Chapter 37: Aftermath of a Hideous Sin

"He... he killed a god?"

The red mage, the terror of Mayn kingdom, the nightmare in red, the destroyer of a hundred cities, Guardian protector of Mayn bloodline, the dog of the Greens, there were a dozen other nicknames given to the Red mage.

His own name had been forgotten in history so it had been a long time since he had heard it himself.

At most, people referred to him with that name as a show of respect, but not the whole name. Not the true name.

He believed that there were few people in this world who could stand against him, he always believed that there would be few entities in this world that he cannot survive against.

He had never thought of facing the gods. It was obviously an impossible thing to begin with.

There’s no way you can face the gods, and he had confirmed his lifelong suspicion right when he heard the voice of the divine being in this place for the first time.

"He really..."

He was scared.

For the first time in his life, he genuinely felt scared.

"My lord..."

He felt utterly helpless, powerless, devoid of all will to even stand right now. He was on the ground, kneeling, his face, unmasked, covered in hideous scars older than the Mayn throne, lay bare before them for the time being.

And yet, the only thing he saw was the orange shadow of the reaper. The god killer. The Stained.

He himself was of a demonic bloodline and yet, in that moment, he felt a strange disgust that only a human could feel towards a ’man’ who had ended the life of a divinity, something they served, something that he feared more than death itself.

He watched the reaper kill the god, he watched the reaper shatter reality, he watched as the reaper emptied every trace of that unknown god, erased it like that thing never existed.

He watched as the space which was only supposed to be a small empty room retired to its true form... and then, he saw the horrors that came as a result of his heinous actions.

There was hate in the reaper’s eyes: hate towards the god, hate towards their kind, hate towards this world, hate towards everything that was... hate bigger than any demon he had felt to possess, hate that transcended the mortal realm and became divine in itself.

Yet, there was something strange in that hate... it was pure.

It was as if he knew truths that none of them had any clue about, truths that mortals weren’t supposed to know, truths that would shatter all of their perceptions of reality.

"Barn!"

"On it!"

They were setting up some strange device right now, along with magic and a formation made of pure Aura.

They were trying to save their partner right now, but the red mage’s eyes were stuck on that godly figure which had just killed a god. A god!

’It’s just like the start.’

When that hooded woman took his energy to activate the demonic spell without the powers of either the gods or the demons, she proved that the laws that they knew were not the truth.

Then, he watched the demonic creatures that were made by the divine being: a stark contradiction to his perception of the holy and the divine.

He experienced a dichotomy here that left him heartless. And yet, in place of his cold demonic heart, a new, warmer flower was blossoming as he watched the descent of the reaper... and his immediate fall to misery.

"ARGHHHHHHHHH!"

Using that strange power took an extreme toll on his body.

Right before their eyes, his muscles started rupturing like some popcorn popping inside an oven.

The king who had been worshiping the reaper as if some true god with his hands clasped together and red knight watched as the ladies used strange methods, spells, devices, magic, aura, techniques that seemed far more painful than what he was going through itself.

The two of them watched as the three of them did everything in their power to stabilise him, using even elixirs that were seen as priceless in the world.

In the matter of minutes, they exhausted every technique in their books and yet, the result was not satisfactory.

"Pax." So, the Primus turned towards the king, her eyes mournful, asking her student something that she should not, not as the teacher.

"Even my life is yours, teacher." But the king of Mayn was ready as he knelt down before the woman, his hand stretched before her.

"Thank you."

She had her student’s support, but she knew that wasn’t going to be enough. She would have to sacrifice her own life force to revive her husband.

At least, she would have done that.

"M’Lady!" But, the red mage stepped forward and knelt before her as well, his intentions as clear as the day.

"I cannot ask of you-."

"My life is my master’s and thus my master’s master as well. Allow me to be of service, please."

This experience had somehow moved the demonic mage.

It changed something inside of him. Something that wasn’t supposed to be changeable.

He was a dog bred and raised for the sole purpose of being a guard to the throne. He had no will of his own, he cannot do as he wanted, he wasn’t a human in the normal sense to begin with.

For decades, the only thing he had known about was his duty and the lives of his master’s people.

He had lived for that duty all his life, but he wanted to give up that precious life? Just to save a man he knew nothing about?

What was he thinking? The primes knew not.

What she did know, however, was that there was someone willing to share the burden of a mission far greater than his own.

So, she took their hands.

And she pulled their powers out of their bodies like the sun sucking out a child’s stamina in summer heat.

Then, she used her own power, the most of what she could right now, and made another safety net for her husband.

She knew this would still not be enough, requiring a long rest from his side, but it’d save him.

And for them, that was more than enough.