Chapter 50: Sword
William turned to see several monsters fall to the ground, seemingly inert. In fact, Cesimir was someone constantly compared to a Demigod, no wonder he had his own tricks.
"Take care of one, I'll take down the other two that are left." He ordered.
William nodded and used Comet once more without the creature being able to resist. Still holding the Great Man's Sword in his hand, he approached the side of his superior to regroup.
"There is something strange about them, sir." He commented looking closely at one of the monsters that was on the ground.
Cesmir agreed.
"I see you've noticed. Look at their faces." He pointed at the creature as his voice took on a heavy tone.
William took a closer look and realized what the Captain was referring to. "They have human features. Captain, do you mean these are...?"
Cesimir closed his eyes sadly. "Looks like we'll have to tell the families."
Looking at what had once been his colleagues, William felt strangely distant.
'Well, I had to get used to it at some point.' He thought.
"What should we do, Captain? The one responsible for this is not someone weak if he can transform a whole group of Beyonders into this kind of creature." He reflected on the situation and thought that perhaps the two of them alone could not be enough.
"It's not worth putting ourselves in danger. Now that we know we don't have to save anyone, we can act as safe as poss..."
He didn't have time to finish his words because a strange door opened below them and swallowed them in an instant.
They were surrounded by walls, it seemed as if they were falling down an endless pit.
"Captain, hold on to me!" William exclaimed.
Crestet did not hesitate and clung to him. William used Strength Aura for the third time and felt how his spirituality suffered; Even so, he stuck his sword into the wall and slowly slowed down his speed so as not to receive the full impact at once. Two minutes later they came to a complete stop as they reached the bottom of the fall.
"Argh." Cesimir held his arm that had probably been dislocated, after all his body was only a little stronger than an ordinary person's.
"Are you okay, Captain?" William asked.
The deacon nodded and put a hand on his shoulder. With a crunch he jerked the limb back, enduring the pain.
"It's nothing, don't let your guard down." He warned him while getting to his feet.
William nodded and looked around. It looked like an underground cave, and he could see a tunnel going somewhere.
"There's a strange energy coming out of that tunnel." Debris suddenly spoke in his head. "It feels..."
"Familiar." He completed unconsciously, drawing Cesimir's attention.
"Do you sense something?" He questioned, moving closer to the tunnel entrance.
"Yeah, probably the stray Beyonder that's causing all this trouble is hiding out here." William confirmed as he began to walk. "Anyway, the entrance will already be sealed and climbing would be very difficult, it's best to continue for now."
Cesimir nodded, albeit with some reluctance.
They started walking down the tunnel.
After a while, Cesimir frowned. "I have a bad feeling about this."
William stopped and looked at him, after all, premonitions weren't just anything in the world of the Beyonders.
He noticed that the hallway seemed a bit darker than before. And the oil lamps hanging in the hallway danced gently in the wind.
But they continued on their way and the shadows did too.
"There is something wrong here." William spoke aloud, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was giving him the feeling. The oil from the lamps now dripped from the ceiling and the shadows continued to advance.
"I don't feel anything bad." Crestet looked at him strangely, his whole body shone thanks to the little light generated by the lamps, which was reflected in the oil that covered him.
William's eyes widened in horror. Shadows covered them. He blinked and they both found themselves surrounded by people dressed in robes that covered their faces.
Words were spoken that were not in any language known to man, and yet William understood.
"The one and only Crimson Moon,
The Symbol of Life and Beauty,
Mother of all Spiritual Forces."
And William saw the Moon, and something much bigger than any living thing should be standing on the lunar surface.
William felt something familiar.
There was a wasteland, the sky was golden, and there was a lone sword stuck in the ground, glowing with ethereal dim light.
A glowing figure approached the sword and placed its hand on the hilt. William couldn't recognize the figure, but he felt it smile at him and then utter two simple words:
"Cosmos Divider."
There was a flash and the being let out a terrifying roar as it was sent beyond the solar system. It was roaring in fear and pain.
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I'm back! Writing horror is really hard and I can tell I'm not good at it, but I hope it gets better the more I practice. On the other hand, don't worry about this ending, there's still a lot to be explained regarding William's origin, and there's a reason I didn't write him as a reincarnator with knowledge of the plot. I hope you liked the chapter.