Deux Soturi

The sky was tainted with crimson black that even the rays of evening sun could not penetrate it. Though it was not a complete a twilight, the motionless corpses gave the impression that by passing through an alley will be evenly impossible. The buildings were covered with ignited fireflies and the sand keeps on rolling between your eyes and faces.

It all started on the year 9057, when all lands were completely desolate, the only source of hydration was the blood of starving creatures, and all the treasure on the planet were blood and meat. Money, gold, silvers; all these were nothing but unnecessary luxuries. There was very little on this new world. People’s lives were nothing more than sources of blood and meat. There was no government anymore. All needs were satisfied by the use of force. This new world only has but one sacred law, and that law was,

“Kill of those who are weak.”

With all of these things that had been happening on the world, there were still a couple of people who believed that cannibalism was not the only answer to survival. One of these was Marcel. Marcel was a 24-year-old pacifist and doesn’t respect the so-called “sacred law.” The way he declined the new idea and relied on vegetation with the use of seawater and mud was his way of living. One night, after he harvested his plants and ate his meal, he went outside to watch the world rot with the smell of guts and corpses and dust. He sat on the ground. Slowly, he lowered his body and looked up to the painted sky. A few minutes had pasta and without knowing, he fell asleep.

A mixture of low and high voices whispered, “Son, wake up.”

Marcel replied, “Who’s there?”

“It’s me. Centro, the god of the ‘fortitude’”

Marcel asked, “Wh-What do you want from me?”

“I have chosen you to exterminate this new world”

Marcel doubted the voice, but though he was had misgivings, he answered bluntly, “So what do I get in return?”

“I will give you a choice. It will be either an assurance of paradise or…”

“Or what?”

“…Or you will become the king of the new world that I will create”

Without hesitating, Marcel answered, “Heck yeah! So I could rule the new world that you will create?”

“If only you could agree and will not break the conditions that I will bind upon you”

“So what are these conditions that you talk about?”

“You will be given 200 days to kill 300 sins”

Marcel asked, “Kill sins?”

“Yes, you must kill sins with the sword that you will find in the graveyard of Scout City in Madrid Kingdom. In Scout City, you will find an angel that I will send to watch you. This angel will neither be your enemy nor your friend, so do not expect any assistance whatsoever from him. Moreover, you cannot hurt the humans. Once you do, nothing will happen to you, but the strength of the sword will depress. Do not kill any humans or do any sin. Break this contract and the curse that I bind on you will cut your head from your shoulders. Fail and you perish. Succeed and you will gain power and peace. Declining this contract will only damn you to hell.”

“So you’re saying that there’s no way to escape, huh?”

“Now, I will summon your body to Sifrad desert, south of Scout City. I have neither faith in you that you will succeed nor the intention for you to be damned. It just happened that you are the chosen one on this quest to eliminate this world. Now, be gone!”

Marcel found himself sleeping on the desert with the sun rising. The only though that ran through his head was, “This’ll be fun”

While Marcel struggled in the desert to get to Scout City, Centro went to The Hall of Avo and there met with the other gods of different worlds. The hall was not as grand as anyone would imagine it would be. The gods had nothing to sit on but the ground. In the center, a round table was set with eight names written on it. The name of a god was written on each one. Centro went to his place. By the time that he got there, the assembly started without any delay. The god of gods, Avo, stood up, raised both his hands, and commanded the other gods.

“Come, let us now start. Everyone, state the name of the human that you have picked to judge your planet and why did you chose them. Let us start with Centro, since the idea of the cleansing was his”

“I have chosen the pacifist Marcel. For he is one of the descendants of the ‘Blood Line’, that all other gods have. He is the son of Merkez, the god of destruction that fell in love with a mortal.”

An infuriated god stood up and stated, “That’s impossible! We damned Merkez in level seventy-two of hell after we heard that he descended to your world.”

Centro replied, “But he is the son of Merkez, he blessed his mortal paramour with a son. He also blessed this son of his the ‘Blood Line’ that only gods could have.”

Another god muttered, “If what you just said is true, then it is possible that Merkez also cursed his son the ‘Dark Matter’”

Avo asked the gods, “What is this ‘Dark Matter’ that you speak of?”

Briller, the god of Forgiveness answered, “It’s almost the same as the ‘Blood Line’, the only difference is that the power of the ‘Dark Matter’ came from the daemons of the Underworld.”

Avo asked again the gods, “So how will Merkez curse his son with this ‘Dark Matter’ if only the daemons of the Underworld obtain it?”

Centro answered in a low voice, “Merkez was the god of Destruction and thus also had the same power of the daemons. He had both the power of the ‘Blood Line’ and the ‘Dark Matter’. He had the potential to destroy both heaven and the underworld. So both the daemons and the gods kept their eyes on him.”

“So what does it have to do with his son Marcel?”

“If he really did bless his son with the ‘Blood Line’ and curse him with the ‘Dark Matter’, Marcel may have the potential to destroy us too. For now, he has no idea of these powers. Therefore, it is much better to keep this a secret from them.”

Briller replied, “Shall we forgive this Marcel that we speak of? Or shall we execute this mortal with the power of both the daemons and the gods before he discovers it?”

Centro answered with a smirk on his face, “We should use this mortal to execute our world. Promise him power to rule on your world and he will not think of avenging his damned father, but if you were to use him, do not tell him about his powers. Do not make him familiar with the other gods nor the daemons.”

Avo stood up and proclaimed, “That settles it. We shall use this mortal for the good of our world, in return, promise him the absolute rule on your world. If he were to learn about his power, eliminate him. I have other business with my own world. This will end our assembly, dismiss!”

Everyone dissolved into thin air except Centro and Briller. They both had smirks on their faces as if they were the daemons themselves. The two of them stood up and walked out of the Hall of Avo.

Centro asked Briller, “Shall we have a quick walk on the riverside of the ‘Fleuve de Vie?”

Briller replied, “Sure”

Both Centro and Briller walked on the riverside without saying a word. They seemed to be very relaxed. Centro scratched his head and asked Briller, “So shall we give Marcel both ‘Miekka’ and the ‘Bouclier’?”

“If we do that, the ‘Dark Matter’ inside him will increase tenfold.”

“That was my idea from the very beginning.”

“You still haven’t changed, Centro. You’re the one who made Merkez fall in love with that human and yet…”

Centro closed his eyes and grinned. A few second later he said, “And yet what?”

“And yet you persuaded us into a majority vote to damn Merkez to hell. You probably know that he gave the human a son and blessed it with the ‘Blood Line’.”

“Maybe I do, Maybe I don’t. Anyway, Briller, shall we give Marcel, the son of Merkez, the god of destruction both ‘ Miekka’ and ‘Bouclier’?”

“Huh… it’s up to you Centro. I already gave you my ‘Bouclier’. You already gave him ‘Miekka’ that lies on the graveyard at Scout City. If you want to have some fun with the risk of your very existence on the line, then do so.”

“Then I shall give him both ‘Miekka’ and ‘Bouclier’”