The Wielder of Death Magic

‘Creation, Death, Time, and symbols of Power; are the pillars of change. On parting from the one in three, the dimension expanded – gods and demons were born, titans being the first incarnation of all-mighty beings. The growth was harmless, to me, I saw it as sending rabbits into the wild; harmless. They gathered power and rose to powerful status, it didn’t matter long as the nature of things was unchanged. However, one of the gods couldn’t refuse his lust for power – they went and developed the process of Domains. To expand an area beyond Reality’s command and distance from Creation, Destruction, and Flow. I saw no harm, they were experimenting. War broke out, irreparable damage was done. The name Alfred sparked fear in the hearts of deities foolish to go against his power. Before Alfred, there had been skirmishes, but nothing in this scale. The then Wielder of Death sought foresight – he was led astray by a scheming deity. A false prophecy was fed, such, was willingly walked into signing a world-ending contract. The God who said so, I confess, was an ally of mine. Alfred’s soul exists beyond limitation, and I instantly knew, he wasn’t of this reality. Allow me to turn the clock, we go beyond the birth of the known era – there exists another world before this one, similar in many ways and different in even more. Think of it like a chain, every start and end are linked to the previous and form a loop. In that reality, which I refer to as Ashna, is one of many realities. The problem then was a lack of life, there was virtually nothing, and evolution was hampered by the filter of life. Only from the intervention of the Judges, was their life. Even still, after hundreds and thousands of years, the growing greed of the living made hell. They schemed for the dethroning of the Adjudicator. The nameless man struck the living like a giant squashing ant – he set about destroying the very fabric of reality. If we were to turn back before Ashna, we would get another similar scene, the arrival of the Adjudicator – the true harbinger of the end.’

‘Who are the Adjudicators you may ask? I can’t tell you. The nature of how they come together is unknown. One common factor is Death and Time. I suspect Zeus knows, it’s without surprise that he looked for the book of past, present, and future to find information. Sadly, for the supreme god, what he seeks exists beyond the limits of reality and has since stopped to exist. To ensure conformity, I sought after the truth. If reality ends, how then do I remember? I can’t say. I only know I was there when it all started. And since then, I’ve been able to travel from across those realms and watch as the start and end set about. Before I continue, there’s a distinction to be made. Reality can have multiple starts and ends – however, when the Adjudicator is awakened, tis the end of said reality, and thus, everything associated within. Look at it as a container, when squeezed, its contents get reduced to nothing. And so, a clean sheet for the start of another reality. I think it makes sense; it sure does make sense to me. In my experience of running after the truth, I realized there needed to be a soul like mine, someone to exist beyond everything. We’re tied, we’re common and we’re familiar. Alfred’s rise, how he was chastised the moment he came into being – it looked like his true nature was prominent to the subconscious fight for survival. He was prominent and in more ways than one a malady. Misfortunes but a given title for the adverse effect realize imposes on him. He’s the end, and nature knows he’s no good for the world and survival. Death’s offer to turn Alfred into the inheritor, was, by all means, the secondary nature of cleansing’s reaction against the war and damage done to the world.’

‘The Adjudicator is the origin point of the three in one, Creation, Death, and Time, without him, there is nothing to stand upon and flourish. At the start of every new reality, the Adjudicator’s power is split into three symbols, which come to be known as the trifactor of Order and given to chosen souls. They then begin the process of evolution whilst the weakened soul is left to slumber. The Adjudicator decides if he wishes to partake in reality, and as I witnessed from Ashna; wasn’t hard to see why the Adjudicator would want to stay from worldly affairs.’

‘I schemed for his awakening. When his soul awakened, I sensed a familiar calling. I was drawn to him and there, I watched as Alfred turned into his incarnations until the time came for us to meet. I accepted his offer, joined his soul, and there, established my doubts. Alfred, Staxius, and Igna – they are the three in one, the soul of he who decides. I’m their aid, the chronicler if you’d like. Reality’s been tainted. I don’t see the purpose in allowing life to continue, affinity of magical properties has but increased the potency of gods and demons. They give a direct line of control in matters which shouldn’t be made available to their kind. They’ve desecrated the freedom we of the Council have granted. I forgot to mention. The Council is a collection of the strongest beings in any given realm. For the Adjudicator to thrive, he must have his army, as more often than not, the whole of everything turns against him. It’s a lonely place and a harsh fight… despite this, if placed alone, he would have no trouble dispatching any number of enemies, granted that he has the powers of Creation, Death, and Time. In Igna’s case, he needs not the power of Creation, he has me and my symbol, granted by the previous Adjudicator’s incarnation – the Symbol of Origin. I schemed for his awakening, I schemed to see the world end. Igna, I’ll apologize one day – you’ve worked hard to make the world what it is, and now, I’ll have to ask for its destruction. We might have the hardest fight yet. Someway or another, a fragment of the previous Reality, Ashna, escaped into the current Reality, Destha. It has spoken to the gods and has prophesized of the coming, end, I know not its identity, I but sense him, the one who will counter our objectives.’

“Is this all?”

“Igna?”

“Yeah,” the note turned to ash, Origin sat in the open air, pondering over the untainted landscape of Oriantia, “-have you looked at the records?”

“I suppose,” he summoned a cigarette from nothing, “-I suspected my powers growing. It makes sense, my words have power, and when I ordered from those of the mortal realm, they could but obey. I didn’t see this coming, not from a mile away. Here I thought being Alfred was fun, but I come to find out the mantle of the Devil actually holds weight. In many ways, I am a destroyer.”

.....

“Does it bother you?”

“Of course, it does,” he exhaled, “-aside from love towards my kingdom -Hidros, I have nothing bad to say about Orin. It’s a strange world with many fun things. I scoured memories of previous realities, let me say, they sucked. You, Origin, have been there from the start,” the regard tightened, “-you schemed for me to awaken.”

“Yeah.”

“Origin,” he crossed his arms, “-if I were to say no, what then, could you fight against me? If reality drives itself to nothing, would there be a need for I to exist?’

“Is this about, resetting the state of things to match your ideal?”

“Yes. I want to know how involved you are in the world. Are you an observer or a manipulator? You’ve brought me to power, and have done so knowing the dangers it may pose. Still, you’re adamant about ending what has flourished.”

“Are you crossed?”

“No.”

“Then there’s no issue. Igna, you do as you please. Oriantia is proof enough the End is near. You subconsciously gathered allies and built a world far beyond the limits of what could be deemed ordinary. You destroyed and absorbed other worlds – then, dare to question my allegiance? Excuse me.”

“Put that way, it sort of make sense. Don’t take it the wrong way, Origin, I mean no disrespect. Oriantia is the start of the end, you’re right.”

“Igna,” he rose a sincere gaze, “-you’re scared about leaving Orin, aren’t you?”

“…”

“Yes, I feel it,” he smiled, “-we share the same mind and soul, Igna. Your true feeling isn’t lost on me, despite the whole turning emotionless phase, sure broke that spell easily.”

“Come on,” he puffed, “-the merciless killer arc was nice. I love to torture, watching as my victims take their last breath. The question I ought to ask is,” sternness grasped his visage, “-what about Undrar?”

“She’s the god of death and will remain so until time ends. You’ve already awakened. As such, don’t need to gather symbols. Don’t change the topic. Igna, are you scared?”

“About leaving Orin?” he paused, “-not so much scared, I’m more along the lines of regretful. I mean, it is my home – suppose tis like a child leaving their mother’s house. Don’t be so sentimental,” he shook his head and went up to the end of the platform, “-Oriantia is our castle. We will gather our forces here and lead battles as they come to our doorstep. Strategically speaking, taking the battle to them is a sound idea. I, however, doubt we’ll have much chance going against Zeus and Artanos. The best bet is the Aapith nation. I have Lilith and her kids – if I gather the prince/princesses of Hell, we might have a good chance.”

“We have the Shadow Realm, why not use them? someone did say they would be their Shadow Army.”

“I don’t want to end the fight too quickly,” he laughed, “-shall we go back?”

“I’ll stay here, Igna. Oriantia needs to be readied for what’s to come. Remember, your powers have returned – therefore, tis best you don’t use them, not until tis necessary. Know how to hold back. A wisemen knows how to hide his cards, yes?”

“Don’t twist my own ideals against me,” he snuffed the cigarette, and the realm disappeared into the thunderous raging Toria hurricane. ‘-Artanos’ send his servants,’

*Oriantia; Hall of Justice – Release,* he closed into a fist, and the realm shattered into tiny pieces.

*Bring forth an army of Clockwork Soldiers,* giant portals surrounded the ruined church.

“So much for that,” Gophy laughed, “-your strong and can’t even help your child. What’s the point of being powerful, ay, Igna, what’s the point?” she smirked, he stepped and grabbed her neck, raising her over the broken altar, “-look me in the eye, Gophy, you made your choice and must now pay,” a fraction of a second, a trident went straight through him and shattered the spine, skewing the innards organs, “-what the-” he fell on his knees and locked into place. The crashing rain gathered as walls, *Realm Expansion: Atlantis, the Sunken City.*

“About time,” she gasped, “-how long were you going to take, Poseidon?”

“My bad,” he stretched and flaunted his muscular build, “-I was out having fun. The women of Istra don’t compare to the women in Dawn.”

“You and you’re love for pleasure,” she limped and stumbled onto one knee, “-I’m hurt bad,” she coughed, “-he took my symbol. Poseidon, release the realm, let’s leave.”

Ire-filled gaze, “-he hurt you,” he extended his palm, the spear shot back, “-he hurt you, Gophy, I can’t let him live.”

“Poseidon, it’s fine, we need to go,” she swallowed hard, “-or do you want me to d-die…”

‘I c-c-can’t move,’ he barely turned towards Poseidon, “-d-d-drop…” a mass of volatile energy fell and ate the ground.

“LEAVE, NOW!” Gophy screamed.

“H-H-HEAL!” he barely pronounced, a chilling fear crawled Poseidon, *Gates of the Forgotten City, OPEN!*