Chương 351: Temple of Endless Darkness - The Abyss and The Darkness

Surrounding us with vibrant, ethereal light, my perception began to spin, and before I knew it, we arrived before an endless abyss stretching endlessly.

"Abaddon?" Gurvel called, swelled with fear, "I cannot see! I cannot see! I cannot see! What has happened?" He cried, consumed in such dread his body shivered uncontrollably.

Shifting the lamp of darkness, the Hellion's arms began flailing wildly, hoping its light would shine his path. Snatching it from his hands, I frowned, placing my palms upon him like one would a close friend, "Calm yourself, my friend. I can see, but you need to be calm."

"It's cold," He weakly muttered, "I am soo cold. D-d-Don't leave me, please."

Baffled at why such a God behaved as such, I tried to get a feel of his soul. But all I saw was Mother's ethereal presence covering his soul flame like a mist. It was grand and incomprehensible, but it was feeding upon his soul. Taking something... something that would never be returned. It was like a tear, or maybe a spark.

Twisting around in haste to observe my surroundings, my gaze fell upon a decrepit stone bridge. It did not seem to have any sort of support, but it remained firm, stretching across the abyss. Holding the lamp of darkness within my palm, we arose side by side.

"Hold onto my shoulder," I softly told. Receiving a shallow nod followed by a fridged shivered, leaving me bewildered by the odd turn.

Taking a single step across the bridge, a familiar fear gripped me when all light vanished. There was nothing, and for but a moment, I felt fear like I did all those years ago. It was silent, filling, beautiful, and terrifying.

I could not feel any of my senses. Not even my will, the further we traveled. Time had frozen, or maybe it simply did not exist within this abyss. But I walked. Whether Guvel was with me or not, I did not know.

But the longer I wandered, my heart suddenly flashed back to a dream I had. It was one with Lilith and myself. It had appeared for so long—me surrounded by a black flame and her staring with longing.

At the time, her face was blurred, but it was what had brought us together. Chuckling as to why such a dream had entered my mind now, I smiled, only now taking not of a flame within my hands—the lamp.

"Abaddon, you stopped." Gurvel, with eyes that displayed no hope, whispered in my ear. The light within his eyes was fading, leaving behind the very darkness that surrounded us.

"I... Sorry," I said, holding the lamp with both hands; I lifted it to my eye. Holding it there for a moment, I tried to feel its warmth, but there was nothing. It was not cold nor hot. But it lit the way before me. It shimmered around me like the brightest flame.

Taking another step, I readied myself for what may happen, but nothing seemed to have appeared. Stepping more and more, I felt a little more confident. Only to stop.

Turning to the still trembling Gurvel, I held no words for this man, who could not see. He was blinded while my path was lit.

"lit?" I muttered with a condescending smile. "Is it innate we crave light? The world is so filled with color, but darkness..."

Steeling my heart, I made a decision. One that seemed only logical, for it was the only inconsistency within the darkness. Sending one last glance towards the lamp, I tossed it away down the endless abyss without a moment's hesitation. Watching the small flame fade with each passing second, I bowed. "A price must be paid, should it not? Then let it be my sight."

Falling once more into infinite darkness, I felt the fear return and fade. I was home, and I knew. I, the new prince of Noctem, would be welcomed.

...

'Hold Boy!" Hephaestus roared, hammering down upon the iron before my eyes. Sending embers flying like fireflies. His hands were covered in searing burns, and his skin was cracked just like those around me.

"It's here!" He hastily said as the underdeveloped metal that held no true form began to shimmer with a power of the Great three. Hell, The Abyss, And the Darkness. However, something else began to sliver its way into the alloy as Hephaestus hammered with everything he had.

It was like an unending stream of dings that went off like nukes, over and over till a string of endless strings of inscriptions appeared upon the formless alloy. To was black, blacker than anything I had ever seen, and within the center held a name.

"Arsene Snow," Baphomet whispered its name, my name. Wiping the sweat from his brow, he turned towards me and then to Hephaestus.

"Was it not supposed to be the powers we all used? Noctem, Hell, and the Abyss? Why is his name there?"

"The Sacrifice, the spear is bound to him." Adrienne respectfully muttered under the unending dings of Hephaestus hammer.

Coughing up a mouthful of blood, The God of Fire groaned as the skin upon his arm began to splatter with blood. "Increase the flow. I need to be faster." He insisted, infatuated with the metal below him.

Holding my flame still, I felt the beating of my heart within the metal; it was pulsing as it had never left its rightful place.

Staring down at the flames within my sight, I remained still unable to move and unable to speak. The Flames of Hellfire had truly become perfect, in almost every way, or at least that's what they told me.

They held me in reverence for some reason, but I did not understand why. Why I was even here, or why I needed to craft this weapon. I had wished to quit long ago, but I couldn't. It was like my own will had held me in place, leaving me tormented by not just the endless flow of time but myself. Were it not for her voice, her very gaze, my mind would have long been an empty husk.

"Arsene," She would call for me during the endless stream of time.

Her name was Lilith, and my only solace. We could talk, cry, and scream together. No one could see her, and I could not speak to anyone but her. At first, we were hesitant to speak to one another, but we grew closer as the endless torment continued. It was strange. I both knew her and didn't.

"When are you coming for me?" She would ask every time we saw one another. It was always filled with pain and sadness. Her eyes were tearful, but it was never broken. "You promised you would come."

"And I shall," I would reply, wishing to hold her, as she would me.

"Do you remember who I am?" She asked with a heartbreaking smile.

"Sometimes, but I will always remember your name." I said with tearful eyes, "I train every day to escape, I have understood one percent of the knowledge within me, and I will come."

Holding a smile, she kissed my lips, but I could not feel anything, for she was not here, "I will wait then."

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