brrrvvvvttt—
The void screamed through the air, tearing the sky open as it descended toward the city.
Imaez moved before he could think.
"Shit—!"
He sprinted, boots cracking stone beneath him as the black mass swallowed distance itself.
*Can I outrun my own void…?*
Below, bells rang — not alarms, but prayer.
Adam turned first— *The fuck is Cupiditas doing..?!*
"Are the people underground..?!" Naomi screamed towards Artemis.
"Yes, yes! They are underground! I sense their pressures in the tunnels and safety bunkers." Artemis screamed back.
*So that's where they are…* Julius thought to himself, viewing atop of a watchtower.
Lloyd froze.
Marie's breath caught in her throat.
"That's—" Falcon raised his hand. "Light Beams!"
A lattice of blinding light tore through the sky, colliding with the void.
For a moment—
brrrvvvvtt.
The light vanished.
It was not simply erased. The light was condensed, stretched, and eventually disintegrated into nothing.
Falcon's pupils shrank. "Wh… what? That- that's not right.."
"It didn't absorb it," Lloyd whispered. "It erased it."
The void struck.
A temple wing collapsed inward — not burning, not shattering, simply ceasing to exist. Stone, scripture, history.
Marie screamed. "No—! That was the eastern archive!"
Imaez abruptly stopped. His legs shaking and his feet unable to move.
*No..! No! I can't let Cupiditas do this. I don't care anymore…* Imaez clenched his fists. His eyes showing determination.
*I have to—*
"Save them!!" He screamed.
Imaez had leaped in front of the void, his breath husky, his mind blank and his eyes focused.
"Destroy..!" He mumbled.
Imaez had sent another mass of void.
Marie had crossed her fingers. "Please..!"
Imaez pleaded in his mind— *Please.. don't let this fail… Come on!*
Cupiditas pupils shrunk. He bit his lip with a force so strong he bled.
"I won't… I WON'T LET THIS FAIL!"
Cupiditas had a sudden memory, something he had buried a long time ago, something he did not want to remember. Rather, it was that same thing that fueled his anger.
Imaez closed his eyes, remembering his time at a village, a village where he and Cupiditas first met.
8 years ago—
The sun's warm glow beamed upon a grassy village.
The village was lively, children, adolescents, and adults alike all outside.
Two boys seen in the fields with wooden swords in their hands.
"Hya!" One screamed. Flailing around a sword in their hand.
The other, blocking and dodging with efficiency and relatively no difficulty.
"Damn it..! Just let me break your guard already!" He kept swinging around his sword, with his abdomen clearly exposed.
"Cupiditas.. you're too open." The boy had then hit him in the abdomen, sending him kneeling. "Come on Cupid, need to be better than that.."
"Imaez… you're too good at this. Thankfully I'm better at using my Soul Pact." Cupiditas snickered. "Let's go back to the orphanage!"
The two had walked on a stone pathway, Cupiditas and Imaez were always together. Although Imaez had only been in the village of Anatieus for a month, the two were very close.
"Imaez.. why did you come to Anatieus?"
"I left my hometown Cauthren because I needed to get strong. I was given a curse when I was young, I can't live past 20. I want to get strong so I beat whoever who gave me this burden." Imaez cracked his knuckles.
"And you think you'll get stronger here..?" Cupiditas scoffed.
"I mean yeah.. we get trained by Sword Master Hyades.." Imaez gripped his wooden sword.
*Oh… I guess he is right. Teacher Hyades is one of the strongest guys in the world or something.. and he's one of the best swordsmen in history.* Cupiditas put a finger on his chin. "Ah.. guess you're right!"
Time soon passed, the two were closer— some would say they were brothers.
One day, in the night.
"Hmf!" Imaez used his void ability on a tree. The void has condensed it, stretched it out and erased it.
"Alright…" He whispered.
A man watched him— "Imaez?"
"Oh.. Sword Master Hyades. What can I do for you?" Imaez turned around.
"That.. That void ability… let me help you with your Soul Pact." Hyades smiled.
"Uhh… sure?" Imaez was skeptical. Never had Hyades mentioned Soul Pacts, he was strictly a swordsman.
The two had moved to the wheat fields, where nobody would be alarmed by the void.
"Alright Imaez… the problem I seen with your Soul Pact is that, it's not strong enough, doesn't have enough mass to it." Hyades said. "Think of a memory, something that will give you power. Something that will fuel you."
Imaez closed his eyes—
*Memories…*
A flood of memories came to his mind.
Thoughts of Cauthren, his journey only at 14 years of age, his life.
He thought of a specific memory, an unpleasant one—
He was just a boy, around 5 years old. His mother looked at him— her face filled with disgust and tears. She couldn't bear to look at her own child. Her own son, she slapped him—
"Idiot child! Can't you see?! I never wanted you in the first place!" She screamed at Imaez.
"But…Mother.. I don't wanna leave you." The child said with his voice breaking, tears filled his eyes.
She beat him.
His body filled with bruises.
With Hyades—
Imaez had thought of that memory, and his Soul Pact was beginning to sprout. The void emitted from his body, he couldn't control it.
His eyes angered, his feet shaking, a monstrous roar—
"AAAAAAGGGGHHH!" Imaez screamed out.
A massive explosion of nothingness and void.
Hyade's body was erased, his sword falling and hitting the ground.
People sleeping, fell into eternal slumber, as they were absorbed.
Houses, grass, life— all sharing the same fate.
He had erased almost all of Anatieus.
Cupiditas had trained in the forest.
He came back to Anatieus, to see his home destroyed.
His mouth trembled, he couldn't say anything.
"Wh-what…." He weakly said.
He had ran across the village—
"HELLO?! IS ANYONE ALIVE?! PLEASE-" Something caught his eye.
Imaez, in the wheat fields, or what used to be the wheat fields.
"Imaez…?" Cupiditas couldn't believe what who he was seeing. "Imaez! What happened?"
Imaez didn't respond, he only looked at Cupiditas with guilt and despair.
"I'm.. sorry." He mumbled.
Cupiditas gritted his teeth— "IMAEZ! WHY?!" Tears flowed down from Cupiditas. He had dashed towards Imaez holding a wooden sword.
Imaez's body quickly acted out of instinct— he was on high alert and any sudden action would cause him to do something he would regret.
Imaez quickly grabbed Hyade's sword from the ground— slashing Cupiditas.
Blood splattered. Cupiditas' face turned weak as his eyes rolled back.
A slash all the way from his collarbone to his kidney.
Imaez dropped the sword and looked at his hands, covered in his own friend's blood.
"I'm truly irredeemable… Not only have I killed the place who gave me refuge, I also killed my friend." He sobbed.
"Forever, I will carry this on my shoulders."
In the present—
Imaez and Cupiditas had stopped thinking of their time together, and Cupiditas
screamed.
"DIE!!!!!" He amplified the void, sending more Soul Pact energy.
Marie's face turned into sorrow— "No… the city is going to be destroyed.."
Imaez had breathed in and out—
"Okay…"
He faced both of his hands towards the impending doom before him—
"Black Hole!"
The forces collided.
brrrvvvtttt
The voids had collapsed inwards of themselves.
Everything went silent.
Cupiditas's eyes were wide, in disbelief.
Everyone had turned quiet— except Julius.
"Alright, it's time."
Julius had disappeared, he had moved instantaneously.
He appeared in the heart of the city.
"The hunt begins."