Chapter 21: Sword of Will
*We've reached the moment I was waiting for. Let's see what you all think. It's one of the things I'm not really good at writing—some sort of battle scene that should have excitement and whatnot in it. I genuinely ask that you all let me know what you thought about the writing, and please be honest with it. If you want me to improve, you have to tell me what to work on :))
Until then, enjoy. Peace out, and Deus vult*
The darkness was engulfing him more and more as time went by. It was like fog, growing thicker as time trickled through his being. The onslaught against his mind was raging on like a tempest, ravaging all in its path.
"Damn my own mind..." muttered Mark, closing his eyes to block the images, but to no avail. The voices rang out even if he covered his ears, like phantasms phasing through existence. Somewhere, in a tiny corner of his vision, he could see everyone else outside, their weapons pointed at him.
"What's going on? Huh?"
The wave of confusion settled in worse than before, throwing off any sense of rationality that he held.
...................................
Stelle watched as Mark brought a hand up in the air, ushering the cold winds to his will. The winter around them grew harsher, colder, threatening to fully destroy what traces of life were left.
"Ah, freeze everything. Yes, yes, freeze eternally!" shouted Mark, the voices still echoing along his words, an otherworldly sound that defied norms.
"What do we do now? Mark is possessed or something," said March, bow at the ready. The truth is... no one knew. The logical course of action was to fight and take him down, but what if he'd die?
"We have no choice but to fight," said Stelle, the burning lance ready at her side, its fire crackling softly against the rushing winds.
"This is bad. We're tired as it is from our battle with Cocolia, and now we have to face an enemy that is, at the very least, on the same level as her Fragmentum-affected form."
Dan Heng's insight was on point, with the other facts about to prove themselves. Mark rose his hand up to the sky, stopping snowflakes in their descent. Instantly, they gathered together from all sides, brought in by strong winds that shaped them and molded the entire mess together. Two large swords glistered in the air, a mix of ice and Fragmentum crystals. The sheer size of those things was enough to raze a city to the ground.
"Son of a..." grunted Seele, her scythe not leaving her side.
"Time to show all of you, insignificant beings, what truly awaits this world."
Mark's hand slowly moved down, pointing at the others, the swords moving along with incredible speed. Everyone could only watch as it happened.
...................................
Mark's vision blurred out from tears of his own inability to help. He watched the scene, tiny as it was among the countless memories that tried to tarnish his being.
"No, don't you damned piece of shit!"
His pleas fell on deaf ears. The voices laughed at him, sounding both foreign and familiar at the same time. More memories of his failures piled up before him, blocking what little vision he had.
"God... I can't do this..."
He fell to his knees, the tears streaming down his face one by one, trickling on one cheek, then the other, flowing out endlessly.
"Perfect ending..."
Those words found their way among the sea of voices that ran rampant. Perfect ending—the thing he sought ever since entering the world. It was just the first step, and yet he wished to achieve it. He had saved Cocolia, so that alone was more than enough proof that he could change whatever 'fate' the world had.
"Not like it has a fixed fate, right? Kafka did say something like that..."
"Why struggle? Give yourself to me. It's not like you can do anything."
The spoken words echoed in the darkness, reminding Mark of many things. Still, there was one wish he held, accompanied by a feeling that he could never forget.
Countless nights spent alone, with nothing but an unsatiable urge to do something grand. The very world he was in only added to those feelings whenever something new happened, stoking his appetite for knowledge, for lore, for adventure. Trailblazing—that's one thing that he would have loved to do in his world, and he had now received the chance to do it.
The fire within burned brighter, engulfing him slowly. He stood up from his kneeling position, staring off into the darkness.
"The fire within burns brighter... it's what you saw, the fire of my will, paired with that One Light inside of me that's not of my own making. Truly, a human's nature is shown through adversity."
Mark's body was slowly burning brighter in a turquoise flame, pushing the darkness back.
...................................
March tried looking around for any direction they could flee in to avoid the attack. Mark's hand moved down, only to be grabbed and halted.
"By the name of the Amber Lord, what is going on?" asked Bronya, Cocolia leaned against her for support. Dan Heng's composed expression faltered for a moment. The one to stop Mark was himself. The left side of his body gave off a different aura; his left eye turned normal, leaving only the right one as a pale blue orb.
"Surprise, motherfucker. Thought you could take over me?"
His left arm clung even tighter, flexing as much as his muscles allowed to keep the right one from moving down. The swords stopped in the air as two wills collided in a single body.
"You! How did you!?"
The voices raged on with the winds, yet Mark's side of his own body smirked.
"The human will is a funky thing, if you ask me. Your downfall was trying to control me by doing what you did with the other Architects, stimulating their vulnerabilities until you could order them around."
Mark chuckled, slowly pushing the swords back as his right arm moved up.
"You see, I'm the type of guy who always keeps thinking about the failures of the past, the type of guy who does what you tried doing to me all by his own volition. You cannot exploit the wounds in my mind and heart because I'm always making them hurt on purpose."
Mark's left arm slowly caught on fire, the same turquoise fire from within showing out. It was all a battle of wills, something that happened inside his mind. The fire within, however, was as real as it could get.
"You, insignificant failure, do you deem yourself worthy!?"
More images flashed in Mark's mind, but he couldn't care less. In that very moment, he wanted his cool scene where he could show off a bit.
"No one's truly worthy, and yet we keep pushing. That's the power of the human will... the power of MY WILL..."
The fire burned brighter, moving along the rest of his body. It didn't hurt, but it did warm up his being, granting him strength. The purple streaks of light that moved along his body were slowly adapting the color of the fire, molding themselves to his will.
"Everyone, we need to move away! It's the same as what happened with Stelle on Herta's Space Station."
Quickly, everyone did as Dan Heng told them to, moving away. Bronya and Serval were helping Cocolia, holding her between them as they ran away. Seele moved as well, looking back at Mark only to see him smile to them.
"It's just us..." muttered Mark, enjoying the feeling of his body being bathed in the Fire of Will.
"NEVER! I SHALL TAKE THEM AWAY FROM YOU!"
The swords remained hanging in the air, yet the thing that sent shivers down Mark's back was the contaminated Engine of Creation. The giant mecha they had fought before his arrival stood up once again, this time covered by Fragmentum crystals at the joints, forcing it to move to the Stellaron's will.
"Damn you..." growled Mark, still clinging to his own right hand.
The Engine of Creation looked down and moved its hand up, ready to squish everyone.
"I... won't... let you DO THIS!"
Mark gritted his teeth and forced his body under submission.
"You're my prey, Stellaron! I RULE!"
His body touched the ground, flaming from head to toe. The Engine of Creation moved to attack, but Mark was quicker. He let go of his right hand, allowing it to fall like lightning, sending the giant swords flying into the mecha's side, sending it toppling down.
"This is my power, the power of my will."
He reached out and finally pulled out the sword he held sheathed on his back. The scabbard did its job, allowing the blade to easily come out. He pointed it at the mecha, looking at how long the blade is.
"Puny human, wishing to stand up against me with nothing but that!?"
The voices mocked him in their own way, crackling and rattling in the air, one with the wind. Mark smirked, staring at the sword once more. It was pretty large compared to what a normal one would be like, and yet he didn't mind. It was his own choice, after all.
"Yes, my sword... and my will."
He closed his eyes, holding on to the sword with both hands. The fire gathered together, moving along his body and onto the blade, attaching itself to it. Like a second layer akin to turquoise glass, the sword changed. The handle grew in size by half, while the guard got enhanced, with two thin lines of pure energy materializing.
The blade itself was shocking. It was a weapon of sheer size, as long as he was tall, with the phantasmic look to boot. It was a weapon fit for a true warrior, something he wasn't but hoped to reach at some point.
"Sword of Will..." he whispered, opening his eyes. He brought it up above his head, drawing out energy from within.
"I had a Stellaron inside, something odd even by this world's standards. Now, it's time you became part of it. You ARE inside of me; just accept defeat."
The Engine of Creation looked down at him, its eyes glowing in the same blue light that his had a while earlier. With a metallic shriek, it punched down, aiming straight at him. Mark scoffed, knowing that it was unavoidable.
"Sword of Will... Slice..."
He swung down, all the energy he could muster moving through his body, rendering it numb as the blade fell. Before his very eyes, it dashed across the open field, striking through the Engine of Creation, cleaving it in half. It all happened in a blink, ending with the machine being lifeless again.
"No... NO! IT CAN'T BE!"
His right eye was blue again, but the Stellaron was too weak to control his body again. It fought and struggled, but to no end.
"This is the end, you hear me?"
He burned bright again, like a human torch, his hand resting against his chest.
"Let's show you just how nicely my fire can warm up the world. After all, I did promise to do my best and fix stuff. I did tell Svarog about the sun, so let's show its beauty in a warmer world."
He took to the skies, a pillar of ice propelling him upwards right from beneath his feet. Like a shooting star, he burned across the sky, only that he flew upwards.
The Stellaron fell silent as Mark took a good look around, listening to the winds that raged, feeling the snow that managed to get close to him. His fire didn't melt the snowflakes—not yet.
"Fire of Will, melt this frozen world."
Through the ice pillar, right into the ground, the flames went with seething hunger, seeking to devour the cold. More energy burned from both Stellarons this time, a silent sign that he had managed to absorb the one that tormented Jarilo-VI for 700 years or so.
"With this... it's over..." he whispered, staring up at the sky. The clouds had dispersed, allowing the sun to peek down at the ground. Below, the snow gave way to small patches of green.
"Yes... I did it... something that the game couldn't... revitalized the planet faster... heh, thank you, God..."
His eyes closed, and he stumbled to the side, falling, his sword back to normal. It clung to his hand, gripped tightly by his unconscious hand. Below, everyone had gathered, ready to catch him. The trio from the Astral Express did a fine job of that, even if he still hit the ground.
"I guess you can't just expect to stop something that fell from THAT height," chuckled March, ensuring that Mark was ok. She flicked his forehead, but no answer. Stelle chuckled, while Dan Heng took his pulse again.
"Let's hope that this situation won't repeat. Considering what just happened, I have a lot of questions for him."
Mark simply breathed softly, sleeping. His body was given more than it could carry, leading to its slumber.
*little note: I'll try to do a 3D model of the sword and post it on Discord. Join to see it when it's done*
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