Markil stared.
The floating throne.
The red sky.
The men sitting on it like reality itself owed him rent.
His brain short circuit.
Then.
"Hey!!!!!!!!!"
His voice echoed across the ruined land.
The Man On The Throne smiled.
Slow.Calm.Amused.
As if he had been waiting for that exact shout.
The man stood up from the throne and wrapped his fingers around the sword beside it.
"You are here," Markil said lightly.
Markil blinked.
"What...?"
"What do you mean I am here?," Markil shouted."I KNOW I'M HERE! I'M STANDING RIGHT HERE!"
The men chuckled.
"You are funnier then I imagined."
Markil frowned.
"I have still some concerns."
"Hey!" Markil yelled again. "Can you please... tell me WHERE I AM right now? Before you start doing villain monologues!?"
The man tilted his head and his red eyes intensified.
"You ask questions before understanding your situation."
Markil crossed his arms.
"Yeah! that's kinda my things."
The man laughed.
Then.
He threw the sword.
Not swung.
Not aimed.
THREW
The blade vanished from his hand.
BOOOM!
The ground detonated.
The 50 m radius imploded like the land itself had been punched by God.
Markil 's body moved before his mind screamed.
He twisted. Jumped. Skidded.
The shock wave missed him by hair.
He landed hard, heart pounding.
"What the Fuck!"
The man smiled wider.
"As expected."
Markil snapped his head up.
"EXPECTED!? EXPECTED WHAT!? ME NOT DYING!?"
The sword returned to the man's hand with quick flash of light.
Markil pointed at the crater.
"YOU JUST BOMBED THE GROUND WITH A THROW!"
The men stepped off the throne.
"HEY!" Markil shouted. "ASSHOLE! ARE YOU MAD!?"
Markil wipped sweat from his face.
"BRO I JUST GOT HERE! I DON'T EVEN KNOW THE CONTROLS!"
The man vanished.
Markil instincts screamed.
SLASH!
SLASH!
A crescent of red energy tore through the land.
ONE KILOMETRE.
Trees eraser. Ground split.
Markil dodged barely.
"AR... ARE REALLY KIDDING ME? WAS THAT A PRACTICE SWING, WAS IT TELL ME?"
The man appeared behind him.
"Good reflexes." He complemented.
Markil spun. "STOP TELEPORTING! PICK A SPOT!"
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
Blades of destruction crossed the air.
Markil ran, jumped, rolled.
"HEY! I'M NOT EVEN ARMED!"
Another slash cut past his cheek.
"AND... I'M PRETTY SURE! THIS IS BULLYING!"
The man walked forward calmly, sword getting sparks with the ground.
"You are alive because you move when you shouldn't."
Markil gasped."Yeah well my body has been doing that lately without permission!"
The man raised sword.
"Let's test something."
Markil froze.
"Test what...?"
The man swung his sword.
Not fast.
Not slow.
Absolute.
The slash crossed the reality.
Markil felt it hit.
Pain exploded or it should have.
The slash passed through him.
The world went white.
Markil was thrown towards the Sky with brutal force.
Three kilometres away from the ground.
His body tore through the sky like a broken comet.
He smashed into the ground miles away.
BOOOOOOOM.
Silence.
Then.
Markil coughed.
Blood spilled from his mouth.
"Kha...ha"
He pushed himself up, trambling.
"...Why... Why is this happening to me?"
His chest Burned.
"... That should've killed me," he whispered.
The men's voice echoes from the sky.
"Intresting."
Markil looked up, blood dripping from his chain.
"I swear," he muttered,half laughing, half breaking.
"If this is some kind of cosmic prank, I want refund... Again."
The man hovered above. The red eyes gleaming.
"You're not here by accident,Markil."
Markil's heart skipped.
"...You know my name."
The man smiled.
"Of course I do everyone will do your name in future."
"What? What do you mean....?"
"Just talking to myself." He said.
The wind howled.
Power crushed the land.
Markil felt it.
Not fear.
Not confusion.
But something else.
A truth pressing down on him.
That this meeting was not the beginning of the fight.
The ash drifted through the shattered sky.
Markil was struggling to stand, his legs shaking and blood still dripping from his mouth.
Above him,The man descended slowly.
The sword rested on his shoulder.
Calm.
Casual.
Terrifying.
Markil a laugh through the pain. "You floating... Thrown guy... Want to talk things out Now?"
"Or atleast tell me your name."
The man stopped.
For the first time, his smile faded.
The air heated.
Not like fire.
Like war.
"You should remember this name," the man said,voice low.
"Because my enemies have Burned learning it."
He lifted the sword slightly.
"I am Thoos."
Markil blinked.
"Thoos?"
The men's eyes flared crimson.
"General Thoos."
A pause.
"Slicer of worlds."
The name echoed.
The sky trambled.
Markil's instincts screamed louder than ever before.
"Ah..." Markil muttered weakly. "Yeah. That sounds... Final boss ish."
Thoos stepped forward.
"This blade," he said tapping the sword lightly. "Does not cut flash alone."
The sword ignited.
"This is my first art Cinder Severance."
Thoos swung once.
Markil didn't even see it.
Pain exploded.
His arms were gone.
Not Burned.
Not crushed.
Severed.
Clean.
Perfect.
Blood erupted.
Markil screamed.
"AAAAAAHHHHHH-!!!"
Markil fell to his knees with tears, staring in horror. Markil's both hands were cut off.
"No-No-Nooo!"
Blood dropped down from his shoulders like rain.
Tears ran from his eyes.
Red.
Mixed with blood.
"I can't - I can't...!"
Thoos watched silently.
"No sound," Thoos said calmly. "Not even heat. Cinder Severance cuts the will to resist before it cuts the body."
Markil collapsed forward, Sobbing.
"Why is this happening, Am I going to die again?" Markil thought.
Thoos raised his sword again.
"And my second art..."
The blade Burned brighter.
"Ashen Dominion."
The ground beneath Markil ignited. Markil's body slammed into the ground bones cracking.
Markil coughed violently.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
His vision blurred.
"This art," Thoos continued. "Forces your existence to acknowledge me."
"I'm weak... I'm so weak..." Markil thought.
His thoughts spirald.
"If I had been stronger... If I hadn't run... If I hadn't dependent on luck..."
"I'M AN IDIOT!!!!" Markil screamed.
"Huh! Calling yourself idiot, I'm first time seeing a person like you."
Using his stumps, he dragged himself towards a brokenstone.
"I HAD A SECOND LIFE... AND I STILL DID NOTHING!!"
Markil slammed his head against the stone.
THUD
Blood got out of his forehead.
Again.
THUD
"I-I-I...PROMISED MYSELF!!"
Again.
Blood was absorbed by the ground.
Markil cried openly, voice breaking, shaking.
"If I have to live in this world..." He sobbed, I HAVE TO GET STRONGER!"
Thoos stopped.
He stared at the broken boy before him.
Then smiled.
Not mocking.
Not cruel.
Satisfied.
"Now I see," Thoos said softly.
Markil froze.
"See...What!?" He whispered.
Thoos sheathed his sword.
"You're master..."
Markil's eyes widened.
"Master...?" Markil thought.
Thoos started walking again.
"Now you have to leave this world..."
"Am I going to die again...?" Markil thought.
Tears raining down of Markil's eyes.
"Is this really my end...? I wish it should be..." Markil closed his eyes.
"Wish everything that you can wish... I'll allow it because their nothing that could stop me. If something could stop me it's your own self."
"My own self?" Markil smiled.
"What a joke... I'm not even able to think that I can defeat you."
Suddenly at last Markil remembers his mom.
"Mom...I love you."
(Chapter 13 Finished)