Chapter 802 The Corrupted Spirit Tree
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"You're nothing but a vessel, sleep well, and you won't even feel pain as you fade into nothingness, child."
Those were the words of that Vampire, of the one that found him. Even after having ran away so fast from where he came from, even after he found a village of good people that sheltered him.
He found him anyways… Even after he had lost the hope of ever finding his way back to his home country in Goldsand.
Threatening him to kill his entire family if he didn't cooperate, the boy, who was captured alongside many other children that lived on the streets or orphanages, was forced to cooperate.
After all the horrendous experiments they did to them, and as we saw so many children dying because they couldn't take this power…
He still remembered the agony as his brown skin turned completely pale from the mutations on his body, as his hair lost color, and his eyes became red.
"You're not a monster, child. You've evolved into a new being! A Homunculus- no, a Chaos Demon! You inherit the powers of the Evil God, and you're his perfect vessel! Someone that can carry his fragments!"
The crazy scientists that modified his body spoke strange words, which he didn't understand… Ash only wanted to go back home, to go back where his mother was waiting for him.
To go back to meet her and his little sister…
Monsters beyond his comprehension forced him to become a monster himself. Even as he screamed, cried, and asked them to stop, they would never have any mercy for him.
And that Vampire that always worn a strange mask, that glanced at him with such sharp, red eyes, as if he was nothing but an item…
He wanted to run away from that place, to run as fast as he could from there…
And the opportunity arose, on his confinement, someone that had been captured and modified differently, that had only arrived recently used his powers to free them all.
A young boy with brown hair and sharp green eyes, a strangely cheerful personality, and a strong feeling of righteousness.
"Escape! All of you! Before they come back!"
He remembered those words really well… And also remembers how much he regretted not even trying to bring him along, or not even turning back.
Ash continued running and running, while dealing with a demon living inside of his heart, that constantly whispered him words he always tried to ignore.
"Why are you running?"
"If you're so powerful, kill them all…"
"You're a coward!"
"Your body should be mine!"
He ignored those words, as he kept running, and running, and running.
Ash didn't knew how much he ran; his feet were covered on ugly wounds and bruises. His entire body was nasty.
He was starving…
Yet when he finally arrived in front of a lush forest filled with life, which brought him so much joy, he collapsed before he could say a single thing.
For a moment, he thought he would die.
However, the kindness of a stranger saved his life. His warm hand touched his cold and tattered hand, and he was carried into his house.
He was slowly healed, and attended, like never before, until he woke up…
Ash meet August, an old Alchemist with a gentle heart.
It was perhaps just a few days he spent in that small village, where humans and elves lived together but… it was the first time on his life that he was truly happy.
For a moment, he thought he could move on, and forget about the past, and about all the traumatic experiences he underwent, and how his body… was transformed.
But he was very wrong.
"If you don't cooperate… I'll kill them all. Every single person in this village will die, and not in a swift way, but an agonizing way. I will make sure to make them scream in agony."
The words of the Vampire when he finally found him still echo within his poor, shattered heart.
He didn't had any choice.
If he wanted these people to live, he had to do what he was told… even if it by doing so, he would betray them all.
He asked August to bring him to see the tree, which was guarded by a special spiritual barrier that nobody could trespass unless the elves allowed them to.
And then, when he was finally able to get there with him, and touch the tree… While holding his tears, his power surged, the demon living inside his heart absorbed the tree, and his body slowly became one with it.
While mocking August to pretend he didn't cared for him, the Vampire laughed, finding amusement in the tragedy that had happened…
"Well done… You were designed specifically to become our Monster Factory. Spread your roots across this entire forest, and infect it all. Create thousands, millions of monsters if possible. With the army that you'll create, not even the Empire of the God of Light will be able to fight back, child!"
The voice of the Vampire echoed as his consciousness slowly faded away…
"Your noble sacrifice will never be forgotten, Ash!"
Ash never could say a thing against this.
Always pushed around by others, always forced by others, always abused by others…
Forced to become a monster and forced to fill the world with them.
As his consciousness slowly fell more and more into the eternal void, he could only mutter a few words with his mouth.
"Please… someone… kill me…"
…
Maria and her family arrived near the tree, as she suddenly heard something. Something that reached the depths of her soul. The voice of a helpless, suffering child, that could only find solace in death.
"Ash?" She wondered, looking into the huge, monstrous tree in front of them.
"SO YOU'VE COME…"
However, before she could even step any further with everybody else, the tree itself spoke. Countless red eyes emerged across its entire body, as its branches became like tentacles, and a huge jaw with sharp fangs appeared below its many eyes.
"YOU… THE ONE THAT POSSESS MY FRAGMENTS… GIVE THEM BACK!"
"I knew it…" Maria sighed. "The one behind this entire thing was an Evil God Fragment."
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Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m