Chapter 329: Truth of Shadow
As soon as Aren agreed to see the truth, the one before stepped forward and then stretched his hand, the entire place changed and suddenly they were standing inside an ancient throne room.
It extended for almost a hundred meters before it got to the door that led out of it. Massive pillars made of marble stood and held up the roof. The floors were made of carved marble that depicted many things Aren could not hope to understand.
The smell was that of dust and old wet moss. It hung heavy in the air, a dry, rotten contrast that had somehow managed to allow themselves to mix.
’Where the hell is this place?’ He thought to himself. He looked up and there was a throne carved from black stone at the top of the raised platform, and seated on it was the one before, only, this time he was not some black void but rather a man.
He was dressed in a black royal cloak with black fur that held his neck. His hair was as black as night and his eyes blood red. His face was pale as paper. At first glance, someone would definitely assume that he was a vampire.
He looked at Aren with calm eyes and then after what seemed like an extended second, he spoke. "Hello, Aren," he said, his voice calm and collected, the kind of tone you had when you already had everything under control, and he did.
"I’m sure you are wondering who I am."
"Not really, from the voice I can tell you are the one before," Aren said.
"Smart as always, Aren," he said and then got to his feet. "Before I go on to explain more to you, I’d like to explain the shadow mind and how it was possible, and how Karmela knew it was possible.
You see, the shadow mind is a makeshift version of a very specific ability that I wield. The one that I used to ensure that I live through many lives to find the right one."
"My ability is called the Shadow—"
"Hey listen, I have a lot to do, like chasing after a fucking demon to stop him from unleashing the abyss on the domain and destroying my home, so I am not in the mood for whatever all this theatrics are, step on the gas and tell me faster," Aren snapped, tired of waiting for the one before to explain.
The one before did not react badly to what Aren said, he simply let out a smile and then proceeded to speak. "That’s the thing, Aren, your time has ended, you no longer need to worry about anything, because you have become a shadow king. I can finally take over your body. Our body, MY BODY," he said and his voice went deeper.
"All this time I have waited and waited for the version of my soul that will allow me to return, allow me to stand again, I played so many means, used everything that was possible and used every possibility that could happen.
I waited so long and finally your situation came to be. Loki caused the birth of your shadow, Karmela and every other person that you interacted with somehow managed to craft you into the right and perfect version of me so far, and all that so that I can finally take the seat of my soul.
And when we both merge, we can finally rise and become the shadow god once more, the god that everyone forgot, the one that wreaked havoc across all time, realms and worlds, I shall take what is m—"
"Wait wait. Did you just say you are taking over my body?" Aren asked.
The one before stopped, he looked at Aren confused. "Yeah that’s what I said. I’ll be using a method similar to the one that the young meat one had used, but mine shall be permanent, you shall merge back with me," he said, like his explanation was meant to make it better.
Aren looked at him and then took a deep breath as if trying to calm down.
"Let me get this straight, you were a god and somehow you died."
"Not just a god, a primordial god, above the true gods," the one before said, filled with pride as he spoke.
"Yeah whatever, and now that I have worked my ass out to get here, you want to come and reveal all the secrets that you have and also take my body back." Aren spoke and his tone said it all, he was not about to take the bullshit that the one before was spewing.
"You seem to not understand, you are a fragment of my soul that somehow managed to fall into the right position. You are not special, you are not worth anything. You are simply a lucky moment," the one before said to make Aren understand.
Aren chuckled. "The perfect birth, the perfect trigger on both worlds, death and rebirth, dreams and nightmares, death and death and death and death, attacked and used. You mean to tell me that all that was the probability for you to come and take my body?
Listen to me, I might not understand what you are, but I’ll make one thing clear, I am not an experiment or mistake, or something for your manipulation. I fought with blood and tears to reach where I am, I’ll be damned if some fragment of my mind tries to tell me otherwise."
Aren said all he wanted to in one breath and looked at the one before with eyes that burned with anger.
The one before saw that Aren was unwilling to yield, and so he decided to take action.
"If you will not listen to what I want to say, then I’ll force you to see it," the one before said and before Aren could say or do anything, shadow tendrils shot from the floor and wrapped around him, covering even his mouth and stopping him from speaking or even making a sound.
"You will learn the truth of shadow today."
