章節 18: Claudius vs. Ice Phoenix (The End), Sunset

Claudius' final cry lit up the ruined castle like a storm of fire. The sound echoed in every corner, as if the earth itself shook from the cruelty of what was happening. His body began to crack, and from those cracks emerged deformed limbs - hands, legs, and strange faces. They weren't just limbs, they were the souls of people and other creatures. It was as if his body was turning into a creature from hell, a tortured body with millions of dark memories.

"Do you like these scenes? This is my body now. The body of thousands of souls that I have drained... Everything in this body is the fruit of sacrifice."

Claudius transformed into a huge, completely disfigured creature, filled with glowing blood-colored eyes and giant arms that stretched out like black snakes. The Phoenix, the symbol of power and immortality, stepped back for a moment, as if the sight had broken something inside him.

But Claudius did not give him time to meditate.One of the giant arms that came out of his body quickly turned around the bird, despite its enormous size.

"You are nothing but a lowly creature.. I've always been like this."

The Phoenix's cry was inflamed with pain and anger. He tried to use the last of his remaining strength to ice Claudius's body, trying to smash it with eternal ice. The forces of ice gathered around him until darkness and cold spread throughout the whole forest. But Claudius, or the entity he was now, had reached a stage where the ice could no longer destroy him. The spirits possessed by him were absorbing any external force and shattering it.

The ice thrown by the Phoenix cracked, crumbled like fragile glass until it exploded into the surrounding space, the tormented souls inside Claudius were consuming everything around.

Suddenly, Claudius turns around and pulls the Phoenix towards himself, in a cruel moment. He pulled the giant bird, trapping it in his giant arms. The Phoenix tried to escape, but his grip was like iron and ice, he could not disengage from it.

With a devastating cry, the Phoenix's body was torn in half. His frozen wings were breaking like broken bones and his remains fell to the ground covered in ice, leaving behind a vortex of overlapping light and darkness the whole castle was shaking from the force of the shock.

After time and space calmed down around him, Claudius returned to his original form, but the air around him was still heavy with cold and death. He was panting with difficulty, except that his eyes were full of madness. It was as if they were enduring unimaginable torment. It was like the eyes of a lost demon.

"The strongest monster in the ice?Just another addition to my belongings, "he said, smiling, before holding up his spear, which appeared out of nowhere.

Claudius walked over the remains of the Phoenix, while moving through the ruins of the ruined castle, his steps suddenly stopped at a strange sight. A body was lying among the debris, completely still. There is no movement in it except dust scattering over it. He did not know this person, but something in his scene caught his attention.

This was Ratos!

Claudius approached him, at that moment, ratus 'left eye moved slowly, as if trying to catch Claudius' words. There was no physical movement, only that eye that began to widen and close in a slow pattern, as if showing the remnants of consciousness that had not yet given up.

Claudius kept watching that pale green eye for a while, and then he smiled a cruel smile as he said in a low voice "it seems that you have experienced worse than hell itself, Oh this... But you're still here. Really weird."

He stood for a while, lazily observing the place around him, before sighing and raising his voice, " Four news for you, oh this... And I think you'd be grateful to be alive to hear it."

He paused for a moment, assessing the body in front of him with that cruel gaze to which he is accustomed. Then he continued in a cold tone: "the first good news... You will not be sacrificed on the night of the red moon."his words were devoid of pity، as if it were just an advertisement.

Then he looked at the body again, raised his eyebrow with a sarcastic exclamation, "as for the bad news... It's because your whole body has become marginalized. There is nothing from you now that shows you as a human being except that beautiful green eye. "

Ratos's body was more like a reincarnated nightmare: his limbs twisted as if shattered and wrongly reshaped and his face disfigured by his burnt right half, while the hollow of his empty eye only increases his awe. His skin is etched with strange marks, with burnt and cracked spots, as if fire and ice took turns tearing him apart.

Claudius took a deep breath, indifferent to the presence of this body lying in front of him. "The third News and I don't know its type... Your white friend has become a magician."

Ratos ' body lay still as if it had lost all connection with life, but when he said, "White became a magician...", His only eye shrank a little, trembled as if the news hit something deep inside him.

Claudius noticed this, smiled a pale smile full of sarcasm, and slowly approached as he bent down to speak directly to his only eye:

"Oh... This seems to have piqued your interest. But don't worry, I have one last News... I think I'll add you to my collection."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I ran through the forest, trying to get away from the castle, which is teeming with conflict. The battle between the ice Phoenix and Claudius was still going on with all the violence inside, and the ground was shaking from the intensity of the fight. It was clear that any step I took now could be decisive in determining my fate, so I didn't stop.

"I have to get to the border, beyond the mountain."

Those were my only thoughts now, as I raced between rocks and trees. I felt the need to escape, not just to survive, but to get away from all this hell.

"How did you get to the mountain the first time?"!"

I couldn't believe that I was the same person who found himself on the mountainside the first night after being called from the system.

But before I could think enough, I felt something strange.A strange feeling swept through my mind. Something heavy, as if my mind was torn apart in an instant, and then visions came. Blurry, confused, but he can't stop it. A voice was calling me from the depths of my mind.

"White... You're running away, aren't you? "

The voice was deep and restrained with sadness, but also carried a kind of anger. I paused for a moment, my heart beating faster. I recognized the voice, but I couldn't remember who it was.

"I was like them... One of the four, I came with them, but they betrayed me. I wasn't the choice... I fell because of them."

The images were overlapping, blurry scenes of a short man with a long brown mustache, his face wrinkled, his eyes full of sadness and anger. I could see him standing in the distance, staring at me, like a passing ghost. Then, the words materialized in my mind, harsh and harsh, and passed over my tongue like an ancient cry.

"You came with the first king, and the other two regents... No. We were looking for the fragments of the complete song... I thought they would understand, but they didn't. I failed them, they betrayed me... Why? Because they were afraid of the end."

Suddenly, the world around me dissipated, replaced by fragmented images. Bodies scattered across a darkened landscape, hands amputated, eyes empty, and faint screams that echoed across an eerie desert.

"I betrayed them?! Our vision was to break the chains between the world and the magical house worlds, but they couldn't bear that this might bring his anger. They fabricated a conspiracy against me and accused me of treason."

The sound was echoing in my mind and I felt like memories were leaking from me, plunging me into the fog. I couldn't understand much, but I knew one thing: this is not something to ignore.

"They accused me of treason, they left me facing my death. I was alone in a battle against them, but I ran away. I left them behind, I hid in this castle until one day... Day.. "

"Damn, is Wi-Fi bad in the woods?"

But then the sound gets closer, as if it is about to completely devour my brain.

"But you're here now. You are the second dissident guardian, and you will take my place. Take revenge on me. Complete the path we came to the continent."

I closed my eyes for a moment, and I could feel a growing pressure in my chest, as if the force that was controlling me was leaving me no choice. The book in my hand was burning with a strong light, and torment was seeping through every bone of my body.

"Will you continue? Or will you be afraid, like them"The last voice was heavy, as if the Guardian was directly challenging me.

I smiled, despite everything, despite all the pain, despite these cruel images that crept into my mind. She refused. "I will not be the second dissident Guardian. I will not follow anyone's path and become the second... I'll just be the first White."

"But as soon as I said that, I even felt a terrible force suffocating me, pressing on my chest as if it wanted to take away my soul . I had no choice but to give in to her weight. And with pain, I sighed, and I couldn't take it anymore. "Well, I'll continue... But not for revenge, or for the nonsense of the song, or for breaking restrictions... I will continue for myself."

I took a deep breath, and with it I felt that force that was pressing on me gradually disappear, I looked around to find myself on top of the mountain. Looks like I was running all the time.

I stood at the top of the mountain, my breath heavy from running, my body oscillating between fatigue and will. The ground beneath my feet is hard and harsh, as if the mountain itself rejects those who approach its summit. Suddenly, I realize that the sun has set.

"What a strange day!"

In that moment, it was perhaps the greatest thing I could have ever seen in my life... sunset. Maybe all of life means nothing compared to this moment of supreme beauty... maybe.

The horizon is ablaze with warm colors, while the sky turns from golden to deep red. Everything stops for a moment, except for the wind urging me on...Where? I don't know yet.