Arlosse snorted.“Now’s the right time?” he said, but his thoughts were busy with everything else that the young human warrior had said.A great human Emperor?The mention of another authority figure spurred Arlosse’s mind. This place, the entirety of the ten Floors he was supposed to go through, was called Bahathraden, the Compound Demesne of Fallen Authorities. Did it mean that the nature of each Floor would revolve around an authority figure? A King, a Queen, an Emperor, a Lord, a Prince and whatnot?That seemed to be the theme.But this Triayt the Unbecoming was long dead. Did that mean Arlosse didn’t have to interact with the authority in focus within the Floor? Was he, perhaps, meant to grapple with the ideals left behind by Triayt? The story the young warrior had shared so far, was livid with Triayt’s ideals. The bastard had actually informed the demons about this relic, the Last Shard, which he had hidden away to ‘deliver the world’. What did that even mean?But then…‘I’m a d
(A/N: This is the only chapter written in First Person)."Please, I beg of you! Please spare my family! I'll do anything! I'll give you anything!" the man whom I presume is a husband to the quivering woman behind him, and a father to the ghastly pale boy of probably no more than ten years, clutching his arm viciously, screams.I sigh.There is nothing this man can offer me that can change his fate, after all, I am after his and his family's lives.His pleas only make me grip my saber tighter. Let me get this over with.The longer they stare at me like this – with terror and dwindling hope – the more upset I become. But I do not show it with my face.I raise my saber and take a step forward, an action that the man before me responds to by burning away the pathetic, torn visage he has had on all this time, and donning a feral one.A desperate one.He lunges at me while calling for his wife and son to escape, but his attempt, while admirable for a common man, does not amount to much.I
Incarnate ^8001.He didn't know what that meant, but he was more concerned about the bizarre phenomenon happening around him. What was that voice?What was happening to him?What was that light?He wanted to speak, but it seemed his form of existence at present was too abstract. Not abstract enough for him to exist without emotion though.He began to panic as a normal person placed in this situation would.Thankfully, it didn't seem like he was trapped here.The dark surroundings suddenly whirled, and by some identifiable metric, he managed to understand that he was moving. He was falling at a controlled speed.A moment later, everything changed.An odd space covered his entire view.It was what seemed like a small room. All of its dimensions – which assumed a perfect cubical shape together – spotted the same twilight fog hue, with no distinction from anything up, down, left, or right.Bizarre.Really bizarre.There was only silence in this place for a while.An uncomfortable silenc
The ambiance of an expanse registered. Then a slight cool. Something was prompted to react to the environment, which had a coolness to it. Incarnate ^8001 awakened to the taste of dirt, and the ruthless pelting from grains of what felt like sand to his face. He blinked a couple of times and then stood up from where he had been lying down. He felt very stiff, and oddly restrained, as though he had gears that hadn't been oiled in a very long time. Of course, if you asked the new Incarnate what a gear was, he would wear a puzzled face. Perhaps to him, the better analogy would be, that he felt like unwashed armor, full of dirt at the joints. He stretched subconsciously and found his condition to improve only slightly. He was still so stiff. "Why do I feel so...?" he had begun to speak when it finally smote him. "I have a body! I can speak!" He looked frantically at his body and fondled every part of himself that didn't resist. He indeed had a body, but it was unlike the one he ha
Mustering every bit of strength that he could wring from his quickly weakening body, Incarnate ^8001 forced himself to backpedal down the way he had come and tumble down the rise he had just scaled.He fell down, eating a mouthful of sand in the process, and thudded onto the somewhat soft sand floor.He took deep breaths as his hearts thundered in his chest, only relaxing after a full two minutes had passed.'What manner... of heretic object is that?!' he wondered while laying his hand over his chest and feeling the vibrations from his flesh. 'Were those people worshipping it?' he added in thought, his skin tingling dreadfully.The Incarnate had never really been religious in his past life, though not because he didn't have the desire for it his whole life, but because of a lack of time to commit. His conscription into the army, which led him to brave endless trials between the borders of life and death for twenty years, encouraged a more 'natural' pragmatic thought process.What he j
Incarnate ^8001 leapt in potent fright at the call of a boisterous voice whose source was imperceptible!He almost fell into the pit, only managing to stifle his sway through memories of precise body control from his past life!His breath hastened.His hearts' rates hastened.'What... what was that?!' he thought with his cheeks turning light pink."You have gazed upon me before, little bold soul. Follow my shadow and gaze upon me once more."At once, the Incarnate recognized who... what was talking to him.The shadow he just heard mention of, was the shadow casting itself onto the depression from the statue – fuelled by the mysterious light that spawned without an expected source from the sky.For a moment, the Incarnate made to obey, to cast his gaze on the statue once again, but he stopped himself at the last fraction of time.'No, no, no! I can't!' he thought, not even giving himself time to comprehend just how he could understand the language the statue spoke."You will not look a
[Maestus, the King’s Right Hand channels the dwindling remnants of his will into you] [You have received Enchanted Equipment ×1] While willing to see past the glowing tablet, Incarnate ^8001 finally managed to see who had given him short reprieve just now. It was the skeleton of one of the figures adorned in the fading golden armour and cape. It held his arm tight while kneeling on the ground which was quickly smacked by a wave of sand. The skeleton showed no further signs of motion, however. It seemed as dead and lifeless as before, however, as Incarnate ^8001 watched, partially blinded, the armour it wore dissipated into spots of purple light that faded rapidly. Strangely, the armour sets of the other fallen soldiers also vanished. ‘What just happened?! Will... equipment...!’ the Hollow Demonling attempted to rationalise everything that just happened as quickly as he could. ‘Equipment! It says I received equipment!’ “Oh, so he was that persistent! A part of his Far Ji too...”
A few minutes later, when after reining in his initial shock, the Incarnate began to evaluate everything he had skimmed over while fleeing from the... Omen, as he saw identified before him from the tablet. The Fifth Omen of the Amalgam Sand Fiend. That was definitely the statue. Just the name made the Hollow Demonling shiver. ‘Damn this sensitive skin!’ He gathered all he knew while looking at his Enchanted Shield. In the process, he saw the details of his face on its shiny surface. Two eyes with black sclera and icy blue irises stared back at him, as well as a somewhat cute button nose, and dark ideal lips. He had small pointed ears that flexibly twitched at his slightest desire, long-ish locks of navy-blue hair brushing against their tips from his head. The Incarnate’s appearance didn’t spark much of anything within him, however. He had a lot on his mind. “Far Ji. A unique quality? The statue... the Omen, mentioned something about that too. That fallen soldier supposedly had