Othello screamed, his voice raw and desperate. "Where are you taking me?!"
Lioraen didn't answer. He drew his sword and, in a single, brutal motion, cut through the Divine being's hands.
Silence fell for a heartbeat. Then came the roar— "Aaarrrggghhh! Urgh!"
Othello writhed in pain.
He tried to crawl away, clawing at the stone, but Lioraen's grip on his hair was iron. He dragged him across the broken shrine, each shriek echoing off the walls, his struggles futile against Lioraen's wrath.
The Divine being's eye widened when he realised that Lioraen was pulling him into the forest.
*This child has lost it! Is he under control? I need to end this*
Othello's eyes glowed faintly as he tried to seize Lioraen's mind, reaching out with a wave of psychic force meant to scatter his thoughts.
But he met something stronger, a dark vast water. It had no start or stop.
*Where am I?*
Othello felt a presence ripple across the waters. A presence far older and colder than he had expected.
**You are such a bold one.**
He snapped back to reality at the sound of a voice that tore through his mind. The attempt backfired violently. Othello coughed, blood trickling from his mouth, his body shaking from the recoil.
"What were you trying to do?!" Lioraen smirked.
Before Othello could react, Lioraen swung his head like a battering ram, smashing Othello's skull against a nearby tree. The world spun around them, the Divine being's shrieks swallowed by the forest.
Lioraen smashed Othello's head into the tree again—and again—and again—until the bark split and blood stained the trunk.
Then he let go.
Othello collapsed onto the ground, a broken heap, shivering and gasping. He didn't understand what had happened. He had lost to a child he watched grow. Both his hands were gone.
The forest went quiet. Lioraen walked away, his footsteps fading. For a moment, Othello thought it was over. That Lioraen had left him to his disgrace.
Then he heard them again.
Lioraen had returned, his steps slow and steady.
Through blurred vision, Othello saw him digging into the earth with a shovel, tearing through soil like it was nothing.
*He went to get that?*
"Wh… at… are you… doing…?" Othello whispered, his voice barely there.
Lioraen didn't look at him. He continued to dig.
Othello glanced around. No way escaping was possible. He had lost his composure and he didn't even know how to counter this mortal. He decided to ask again.
"What are you..."
"What else?" Lioraen cut in coldly. "I'm going to bury you alive."
"Huh?"
Othello's eyes widened. His body shook harder.
"No… no… please…"
Lioraen kept digging.
*Will I die here? If I'm left in this state, other beings will...*
Realizing he wasn't being heard, Othello forced himself onto his knees. His vision swam, but he crawled toward Lioraen, dragging his broken body across the ground. With the last of his strength, he got to Lioraen's leg.
"Please," he cried. "Spare me."
Lioraen scoffed, digging faster.
Behind him, Othello's sobs broke into desperate gasps. He begged harder, slamming his forehead against the ground again and again, blood smearing the dirt.
"You can't leave me here! I watched you grow!"
Still, Lioraen did not stop.
"Lioraen!"
Then, he stopped.
The silence was sudden. He sank the shovel into the dirt and left it.
Othello raised his head, eyes flashing with hope.
Lioraen straightened, turned, and bent down. He seized Othello by the chin and forced his face up. Blood ran freely down the Divine being's features, his eyes unfocused and trembling.
"Pay the price," Lioraen said quietly. "For the life you want me to spare."
Othello's eyes widened.
"For my... life?"
"If I leave you here," Lioraen smirked. "In this condition. They already noticed, right? The other Divine ones."
Othello flinched at the sound of Lioraen's words.
"I wonder what they would do to a vulnerable Divine one. You can't die, but you'll wish you can."
Othello stared at him for a long moment, shaking, lips quivering. The pride of a Divine being was already gone. He couldn't risk being discovered in this state.
Finally, he whispered, his voice small, broken, like a child's.
"…Then… I'll swear my life to you."
His breath hitched.
"You become my master. From now on."
Lioraen's eye flashed with satisfaction. He smacked his lip and nodded.
"I suppose that's enough to buy more pathetic life for yourself."
He let go of the Divine being's chin, letting him fall.
Othello's eyes drooped and he went unconscious. The clearing became silent.
Lioraen watched him, seeing a dull light swirl around Othello's body and up to his neck. The light changed shape into chains and clamped around the Divine being's neck.
"Aah..."
Lioraen collapsed into a sitting position. He buried his face in his palm.
*That was dangerous!*
He glanced over to the unconscious being.
*I totally lost it and attacked him. How did I win?*
He sighed.
*I won. That's what matters. And I got him on my side.*
He sat up and tilted his head.
"I cut off his arms. What do I do about it?"
**Just order him to grow them again.**
Lioraen grabbed his sword at the sound of a voice, swirling around in shock.
It was empty. There was no one.
**He's now under your control,** the voice spoke again. **Order him to grow them again.**
"Who are you!" Lioraen yelled.
The voice chuckled.
**Easy, child.**
Lioraen narrowed his eyes.
"You're that entity I was in that vision."
**Entity?** The voice mumbled. **That's a little far stretch... but you're right.**
"Who are you?"
**Me?** The voice pondered for a while. **Call me the wanderer.**
*Same name mother called*
"Why are you helping me?" Lioraen glanced around again, but could not catch sight of the entity.
**Why?** The voice trailed off again. **Let's just say I am everywhere; it seems fun.**
Lioraen's eyes widened.
"Fun?"
**Yes. Fun,** the voice spoke. **Your realm seems to be on the verge of collapse. Yet they have you, who haven't backed down.**
Lioraen walked to Othello's unconscious body and yanked him up. He began walking, pulling him out of the forest.
"What happened to this realm?"
**The God in charge of this realm got eradicated.**
Lioraen halted.
"What's a God?"
The voice didn't reply for a second. Then laughter came.
**Pardon me, child. The term "God" is used by earthlings to refer to their Divine beings.**
"Earthlings..." Lioraen muttered. "Another realm?"
**Yeah. One of the realms in the underworld.**
"Underworld..." Lioraen muttered and stopped. "Then, what realm is this?"
The entity didn't reply for a while. Lioraen glanced around, wondering if the entity had vanished as it came, but then it spoke.
**This is Vaelorth, world 56687 in the middle realm.**
TBC...