[Beginning from Carnage's POV]
The soft, dull shine of dusk beats onto his face as he flutters awake. It takes a moment for his vision to adjust, and when it does, he sits up, the creak of the bed rumbling through the air.
"I'm…"
A raspy voice escapes his mouth, catching him off guard.
"Alive?"
He questions.
Trailing his gaze down, a sigh of relief escapes once he sees a pair of arms and legs sprouting outwards. The sight of tattered brown clothes resting on top of his scarred skin gives him a comfort he never knew he needed.
'It looks like the effects of hanging for centuries have followed me here.'
He feels it, the relentless ache running the length of his neck. Without thinking, his fingers close around it, and the past comes rushing back.
'Five Centuries in that godforsaken place, five Centuries since I was last hailed as a god... Five unbearable centuries of the same phrase repeating in my head...'
Just the thought makes his body freeze. He can still feel the rope tight around his neck, water clawing at his lungs, maggots tunneling through his flesh, acid searing his skin, now it's different. Because now—
'Now I'm alive, with a chance.'
He curls his fingers, then his toes, wincing at the sluggish response. Each movement comes back inch by inch, tentative but real.
'It's all working properly.'
Switching his attention from his limbs to the surroundings, his nose finally registers the overwhelming scent.
The damp, sour smell is thick, like mildew and old leaves in autumn. It clings to the air like a wet rag left out for too long; however, it doesn't bother him; he has smelled worse, including his own decaying flesh.
"Hm."
'The first dimension of Purgatos.'
He thinks to himself, intently staring at his environment.
'Creaking old bed, wooden walls and floors, nightstand and stone hearth, nothing seems even remotely sinister; it's more like some room of the sorts.'
Carnage swerves to his side, getting off the bed, stretching out the numbness of his limbs. He crosses the creaking boards of his room and peers through the window.
The eerie stillness of the town is the first thing he notices: the crumbling cobblestone streets, lined with varying huts and houses of both stone and wood, with the seemingly never-ending dusk unmoving in the skies, neither growing darker nor brighter.
'The entire village is stuck in time. Even the birds in the skies are not to be moving.'
He focuses on the raven that stopped mid-flight in the air.
'What exactly am I supposed to do here?'
He ponders as the panel sparks to life.
「The devil is pleased to have you.」
Startled, he takes a step back.
'I wish I could say the same.'
「Before the commencement of the entrance trail, you must begin with the pledge of Purgatus.」
Carnage feels the bitter twist of irony. Once he was the one receiving the pledge; now, he is the one delivering it. The roles have flipped, and the weight of the gesture tastes like ashes in his mouth.
'I've truly fallen.'
「I sacrifice my mundane livelihood for brutality.」
「I welcome thy sin to sprout in my heart like a tree of poison, for I willingly give thy soul to the game for true devils on a conquest for godhood. I worship myself and none else.」
'Its close to the anthem of Adune .'
He notices the contrast between the two, as it says, In Adune, they vow. 'I bestow my faith and worship onto the gods; I willingly walk blind, for my path is not seen without the supremes. I shall sentence my soul into everlasting worship, even if it's not reciprocated.'
"The anthem was the cornerstone of our power. Without devotion, we were nothing, and would have remained so."
Taking a deep breath, he began.
"I sacrifice my mundane livelihood for brutality."
With each word, his perception of both heaven and hell is rebuilt and restabilized into one cold truth.
"I welcome thy sin to sprout in my heart like a tree of poison, for I willingly give thy soul to the game for true devils on a conquest for godhood. I worship myself and none else."
None of them allows true unshackled freedom.
Both are a noose that tightens the longer you descend into its depths.
「Excellent. Sinner #660 has successfully solidified their place in the entrance trail. I hope you enjoy your time within the first dimension of Purgatus. Nullity」
'Nullity…'
An ache erupts again.
「Carnage Mortumus, you came for vengeance… to reclaim what was stolen, to crush those who betrayed you, and for that, what must you need. 」
"Power." He grumbles, throat raw, head pounding in retaliation to him trying to remember.
「I, the Covenant, am willing to give it to you, but only if you dare to reclaim what you have lost. Show your courage, or be devoured by those who will. 」
「Companionship and kindness are to be forgotten; a blissful heart only falls in the infernos of hell.」
Carnage knew that better than anyone.
「Will you cast aside your humanity… all for the sake of power? Do you see yourself ready for such a thing?」
Carnage looks up from the panel to his reflection in the window; nothing is as before, his golden hair reduced to pale colorless white, eyes no longer like the blazing sun but a deep hellish red. His appearance may be different, but he still saw himself: chained, betrayed, drowned, devoured, hanged, a fallen god.
A monster.
A beast of vengeful promises.
In his eyes, he was no longer a human or a divine being; he was a product of revenge, a spiteful spirit awaiting its chance for retribution.
'I don't care. Give me the power I need.'
He answers the panel's question.
「Magnificent!」
「Purgatos only houses the strongest or the broken. Your life from here on out is set to Hell mode; expect the unexpected and believe none—you are all sinners after all.」
Carnage bobs his head in acceptance.
"Then a sinner, I shall be."
「I've warned you of the basics; we shall begin your first task.」
「The admission exam. 」
'Admission exam?'
「Yes, it's an exam to deem you worthy or unworthy of joining our game. 」
'So you didn't select us because we were worthy?'
「Negative. If death occurred before joining the game, souls were randomly selected, and you happened to be one of the lucky. Nobody in here is chosen because they're "special"...fallen god or not.」
His nails dig into his palms.
「This is how you prove yourself. Show everyone you are worthy of your vengeance. Dominate Purgatus... if you can't, what makes you believe you'll be able to destroy the heavens and their rule?」
Beneath all his resentment, he knew the covenant is right.
'I'll show my worth.'
「Excellent, I will now spin the wheel of difficulty to see what level of difficulty your first task will be on.」
「The levels of difficulty are: EASY/NORMAL/HARD/NIGHTMARE/HELL MODE.」
Instantly, the wheel began to spin, and Carnage waited for the results.
'I'll accept any outcome, and I'll overcome it.'
The wheel slows and lands on its answer.
「Congratulations! You have landed on Nightmare. 」
<<
<<
___________________
Missions category: Nightmare
Objective: Uncover the name and history of this village and eliminate twenty skinwalkers
Skinwalker count: 0/6
||Reward hidden||
____________________
'Skinwalkers… monsters that shouldn't exist. Which means, after the seventh-ranked supreme god caused their extinction, they actually—'
「Sent them to Purgatus, correct. No "god" of your generation is capable of extinction or actual destruction. That ability has been lost since the first gods. They can only erase the history of its existence, storing them in a place where eyes don't pry.」
'Purgatus.'
「Affirmative.」
A bulb of realization flickers to life in Carnage's head.
'This must be where the creatures I turned into fables were sent…'
He closes his eyes. Fragments of old knowledge claw at the edges of his mind.
「Wonderful conclusion.」
'It doesn't deny it… doesn't confirm it. So it has to be true.'
'Alright… now I just need to pull together everything I know about the skinwalkers from my fractured consciousness.'
'What do I remember? We decided to wipe them out because they pushed the limits of what shapeshifters were allowed. Shapeshifters stop at beasts or objects… but these things… they take human form. Flawed, yes… but terrifyingly perfect.'
His head throbs when he finishes, as if he is tampering with the bonds placed on his memories, forcing them out.
'The challenge lies only in seeing the flaws… and eradicating them.'
「Your time limit is 5 hours. To aid you in this challenge.」
Carnage's eyes burn with determination.
「Before I grant you a temporary persona, I must first make adjustments to the seal restraining your powers.」
His mouth parts but no sound comes out.
'Hm? You can do that?'
「Partially, I cannot undo the seal, nor the punishment it carries. At best, I may alter a few of its functions. To destroy it will fall to you alone, as you grow back in power and strength.」
His shock and hope simmer to an underlying sorrow, but also they instill determination. A goal to fully destroy the restrictions the gods forced onto him.
'I see. Then please do your best.'
<<
Pain detonates across his back without warning, and he tumbles over.
'Ignore it…. Ignore the pain.'
He orders himself, it's too late; pain overwhelms all his senses at once.
Flesh buckles and swells, as though something inside him is trying to be born, his spine arching violently as heat crawls beneath the skin. Veins glow sickly bright, stretching until they look ready to burst, and he clamps his jaw shut hard enough to taste blood rather than let the scream escape.
<<
Symbols branded into his back flare alive, burning through scar tissue, circling the ruined stumps where wings were once hacked away. The scars twitch and ache, itching with a memory of flight, taunting him with what his body will never reclaim.
'Control it .'
He reminds himself, and he lets out a forced breath as it subsides, allowing him to reclaim his senses.
<<
「The Covenant has helped as much as it can; now you can use the opposite ability of the blades.」
Huffing, he stares at it.
'Awakening!?'
「Correct. It'll be disguised as a key.」
<<
__________
「-Persona (Uncommon)-」
◦ Your persona: The keybearer
◦ Persona type: Support/Attack (Hybrid)
◇ Resonance level: 10
◦Magical artifact: Key of awakening
—Explanation—
The user can awaken/unlock any sealed artifact.
◇ Eminence level: 40」
◇ Eminence 40 + Resonance 10 = Power level: 50
☆☆☆
__________
「Due to some errors, the Eminence level of the artifact has dropped significantly.」
Carnage looks on at the imprinting of a key burnt onto the backside of his left hand.
「Good luck, sinner. Guidebooks will be distributed shortly, but be warned. If you fail in this trial, your participation in our game will promptly end, and your soul will become no more.」
He stands up, his body tingling with the side effects of pain.
'That's it. Fight through each dimension or die regretful.'
Without delay, he tears the bottom of his shirt and tightly ties it around his knuckles.
'Survival is the only thing that matters now.'
He looks up at the window, pulling back his fist, launching it forward at full force.
'For that, I need a weapon.'
Crash!!
'This should be good enough.'
He thinks, gazing at a piece of glass barely clinging to its hinges, which he tugs loose, holding it firmly, as footsteps sound outside his door.
.
.
.
[Present time.]
"Erm, so... what're we meant to do now?" Ernest inquires, eyes darting around the space for any clues on what to do next. "Since you warned me of skinwalkers we should probable go look for them right?"
"No." Carnage says sharply, his focus outside the window.
'No. That can't be the first thought once we're outside. We know nothing about their strength. The smart move is to find others first… if there are any.'
He think, attention glued ouside at the streets empty, but behind its vacant fascade, Carnage can feel the eyes of death looking right at him as if waiting for him to emerge from the house.
Then, a gasp rips from his lips. " A person."
"Are you serious?!" Ernest flies up, rushing to his side as they both stare at the only person on the empty street below.
The figure lifelessly drags its feet on the cobblestone, its torn brown clothing barely clinging to its frame.
'The Covenant wasn't lying. It's either the broken or the strong residing in Purgatos.'
"Don't you find this place...weird?" Ernest inquires, backing away from the window.
Carnage nods.
"I may be a historian, but there are barely any knowledge on this formation of Hell. And trust me, there are ten in total, excluding this one. There are countless tomes, scrolls, and records on the others, but about here… we've only been shown a single known scroll with not enough time to study it." Ernest says, eyebrows arched. "Even my sister struggled to find out the bare minimum of what resides inside of here, and that information was kept locked away by the heretics."
'That's how it was in Adune, too. Not even its creation was mentioned.'
"There are a few things said, but not nearly enough to help us right now." Carnage notices the frustration rising on his features. "If it was Ana, she would have known what to do."
'The only thing that can help us understand this place more are the guides; for now, all we can do is go look for others.'
"Let's go."
He says, already moving to the door.
'Even short sentences makes my throat burn, which makes communicating hard, but it's better than not talking at all.'
"Oh!"
Ernest catches on and moves with him.
Reaching the door, his hands lift towards the knob, but red energy sparks to life at his fingertips, and something materializes.
"Hmm?!"
He steps back, pivoting to Ernest for a split second to see the same thing emerging from a golden light.
<<