Chapter 80: Ank return
Before the war started on duskwild planet
Ank's heartbeat had stopped.
Yet, he was not dead.
His body was in duskwild , but his mind and soul was somewhere else,He was floating in the endless void where even light can't enter.
Why am I fighting?
The question echoed in his mind louder than the sound of collapsing galaxies. His lips did not move, but the words he thought were like a curse.
"What is the meaning of fighting when I cannot protect the ones who matter most?"
Maya's face flashed before him. Her red hair and bright eyes filled with innocence and trust . He saw her face again and again, how she protected him even at his death door.How much she helped him in the last year .
And then the old man ,his master. The one who had immense trust that I will protect Maya at any cost. The one who helped me when I was at my weakest state. That same old man was on the brink of death and I cannot do anything to protect him .
Ank closed his eyes, the same thoughts were spreading in his mind .Ank soul slowly started covering in darkness ,mixing with the surrounding darkness .
"Why must I endure this torment? Why was my power sealed?"Why did I become like these?
His voice was soundless with guilt of how he had become so powerless . He clenched his fists, trembling in frustration.
"If my power was unsealed, if I could wield it again, I could protect Maya. I could save my master. No one…no one could stand in my way!"
The thought was intoxicating, like venom in his veins. He remembered the feeling of that unsealed power, power that was the cause of his downfall, the unyielding force that had once bent the Universe to his will and had only one result ,destruction and destruction.
But it was gone,he was now not someone that even the gods cannot touch him ,he was now a normal mortal that destiny had ended.
Stripped from him by fate ,or perhaps, by his own sins.
"Why?" His question was echoing in his mind and the now darkness covered half of his body . "Why does my greed for power keep growing? Why do I crave more even when I already possess what others can only dream of? Why couldn't I stop them when I had time ? Why can't I understand how stupid I was ?"
Ank did not know his power for dominance was the result of his love for someone that changed everything about him.His love was the reason his path changed from ruling Universe to dominate Universe.
This did not mean that he had not dream of becoming Emperor but the path he was using was different from the path he started using after meeting someone he loved with all his heart ,his love was the main reason why Ank wanted power.
Now he remembered his titles ,his legends ,his strength that no one in the Universe ever achieved.
He was the First Emperor of the Universe.
The words carried an unknown weight, not as a boast but as fact. Entire Empires and Civilization had knelt before his name. Entire races had trembled when his gaze fell upon them. Even gods, the arrogant rulers of the Universe , had chosen to step aside rather than cross paths with him.
He was Ank ??????. A being whose power could destroy galaxies without lifting a finger. A man who had once held everything. Wealth,Loyalty,Fear, Reverence,strength ,luck ,respect ,everything that can dream of any gods or mortal.
And yet, here he was broken, regretting, questioning himself .
"If I wish for it," he whispered to himself ,forcing his closed lips to speak , "I can end this suffering. I can let everything go."
A soft image rose in his mind ,his mother. Her smile was gentle, her voice was sweet and the power to create everything by saying . She loved him beyond reason, beyond rules, beyond the judgment of the Universe.
"If I ask her if I tell her I wish for a peaceful life she will grant it. She will bend reality itself for me. The universe will support me. All doors will open. Every obstacle will fade. No one can stop the Universe from fulfilling my wish at any cost."
It was true. He had that option. To leave everything behind. To live without this seal , without burdens of his past mistake, without struggling,So why? Why was he still trembling and struggling for every moment? Why did his soul and mind refuse peace?
He dug his nails into his palms, his body shaking as though the darkness itself was mocking him.
"I could live happily, I could live freely then why?" His voice cracked. "Why am I still struggling? Why can't I step away?Why am I doing this?Why can't I love in peace ?"
Faces start emerging in his mind but not of Maya ; Not his master ,Not his mother.
But them.
Immortality.
The Seven Beasts.
Mystic.
Nyxarion.
Names that were carved in his heart that he cannot forget at any cost ,these were his past mistakes .They were his friends once ,His rivals, his equals, his companions ,they were the beings that had power to shape the Universe at will.They had helped him in every moment he need help.Together they had fought, and laughed but he had betrayed them.His biggest mistake that he had made.
They all had the same master as he was that they respected beyond anything . He also disappointed his master who had put trust in him. The master ,who gathered all of them in hope that in future they will protect the Universe but Ank greed led everything destroyed.
Now they were sealed, bound in chains just as he was. Their eternal fury waits that one day they will release from their seal and the day Ank will die with their own hands.
"If they are ever released," Ank whispered bitterly, "they will hunt me. They will want my death. No matter the cost."
The darkness reached towards his chest and slowly all his past mistakes started coming in his mind.
"Why did I betray them?" The words ripped from him like knives. "If they were here, if I had not turned my back on them, they could have helped me. Together, we could face any problem ,Together we could have saved everything."
Instead, he had chosen betrayal. His greed for power had been the knife that severed their bond.
"This greed," he hissed. "It is my downfall. My curse. The root of everything I've lost."
He saw their faces again. Immortality's calm gaze, untouchable and eternal. Mystic's knowing smile and face that only he can see. The Seven Beasts ,the being that had power to destroy anything from his voice . And Nyxarion's faceless expression ,even at the face of death his expression cannot change.
And he had betrayed them all.
"Why?" Ank's voice trembled with despair. "Why did I become like this?"
He did not know the answer but now he was forcing himself to remember an answer that was sealed beneath his heart but no one ever reached.
The pursuit of power had blinded him. It had consumed his vision, twisted his purpose, and poisoned his soul until loyalty and friendship were nothing but obstacles to be erased.
Now, in the silence of the darkness.he faced the truth he had buried for eternity.
The First Emperor of the Universe was not defeated by gods, not slain by enemies, even fate could not do anything to him.
He was destroyed by himself .
And his body was now completely covered in darkness .
And then he heard a voice that he does not want to remember .