Chapter 144: Hero of Sin

He felt an overwhelming pressure upon him, as if the whole world was commanded to keep him in place, to keep him chained. Out of the hole, a figure slowly crawled out, on its hands, chains ran across, broken.

A face as black as onyx, and with many inconsistencies, like a doll that was thrown away. The top left of his face was… different, as if separated from everything else. There, its skin was just like the angels, a flawless marble. A white horn stood its ground, parallel with a black one on the right side of its face. One of his eyes a deep black, with a blue shade to it. Like the moon, it looked to have craters inside. His other eye was of a golden color, yet no pupil, the same eye the angel had.

His hair was long, really long, at the front, his bangs reached his eyes, and at the back, a long braid, reaching his waist. His hair was of an obisidian color, with the same blue shade at the ends of his hair, as if a blue light shone upon it from the side.

Yet, when it came to the left part, his hair was of a blonde color, and it strangely looked newly cut, and roughly so, as if a blind person had done it.

From his right eye ran a long trail of marks, of letters and numbers, which traveled to his cheek, chin, and in the end, stopped right after reaching the neck.

The left part of his face also had something similar, but for some reason, he recognized the letter and number, the same ones the angel had on its neck. Yet here, they came from under his eye, and ended right when they reached the part of his face that was normal.

It only had one wing, made out of a thin, flexible membrane. It was black in color, and just like everything else, its edges were coated in a blue color, like a highlight. It was long, just like the wings of the angel had been at first, except now they hadn’t gotten smaller.

Wearing a black tee, ragged and torn, he could notice chains going across his chest and back through the holes of his shirt. Around his wrist, he noticed the marks left by what seemed like handcuffs recently been taken off.

His body wasn’t made out of skin or muscles at that, but rather a black smoke, one so dense it didn’t even seem like it was smoke at first glance. Its nails were long and sharper than most blades he had seen.

He swallowed, looking at the beast in front of him, since he couldn’t call it anything else. If the one from before had been an angel, or rather, a fallen angel. Then this… couldn’t be anything else but a demon. Yet it looked more like a shadow than anything else. Well, except the horns and wings.

…But

While he didn’t know what it was, he had an idea of who he was.

’Chernobog.’ In the description of the original crown he had gotten from Belobog, it said it was a relic gifted to the hero to seal away a great danger. He thinks it was talking about the beast standing in front of him.

Plus, if not, why, after it was corrupted, did it talk about Chernobog as the end of the world? Who else could be of greater danger than the one who is called the end of the world!

He didn’t have time to look at the ability of the first relic. But he knew it had to do something with sealing Chernobog, but it also had to be something that wouldn’t disappear after the ending was created.

…

The Heartforge…

…

It had way more importance than he could ever think. After it was destroyed, Belobog had died, and Chernobog had awakened. It couldn’t be a coincidence.

The only thing he could figure out was a vague theory. The Heartforge kept Chernobog sealed, yet Belobog was also connected to it; it was a part of it, it kept him alive, but just like it had happened, if it was destroyed, he would also die.

The Heartforge was the cost Belobeg had to pay to keep Chernobog sealed; he was forced to create this paradise to keep this beast from destroying the world.

That was why the light of the people was like chains to him, because for him, they were a burden; he felt guilty for every piece of life he stole from others. It is why his halo had fallen, from the weight of his sins.

He knew what he was doing and hated himself for it, but, at the same time, he knew this was the only way. He felt… bad, maybe because he saw himself so much in Belobog, yet he knew they were in no way similar. He was an actual hero. He did everything for his people, while he… he carried these sins for himself.

But, if in the original ending, Jay was able to defeat Belobog, then did that mean that in the original ending… the world was corrupted and taken over by Chernobog? Did in the end… did this book have a bad ending?

…

Well, who knew that for the first time, he might actually be a hero?

The world was still heavy, keeping him down. But… his will didn’t weave. In his hand, a dark crown appeared in his hand. He tried to raise his hand, but the air was heavy… but he didn’t stop trying, and in the end. The crown rested on his head.

He wondered, in the original ending, did Jay also got this crown? It made sense that he wouldn’t, after all, he had no interest in checking the angel in the first place, but what if that only happened because he was here?

Plus, this ending, where Chernobog takes over the world, can also happen if Jay had gotten the crown, since the Abyss wouldn’t have been corrupted yet. But let’s say he had corrupted it, and Jay had taken it instead, it would still not work.

…

’This power shall put him under the wearer’s control, but only if the wearer bears enough sins to be on the same level as him.’ For the crown to come in play, the one wearing yet has to carry the same sins as someone who had been could end the world, bring it to his knees. He didn’t. Jay carried enough sins to do so.

…

But, unlike Jay, he had a trail of his sins going everywhere he went. If he thought about it, both he and Belobog had to be sinners to keep Chernobog in control. That is why Jay had failed.

…

While Chernobog was powerful enough to kill everyone, and destroy the world….. he was still a child when compared to him.

…

…

“Kneel…. kill yourself.”

The moment those words came out, the world seemed to respond, and with a confused face, Chernobog dropped to the ground. He weaved his wings around, trying to get up, but it wouldn’t work.

Aether got up on his feet, slowly walking over to Chernobog, as the shadow demon created a blade out of the black smoke his body was made out of. As he got closer, he saw the demon raise the blade to his neck. His hands were shaking. As the blade got closer. His neck was one of the only parts, with his head, that weren’t made out of the black smoke and actually had a physical form.

Aether stopped just in front of the shadow, looking down at him, staring deep into his eyes, almost as if he was looking beyond them, into his soul. He raised his hand.

…

And as it came down… so did the head of the shadow.

…

[Your relic has been destroyed]

The crown on his head shattered, yet he didn’t budge. He had done everything he needed with it; even if it had survived, it would be utterly useless.

He turned around to face Jay, who was speechless, frozen from shock.

It was done; they had done it. Or rather, he had done it. But one thing was still left to be done.

…

With Chernobog dead, everything looked to be good, and with no evil in the book, it would ultimately come to be a good ending… but that is also what he thought for Frozen Crown. If Jay had been able to get this far on his own in the original ending, only failing, and it’s only speculation that he died in the original ending, maybe the shadow took him under its wing, but if he was able to reach this point all alone, there was more of him hidden.

He didn’t want to let him uncover what it was.

…

Walking to him slowly, each of his steps carried the weight of his sins. The trail he had followed wasn’t visible only to him anymore, but to the world itself.

Jay, seeing him approach, smiled.

“Aether, we did it! We saved the world.”

Yet it didn’t seem as if his words were heard by the boy; he only got closer and closer.

…

Summoning his blade, Aether took a glance into his eyes, feeling the confusion.

…

“Aether?”

…

[You have killed and Seeker Echo, Jay ….]

[Your knowledge grows stronger]

…

…

[You have changed the ending of “The Kingdom of Glass Heroes”… your reward will be granted soon… do you wish to leave now, or see the epilogue of the world you created?]

…

“No, I don’t.”

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