Chapter 94: Welcome to Hell

"This fucker," Steven yelled. How did he not notice it had been a clone beforehand? Whoever had created those robes truly must have had unimaginable skills for crafting.

But Steven didn’t have time to search for the real one; first he had to reconstruct the boat in such a way as to not endanger anyone.

Letting his mana flow more precisely through the ship, a map slowly formed inside of his mind.

Showing every single corner and every single piece of steel still attached to its deck.

At the same time, he used his mana sense to feel for any of the remaining survivors and their locations.

After just a few minutes of searching and thinking, he was finally able to see the entirety of the ship and every person still alive on it.

Even though their numbers were lower than expected, he hoped it was because Moon had kept her promise of saving as many as possible.

If not, he was going to find them both and make them pay for the lives they have abandoned.

And with a single move of his hand, the boat began to shake, every single fire stopping to burn at once, even the water leaving the decks on its own.

Moving the entire ship slightly in the air, he only waited for the water to exist before freezing the ocean below.

As a gradually growing ice island formed below them, Steven sat the ship back down on the ice.

Meanwhile, his other hand was already bending the steel across multiple decks, saving anyone trapped below rubble.

Having his other hand free already, he began drawing green runes in the air and shooting them forward.

Just for the steel walls to make space for them to pass. Arriving at their targeted students.

Healing their broken bones and closing their bleeding wounds, he was quickly using up great amounts of mana.

Falling to his knees, sweat was starting to drop from his head to the ground until his body became too weak to even sweat anymore.

’’What is happening to me?’’ He whispered to himself; after all, he had undone the seal on his body. Something like this shouldn’t be an impossible task.

But it was, and he had no idea why.

But he didn’t end until he had healed even the last person bringing them to safety.

Just as he had finished his task, another pair of loud steps caught his attention.

Barely being able to turn his head, he could easily identify the moon-shaped mask through the room.

Speaking like cauching. "Came here to finish the job?" Steven asked Moon, who only continued her way towards him.

’’Don’t think I am finished so quickly.’’ He announced he was trying to raise on his legs, but his body was trembling too heavily to carry his own weight.

"I am not here to fight," Moon pronounced, her voice filled with sorrow.

Taking another step closer, Steven summoned back his cross-blade with a fly across the room inside his hand.

Moon only gave it a quick gaze as she stopped just a metre away from him, inside his combat range.

He wanted to move the blade to cut her down before she could attack him, but the sword resisted him.

Under his confused gaze, he slowly began to shrink down, falling from his hand and bouncing off the steel floor in a metallic clamber.

’’What... what are you doing?’’ Steven asked, but Moon simply stood there silently.

Until she moved once more, her hand moved towards her own face, pulling it down from her face.

Steven trembled backwards at the sight. ’’I see... you guys will take off everything.’’

He spoke once last time before falling forward into her arms asleep and tired, knowing everyone would be fine.

He had only restless dreams as he opened his eyes to the light of the sun warming his face.

He was lying inside a white room nearly completely empty except for the bed he was lying on.

Jumping to his legs, he turned around to inspect the room even further, but the bed had already disappeared into nothingness.

Now standing inside a fully empty room, Steven felt like he had forgotten something important.

’’Where are you?’’ He spoke quietly, knowing it would hear him.

As the white wall in front of him changed its colour into a silver smile.

’’Why are you limiting me?’’ He continued to ask, stepping face-to-face with the smile.

"Oh, have you already figured out who I am?" The smile spoke with a chuckle.

"You’re me, or at least trying to be me," Steven stated as he watched the wall transform one more time.

As it turned into a mirror showing only himself in the white room.

Even though whatever was standing in front of him was looking identical to himself, Steven could feel something was wrong with it.

’’Sorry, I don’t really have time for another soul trying to destroy my body,’’ Steven proclaimed, destroying the mirror with a single punch.

But the shard continued speaking with him. ’’Who says I’m not the real one and you’re just the intruder?’’

As Steven could feel something trying to attack his mind, he shook it off with just a single thought.

"You were the light at the bottom from the ocean, weren’t you?" Steven asked, not giving the doubt of giving words a single meaning.

The being’s voice quickened as if it were confused and scared. "How? No, why isn’t it working?"

Steven shrugged; he already knew the royal family were doing illegal experiments on souls and people, which is most likely the reason for Merency’s powers too.

But whatever was standing in front of him was just an imperfect version of a living being.

Picking up one glass shard after another, he crushed them into dust inside of his hands.

"Wait, stop, I can grant you power beyond your imagination." The soldier tried to stop him, but Steven continued with his task.

Crushing another piece of the mirror, the beings’ pained screams filled the room.

Ignoring its screams, Steven continued as its begging grew louder and louder.

"Please, I will tell you anything or do anything; just stop," it begged once more as Steven held in.

’’Who are you truly?’’ Steven asked, pressing harder on the shard, nearly shattering it.

"Argh, stop, stop. I will tell you if you stop." It answered, screaming at his face.

But his grip only tightened. ’’Just answer.’’

"I don’t know; I really don’t know. I can only remember waking up inside of your body, nothing more,’’ it begged desperately.

But Steven didn’t believe a single word it was saying. ’’Let me ask something different then. What do you want from me? ’’

Suddenly the whole room began to spin, throwing him against one of the walls as he dropped the glass shard to the ground.

’Simply, my goal is to replace you, Steven.’’ The shard spoke, sinking into the ground.

’’After all, why should a bastard of hell even be allowed inside such a prestigious school? ’’ The room itself was speaking to him as it began to swallow his legs.

Falling through the ground, he found himself lying inside the bed again, as if everything until now had just been a bad deja vu.

But he knew it wasn’t after all; he could feel its presence still surrounding everything around him.

"You have lost Bright; just give up." The voice spoke against this time, pulling him through his bedsheets.

He was standing inside the forest, watching Calostie execute one of the poor students who was so unlucky to stand in her way.

The next moment he stood next to Lucy, who stared at him with empty eyes, her mind cleared of any memories.

Still, his face didn’t change one bit as he stared at each gruesome event.

Watching himself hand Alem the bomb just before it exploded.

He himself found the corpse that had died because of the explosion he had caused.

Himself not being able to save every student during Franclin’s killing spree.

Taking a deep breath Steven spoke with his voice firm. ’’Was that everything you wanted to show me?’’

"What?" the voice answered, confused at his question.

"Well then, get ready to see everything; let’s see how you handle that.’’ Steven announced after all, everything that was happening here was just part of his mind.

Meaning he had just as much control as it has.

The surroundings changed once more.

This time his double was standing inside the room as the main character.

Just that the room was one gruesome sight.

It was hell on earth.

A tower looking like a titan standing in the distance.

As the whole world around him was burning, eating away at his skin.

Screams of terror and pain were so loud it could make somebody deaf.

Lying next to the double were three dismembered bodies barely recognisable as corpses.

’’What... What the fuck is this?’’ His double screamed in fear, trying to step backwards and run away.

But Steven wasn’t finished, as he appeared just behind him.

Grabbing the backside of his head, he forced him to stare at the tower.

As the red sky above it started to crack open.

The double didn’t even have time to scream.

As it was frozen in fear.

Until its soul couldn’t handle it anymore.

Shattering into pieces.

Its presence is forever gone.