, and how you came into existence in this realm."As soon as they finished saying this, the six pillars came together at once and started merging to form a single being. A tal
Drax scanned as men stood on sentry at the wall of Tartarus, guiding it and trying to stop him from penetrating. At least, that's what they thought they were doing. Those that eluded earlier had given them warning about the incoming intruders, and they took formation instantly. From Drax's philosophy, he knew this wasn't a formation that was formed in a rush; they were prepared already.When he saw them increasing in number, he started questioning why he had to let the three men survive to give a report. Well, the answer is that he wanted to make a graduate entrance, but he wasn't expecting this. Nevertheless, he didn't doubt his skills. In fact, he couldn't wait to shed their blood if they failed to acknowledge him and made an example of them.He led the way, Kusandra, and Garry by his right, while Chiron walked to his left. "Is this how it always goes?" He asked, and they knew he was referring to Chiron."It began after the last war," He said. "But they will bow at your feet, and th
Trusting that Drax can take care of himself, Charon, Garry and Kusandra focus their attention on the incoming armies with Charon leading the way.He stared at Ezra Miller as he led the assault, and wriggled his head to show his frustration; "This isn't going to end well," he said, forcing Garry and Kusandra to give him a weird look."What's that supposed to mean?" Garry asked."I had an encounter with the man leading the assault a few years ago. I fought him with a pack of Minotaur, and we wounded him because he's greatly outnumbered. He thought I was cheating. Since then, he had been looking for a perfect rematch." Charon explained, puffing out a little smoke from his mouth as the wind of the underworld struck his face. "He believes he was touched by the gods, and there's no one like him in this realm."Garry smiled, "With my speed, we had an advantage over him." He raised his hand to display his power, and Garry gasped as nothing occurred. "What's wrong?""Your power isn't working?
Rey Reed Smith died again and again—at least of illusion and imagination. Even though he can't be killed again, the pain of getting struck, hit, and wounded is real. There's no possibility of him doing this, but the pain is unbearable, excruciating, and unexplainable.The illusion warrior struck again for the tenth time with more speed, strength, and agility. The attack was so blurry that Rey barely evaded it. The warrior raised his blade high above his head and swung it at Rey's head. Instead of meeting the blade midway, he bent low, the force of it whistling past his head. The latter brought his blade back as easily as wielding a chopping knife, swirling it as it came for Rey's neck. He rolled out of the way.The illusion leaped after him, aiming to thrust into his chest. Rey used his blade to parry the attack sideways, followed by a kick at the illusion's chest. The latter easily blocked his kick and swapped Rey's last feet away from the earth. With a loud thud, he collided with th
"I'm sorry," Rey Reed apologized when he saw the blood lord's angry expression."It's too late for sorry," the blood lord said, discarding his plea. He clapped his hand and said, "Follow me."Rey Reed Smith wanted to argue. He wants to tell the man that he wants him to change the enemies he's fighting or, better yet, change the pattern he's using. However, the man got it wrong. He could see that there was no point to it. There's nothing he can do or say that will change the man's mind.Reluctantly, he followed the blood lord to a spot where the Forest opened out into a roughly circular clearing bordered by Hawthorne, brambles, and wild roses with stinging nettles. In the middle of it, a blade sat balanced across a tree stump.No, it's not just any blade. Rey recognized the blade instantly. It's the one he used to fight the first illusion that was created by the Blood Lord from flame."How?" Rey asked, confused. He could remember sheathing the blade to the scabbard at his waist, and no