Chapter 81: The Voice
In endless Darkness;
Ank floated within it and his complete body was covered in darkness.
His heartbeat had stopped. His chest rose no longer. Time itself felt frozen, as though the universe had cast him aside into a hollow corner where neither gods nor mortals could reach.
Yet, though his body was silent, his mind was not. His thoughts screamed louder than any battlefield.
Why am I fighting?
The question gnawed at him like a beast. What is the meaning of all this fighting?
He could not protect Maya. He could not protect the old man, his master who now was standing at the edge of death. All Ank had done was struggle, stumble, bleed, and fail.
Why must I endure this endless torment?
And when he hears a whisper.
It slithered through the void, brushing against the edges of his mind. At first, Ank thought it was simply his own despair echoing back at him. But then the whisper grew clearer, colder.
A voice.
A voice that he wanted to forget.
A voice that he could not want to remember, but destiny had linked with him.It was a curse for him.
Yes, this voice was a curse. It was the reason for his ambition, the reason he craved power, the reason he had lost his way. Every time he had clawed for more strength, it had been her shadow that pushed him forward.
And now, in this endless darkness , that cursed voice called to him again.
"Hello, Ank."
The words dripped with familiarity. Too familiar.
Ank's chest tightened. His breath once again started . That voice ,he had tried to bury in the deepest abyss of his memory. He had wanted to erase it, to banish it forever.
Yet here it was, alive, sharp, sweet, venomous.
"I told you," the voice continued, soft yet commanding, "not to take my revenge. So why did you take it?"
Ank's mind trembled. He tried to remember. He tried to recall the face, the presence behind that voice. But the moment he reached for it, agony exploded in his skull. A blinding headache tore through him, so sharp he thought his very soul would split apart.
"Why… why can't I remember?" He tried to put hands on his head but his hands were not moving .
The voice chuckled faintly, and watched Ank with an amusing smile. Then it drew closer and moved his hands and removed all the darkness from Ank's body and then the whole area changed into white from darkness.
And slowly, step by step , a figure emerged from nothingness.
Her face became visible.
The sight stole the air from Ank's lungs.
White hair, long and flowing, as though strands of snow had been spun into silk. Eyes like the color of ocean blue with sorrow and unyielding pride. Her beauty was not mortal , it was the kind that could make even a goddess feel envy, the kind of beauty that can destroy kingdoms, the kind of Beauty that any gods or mortals could die without any regret after seeing this.
She looked at him and thought that Ank could say something but he cannot speak anything.
"The time has not come," she murmured to himself and and once again came close to Ank, making distance shorter between them and said , "so you cannot remember me. But when that time arrives you must remember. And if you don't " Her eyes sharpened,and burned with unbreakable determination. " I will hate you."
Ank's lips parted. His voice trembled. "Who..
Who are you?"
He knew, somewhere deep within him, that she was the reason. The reason for his thirst for power. The reason his path had twisted, corrupted. The reason that Universe history was hidden from everyone and only gods knew.
She smiled faintly, and sorrow and regret took place in his face.
"I want my emperor back," she said. "When I return."
I knew I had no right to say this and I will never return but I believe in you. You were the person that made the impossible possible so I became a bit selfish and asked that one day when I return you will welcome me.
Ank staggered, as though her words had struck his very soul. Emperor. Her emperor?
"You are not allowed to die," she continued firmly. "Do you hear me, Ank? You cannot die. Let me make that clear."
Ank tried to speak, but his tongue felt heavy. His memories betrayed him. He did not remember her. Not her name, not her past, not their bond. Only the lingering ache in his chest told him that she was someone he could never forget, no matter how hard he tried.
Yet something was wrong.
Even without remembering, Ank knew.
He shook his head slowly, tears welling in his eyes.
"You know and I also know that you will never return."
The words slipped out of him before he even realized he was speaking them. As if some part of him, buried deep, had always known the truth.
And then the tears broke coming from his face and this was the third time the emperor of the Universe had cried.
For a moment, silence.
Then the woman's eyes softened, like the sea at dawn.
"I am confident in you," she whispered. "You will make anything possible. I believe in you, Ank."
Her voice wavered, but her conviction did not.
Ank's heart clenched. He wanted to reach for her. He wanted to hold her, to drag her back from the abyss, to defy fate itself.
But he couldn't. He knew it. She was dead. She was long gone. Nothing would revive her. She was the reason for his greed, his hunger, his relentless climb for power but even if he sacrificed the Universe, she could not bring her back.
All that remained was this fragment.
"This," she said softly, touching his chest with a finger that felt both real and unreal, "is only a piece of my consciousness. I planted it inside you long ago, for the moment when you would lose faith in yourself. I knew this day would come."
Ank's breath shook. His tears would not stop.
"You know," she continued, her lips curving into a sad smile, "that I am waiting for you. So rise again, Ank. Rise, and tell the universe who you are."
The words pierced through his despair like a spear of light.
Her figure began to fade, dissolving into the darkness like smoke scattered by the wind.
"Go," she said, her voice lingering even as her form vanished. "Save Maya. Save Arthur. Live. Fight. Endure. And remember "
Her final words echoed in the void, strong and unwavering:
"I am watching you. Do your best. I am confident that you can make anything possible. Rise again, my emperor. I am waiting for you."
And with that, she was gone.
The void fell silent once more.
But Ank was no longer the same.
Tears still streamed down his face, but within those tears burned something else, something stronger than regret, sharper than despair.
Resolve.
For her. For Maya. For his master.
He would rise.
Even if the gods cursed him. Even if the destruction sealed his strength away. Even if his very soul crumbled beneath the weight of his sins.
He would rise.
Because he was Ank.
And he would never let her down again.
And one day ,he would find a way to revive her at any cost.This was his ultimate dream.
But Ank did not know this dream was impossible to achieve even though his mother and Universe cannot grant this wish of him.