Ascension of the Nephilim-Chapter 2 - The Old Man Called Calaminus

Kyros felt a great sense of despair. He had seen the sudden attack that caused Mechiel's attack to weaken. The attack created a grave wound on his body, but when he woke up, the wounds were healing. Though his body was weak, he knew that he was no longer in critical condition. He was in some dark jail cell. Various prisoners were also here and looking at their conditions, Kyros knew that they would also join him to serve the undead soon. 𝑓𝑟eℯ𝒘𝗲𝑏n𝑜𝚟𝙚𝒍.𝒄o𝐦

Mechiel's attempt to kill him failed, and he would soon become a tool used for the Eldrich race.

Kyros could do nothing but recollect the bitter life he lived. He was an orphan found by his foster parents. He had lived in the wild for so long that it took his foster parents more than two years to bring him back to his senses. The various doctors believed that the painful past was something so much that the sudden peaceful life caused Kyros to block out the wild memories he had back then.

Kyros remembered his childhood to be rough as he had always brought pain and trouble to his parents. Although his parents were a duke in that kingdom, his wild tendencies caused problems after problems. Yet his loving adoptive family always took care of him. He was even assigned to be cared for by a slave girl that his family bought. And this slave girl did her best to serve Kyros even though he was wild.

Such care and love did not go in vain. Kyros soon found a job as a knight. He was a powerful soldier that catapulted his family to fame because of his great deeds. And just when Kyros could repay a fraction of the love and thankfulness he felt, a great upheaval in the kingdom occurred. Various groups had revolted and caused this kingdom to plummet. Soon, an Orc kingdom attacked and managed to breach the gates. Kyros was fighting and did his best to hold the fort. But little did he know he was only one among the assigned soldiers that managed to repel the enemies successfully. The rest of the gates had already fallen.

By the time Kyros realized that the Kingdom had been breached, it was too late. His entire adoptive family had already been killed when he ran to his house.

Kyros raged and massacred so many orcs that day were so many that it was there he became a legend. The platoon that he served within that Kingdom followed his escape. Soon they became a powerful mercenary force that brought terror all over the Midlands.

Most of the missions he took were against the various orc raids as Kyros wanted to avenge his family. There, he met and fought against the powerful Vampire group that had been rising in strength in the Midlands. It was here that Kyros fought and clashed against Mechiel Bloodcrest. The Blood Crest Clan was but a weak and bullied group within the Vampire kingdoms and had not grown in power yet.

But it was in these random battles that Kyros felt a great sense of security again. He had secretly admired the beautiful and powerful Mechiel Bloodcrest.

Soon, the human kingdoms in Midlands began to fall one after the other. Even the mercenary band of Kyros were all killed, and only Kyros survived. Kyros fled and found himself serving the Omega Kingdom, which was the last human kingdom composing all the fallen kingdoms in Midlands.

But this alliance was short-lived. Human greed killed it as various nobles, dukes, and even royal members of former kingdoms had already betrayed them. They had sold information to the other races that were invading the Midlands.

The strongest army that fought Omega was the combination of several races being led by the mysterious Elderich race. Necromancy showed its power as various undead groups terrorized Omega and the siege, which lasted several years, led to an insurrection led by several soldiers. The gates were opened, and then the Omega Kingdom fell.

Kyros didn't even know that he was the last soldier fighting. He was also the only knight to have slain a warrior of the Eldrich race. Something that had not happened for so long. It was because of this that the Eldrich raced to get his body. Various clans within the Eldrich race wanted Kyros.

Kyros looked back on all this and sighed.

"My life... sucks..."

"You know what else sucks? Vampires. Oh. And mosquitoes." An odd, loud, and crazed laughter echoed to the side.

Kyros frowned and turned to find an old man sitting next to him. The odd part was that, unlike the other prisoners, this man wasn't chained.

"Kyros Steele. The Mighty. The Unmoving. The Unwounded. Oh... You're not exactly unwounded now, are you? You've got many titles in your belt. I believe you ought to be the strongest warrior in all of Midlands."

"We are all destined to be undead monsters for the Eldrich now."

"Oh, are we?" The old man laughed.

Kyros glanced and wondered why this old man would say this.

"My name is Calaminus. The last of the Ancient Gods. I am the God of Time itself!" The old man laughed.

Kyros looked at the crazy old man and shook his head.

"Oh. You don't believe me. But you will. Soon, someone will come here and will set you free. And soon, you will see that I am indeed who I claim to be."

"Someone will set me free?" Kyros laughed with a bitter expression.

"Wouldn't that be something!" Kyros sighed as he recalled Mechiel. It would be nice if she had such strong feelings to set him free.

"You'll see soon. Let me tell you a tale, dear Kyros. The Ancient Gods were the first of all. We were the beings that guided fate and life in this universe. But soon, the Greater Gods came into existence. They were a rowdy bunch of kids. They created most of what this universe has. Even these planes, which are known as the First Convergence, are among their creation. But to think these kids would still killing each other..." Calaminus sighed.

"Soon, these kids did the unthinkable. They killed one of their fathers. Us! The Ancient Gods! After all we've done for those kids, and how we killed the Fallen, they betrayed us! Funny how things turn out, right?" Calamus laughed a bitter laugh as bitter as the one Kyros would make.

"Anyway... The hardest god to kill is actually me. The Time God. I have enough power to revert time itself and pull it back. So I was their first target. They had developed an interesting power. They must have found a way to communicate with the sealed Fallens and created a powerful curse and turned me into a mortal!" Calaminus revealed.

"A god became a mortal?" Kyros decided to humor the insane old man.

"I was surprised myself. Reverting Eternity itself is an impressive feat! But they did it! They succeed! Those kids lusted after all powers of their Fathers. Most of the Ancient Gods tried to protect me. But the Greater Gods found us anyway. Being a mortal, I couldn't help them anyway. With the last of their powers, the Ancient Gods hid me and sent me to this plane. But for years, I couldn't find a way to help them."

"You can no longer revert time?" Kyros asked. Despite the insanity, it was a rather good story.

"I can. But in reverting Time, I am unaffected. This means that if I turn time back, I would still be a mortal then. And that would mean that whatever power I have now would be lost. As a mortal, it would take years and even decades for me even to acquire one percent of my powers. And even before I could recover two percent, I'd be dead."

"That's... a very complicated situation." Kyros laughed.

"Indeed. But then, I found you—a warrior of interesting potential. Even I cannot pierce through your past. What exactly happened before you reached ten years old? Where were you?" Calaminus wondered.

Kyros's mocking expression vanished as he heard this.

"What did you say?!" Kyros asked.

"It's really a mystery, isn't it? Who exactly managed to shroud your past that even I, the Time God, can't look to your past? Only Gods or the Fallen, which you call the devils, can do that. You have quite a history, you know? But enough of that. Just think about what I said for now. She is coming."

"She?" Kyros asked and suddenly heard the jail doors burst open.

The guards of the jail fell down, and their heads were rolling. This was one of the ways to kill a Vampire that had high recovery powers quickly.

"Kyros!" A woman cried.

"Mechiel?!" Kyros was bewildered. Why had Mechiel come to save him?

"We have to get out here!" Mechiel hurriedly slashed the chains and threw Kyros his sword.

"Let's go now!" Mechiel ordered.

The confused Kyros stood up and held his sword. He immediately turned towards the crazy old man to save him.

But the old man was gone. It was as if he wasn't even there.

"The old man?!" Kyros was confused.

"Kyros! We don't have any time left! Let's move now! The Eldrich is coming!" Mechiel urged as she ran towards the jail entrance.

Kyros followed, but his thoughts were fixated on the old man.

"Was it true? Is he really an Ancient God of Time?"