"I pity your mother. I can't imagine giving birth to such a worthless son, who doesn't even know his place in the world." Eisen continued with his insulting remarks.
"Who are you?! You don't know me!" Sieg said back, but his words were ignored.
Eisen drew his own knife, a fancier and sharper one than Sieg's. "Your organs can cover most of the debt, and that's the only thing of value you have."
"Huh?! Stop it!" A guard tied Sieg's mouth shut with a towel.
The boy squirmed as his live butchering was about to be watched by numerous slum dwellers, yet once again, no one was willing to save him, not even with the boy who was a doorstep away from becoming a victim of organ harvesting.
"Don't worry, we know someone with healing arts, we won't let your organs spoil." Eisen murmured, and it only fueled Sieg's growing terror.
The thugs watched closer, silent as regret seeped into their consciousness. Some slum dwellers couldn't even watch, as Sieg's muffled screams disturbed them to their core.
As Eisen stepped closer, Sieg tried with all his might to fight back, flailing like a trapped fish, kicking wildly. But one guard overpowered him to the ground.
Why is this happening to me?!
Without a choice, he was forced to beg the very ones he had ignored for most of his life — the gods themselves.
All-Forgiving Mother of Life and Decay! PLEASE SAVE ME!
Sieg was desperate for Strovian's ruling deity — but he had never been a worshipper, knowing no proper chants or prayers to offer.
I'LL OFFER YOU EVERYTHING! MY SERVITUDE — I'LL BE YOUR ETERNAL SLAVE!
The gentle goddess didn't answer, it would be a miracle if she did but Sieg wasn't that special, he was a useless slum boy drowning in rubbish.
Gods and goddesses do not save those who are as pathetic, and if no deity was willing to answer his call, then who would?
I'm going to die…
Ahh… I'm losing my sanity...
Eisen's knife was already aimed at Sieg's exposed stomach but before he could ever begin his harvesting — the deranged old man from earlier was already right next to them.
When did he?!
"The collapsing eclipse is coming! We are all gonna welcome the king's arrival! He demands new children! New sons and daughters! All hail to the lord of the night! The dark star and aether! Devourer of the worlds!"
The old man kept repeating and repeating until Eisen had enough, "CAN ANYONE SILENCE THAT NOISE? WHO'S GRANDFATHER IS THIS?"
One of the guards continued to pin down Sieg and the other one stood up and handled the old man, he was rough with the senile fool but the old man pointed at the horizon of the Blackwater shoreline.
Instinctively — everyone looked at the direction of his finger.
"The Collapsal king, is staring back at us." he murmured and the waves of the shoreline were singing with the song of the harrowing father.
"Are the people here this delusional? What the hell does this old ma—" Before Eisen could finish his words, something covered the sun, and light as they knew it began to wane.
The sky above the shoreline darkened unnaturally, the sun slowly swallowed by a creeping shadow.
Murky waves lapped against the mud, catching a dim, unnatural light. Birds of feathers scattered, and animals fled without a sound.
"This can't be." Eisen murmured to himself, eyes widening as he stared at the horizon.
An unprecedented Collapsing Eclipse, a cosmic phenomenon that has been unmaking mankind. Eisen considered what color it might be, knowing that detail alone would decide their fate.
*****
Gold Boon Eclipses create resource-rich domains across the globe, drawing nations into conflict.
The Tribunal Eclipse, a fusion of teal and cyan, traps those who gaze upon it within a separate dimension of trials and rewards. With a 70% fatality rate, the world government strictly forbids it, as death inside only releases a Collapsal into reality.
Rarest of all is the apocalyptic Violet Eclipse, also called the Bane Eclipse, which brings a rain of monsters upon the world. Only the Ascendants, superhumans gifted with Origin Arts and survivors of the Tribunal Eclipse—stand against them, or face extinction.
******
However, this collapsing eclipse wasn't ordinary; it was neither a bane nor a boon, and not even the color of the Tribunal Eclipse.
A dark circle hovered beyond the horizon, its edges rimmed with a sickly crimson glow. And at its center… an eye opened, immense, ungodly and unholy, staring directly at their wicked souls.
What is that color…
Which god answered me…
Its gaze felt ominous, penetrating the minds of everyone on the shoreline. Even the dirty wind seemed to halt in utter reverence, and the tide of rubbish stilled as if the world itself were holding its breath — for the coming of a new rebirth.
Humanity knew better than to look at a collapsing eclipse, particularly an unknown one, yet Sieg and Eisen met it with unblinking eyes.
Sanity's Eclipse— Sieg muttered under his breath.
How do I know its name.
Eisen clenched his teeth, anger blazing in his eyes. "FINE! TAKE ME! GIVE ME THE POWER TO SURPASS HIM!" he declared while spreading his arms wide open, as if embracing the Eclipse.
Ralts and Grizz fled immediately, fearing for their lives.
"SIEG — DON'T LOOK AT IT!" Knuck yelled as loud as he could. But Sieg didn't hear him.
Knuck wanted to stop him, desperate to keep Sieg from turning his gaze toward the Eclipse — but his feet were frozen with despair, and Sieg stood utterly still, mesmerized.
Knuck tried to look at it, but he couldn't. Every time he attempted to do so, he felt his sanity wane rapidly. He couldn't understand how some were able to behold it, especially someone like Sieg.
Then fear seized him whole. He turned his back instead, clenching his fists, choosing to prioritize his own family.
"…Damn it."
Most of the slum dwellers panicked due to the horror of the cosmic sight. It wasn't only them — every single person in the world saw it, from Strovian, Lianese, Azmarian, Victoria, and Iberian, to Obarun.
The eclipse occurs outside normal orbital mechanics, it's a cosmic overlay, not a physical shadow. It appears in the sky of every region simultaneously.
Some people see it directly, others see it via reflections, visions, or mirrored skies.
Evacuation around the world was almost immediate — but there were still those daring enough to gaze at the unknown eclipse: men, women, even teenagers, risking it for a challenge, even though the fatality rate was unverified.
Some would die, and some would ascend…
Slowly, on Sieg's and Eisen's right back hand, an intricate symbol emerged. The sensation brought only agony to their skin, both groaning in pain.
It was the mark of the Ascendant.
For a moment, both Sieg and Eisen merely looked at one another — they both knew what it entailed.
A sign that they had been chosen.
But others weren't so lucky. There were those unchosen weaklings who still dared to stare; almost instantly, they started to lose their minds, hallucinating horrors beyond human comprehension. And after losing to madness, they began to laugh and transform into mindless grosteque forms, wreaking violence on those near them.
"You two now stand among the chosen… the newest children of the Collapsal King!"
"Two ripening souls aligned under the collapsing star… dual heirs of repast… on the path to walk with both the banquet and fare!" The old man was ecstatic at the sight, rejoicing in his prophecy while on his knees.
Before the two boys realized it, with one blink from the Eclipse, Sieg and Eisen felt it: the agonizing sensation sweeping through both of them. Not even those with the strongest hearts could stop themselves from screaming in agony.
They were being twisted and compressed into a singular point, as if undergoing spaghettification. They didn't even have time to cry out — their mouths were already distorted by an unknown force.
The guards could do nothing to save their boss, as they tried to defend themselves from the approaching horrors from shapeshifted humans.
Before long, the two of them had transformed into ominously glowing black-red orbs. Both teenagers were reduced to one floating sphere — and within it, they fought for their lives.
— [A̸s̴t̶r̷a̵l̴ ̸I̷m̴p̵r̷i̶s̴o̴n̸m̵e̶n̷t̸]
Chapter End.