*Thud!*
A loud, wet thud echoed in the area as a body-less head fell onto the ground, blasting into a splash of blood before my eyes.
The head, although damaged beyond recognition, rolled in my direction. Touching my feet, it stopped spinning.
My eyes were stuck to its face, as I recognized it to be my world.
***
"Father! Fath—eh?" A young boy, barely the age of 5, came running towards me with a half-eaten sweetened fruit in his small hands.
Dressed in elegant, silken white robes, his long black hair flowed down his back majestically. Bright cerulean eyes that stared sweetly towards me.
To me, the world looked upside down, while in the child's eyes, I was hanging upside down from a nearby tree.
The child came closer towards me, his mouth slightly open. "Father, what are you doing?" He asked curiously.
"Me? I'm training, Wusheng." I replied laughing.
Seeing his face, I had unknowingly become happier.
"Why do you always train?" Wusheng asked further, as he tilted his head slightly.
"To become stronger and protect you!" I jumped off the tree and landed safely on the ground. My body was drenched in sweat as I took off my nearly wet robes.
Setting them aside, I slowly approached Wusheng and gently patted his head.
His smile widened in an instant, and so did mine.
"Then!" He clenched his small hands tightly into fists and said, "I will get stronger and protect Father too!"
***
A distant memory surfaced in my mind. For a moment, I felt as if my soul was being plunged into complete darkness.
My vision, which otherwise could see things beyond human comprehension, was suddenly painted dark.
My senses had become numb, as I was unable to feel even an inch around my skin. From a distance, the faint howls and laughs of the cultivators echoed.
They were enjoying the scene. The scene of me breaking down before my dead son, whom I failed to protect.
For a brief moment, I felt as if my wife was screaming at me from the afterlife. Despite her being gone, I could still hear her loud and clear.
"HOW COULD YOU!??"
"YOU PROMISED ME THAT YOU'LL TAKE CARE OF HIM!!!!"
"DID YOU NOT CHERISH HIM AT ALL???!!! WAS THAT ALL JUST A FACADE!???"
Facing her questions, I stood in complete silence. Quivering in my own presence, I felt my heartbeat rising with my breath.
My heart... It ached...
The only thread that had kept me tied to this world full of hypocrites was lying dead before my eyes. That too, in such a miserable state.
'They... are they laughing?' I asked myself as something warm welled in my eyes.
A fine stream of tears trickled down my face as a wail loud enough to echo throughout the world left my lungs. For the first time in the last decade, I cried so openly before the world.
The loss of my world—I couldn't think of a way to possibly handle that. While their sarcastic laughs only seemed to deepen my pain.
'How could I let this happen?'
'What's the use of my strength and training if... in the end, I failed to save what I cherished the most?'
'Was this the price I paid for not abiding by the rules of this world?'
'Is this what I get for acting weak and not strong?'
I repeatedly asked myself a series of questions. At the same time, the air around me began to gradually shift.
The cultivators, who stood several feet high in the air, ceased their mockery and darted their gazes towards me.
*Swoosh!*
A wave of energy erupted from my body, expanding in all directions in an instant.
*Crackle!*
Under the influence of my rampant energy, the bright light of thunder was born. Lightning appeared all around my body and, in a flash, encompassed all directions.
As it travelled, it obliterated everything in sight. My mind, on the other hand, seemed to be slipping into something deep with no escape.
Personally, I too wanted that to happen. Before long, I lost my reasoning.
And all that was left of me was resentment. Resentment towards myself for not being able to protect my world, and towards those who stood before me for killing my precious.
Amidst my constantly growing pain, I let out heartfelt laughter. It wasn't that I had forgotten about what just happened.
But imagining the view of their annihilation that was about to happen, it brought me unimaginable happiness.
A deep crimson color slipped into my eyes, painting them blood red. My pupil, bright golden since birth, turned red like a bloodshot moon.
While my sclera slowly integrated a deep dark hue.
I stretched my lips far and wide as a stream of blood flowed out of my eyes as tears. Laughing out loud, I released all of my energy at once.
In an instant, the ground flattened. A giant crater was formed at the tip of the mountain. The cultivators who were laughing before suddenly found it hard to breathe under my suppression.
"How can this be!?"
"We, too, are in the Void Amalgamation Realm! How can he overpower us that easily!?"
"I must be dreaming!!!"
They tried to console themselves, but failed miserably at that.
The more I looked at their faces, the more I felt the urge to rip their bodies apart. With heavy, slow, and deliberate steps, I began walking towards them.
Each of my steps formed a new crater, giant cracks spiderwebbing across my feet.
As I walked, my eyes were stuck to the mysterious man who beheaded my son. Ever since, I noticed the drastic change in his expressions.
From arrogant to depressed, I noticed everything. But it was too late.
*Swoosh!*
As countless experts stared at me without blinking, I suddenly disappeared from the ground.
*Squelch!*
A guttural, wet sound reverberated in the air. Everyone's eyes chased the sound, only to be widened in unison.
I stood behind the mysterious man with a wide grin on my face. My hand pierced through his chest as I pulled his heart out into my hand on the other side.
Even in my palms, it was still beating. Desperate to live a little further.
Without an ounce of hesitation, I clenched my hand tight into a fist. The heart burst right into my hand, its blood sprinkling all across my body.
As a few droplets landed on my face, the others realized.
What they had killed wasn't a mere crippled child, but the only thread that kept me tied to my sanity.