Consuming Earths, Devouring Skies-Chapter 1 Prologue
--Fortune Cemetery, Year 12,321 of the Rebirth Era.
The world was encased in a myriad of black clouds which little light seeped through. The entire surroundings of this world were filled with a rainbow flourish of both fresh and old blood. Corpses of all races, sizes, and colors littered it as if it was a battlefield of old; however, there were still sounds of those in their death throes and those exclaiming their battle-cries. While life and death continued to be unclearly defined within this world of constant struggle, a male youth adorned in white robes stood silently in mid-air.
The chaos in this world was ignored.
This individual who seemed like a youth possessed a solemn expression and a powerful aura which caused all those who looked towards him to cower away and try their luck in reaping lives elsewhere, lest their lives are reaped.
The male youth had waist-length black hair, a slim yet elegant figure, and a set of dazzling silver wings that seemed to illuminate the surroundings, but didn't possess the standard holy characteristics that these angelic-like wings would typically bestow upon mortals. Instead, these wings held an imposing and tyrannical feel that would cause those who looked upon them to feel their lives were no longer theirs.
His eyes looked towards a dilapidated palatial door, brownish in color, connected to nothing that stood upright, and untainted by the rainbow blood in its surroundings. It possessed an almost mundane aura, which could be easily overlooked as a lost object of one of the weaker individuals of this world.
"Ezekiel!"
A middle-aged man with waist-length silver hair, two silver wings positioned on his back spread wide, seemed to have blinked directly to the male youth's side. His expression contained confusion and a little reverence as he gazed at the youth beside him.
"Jeremiah."
The youth named Ezekiel acknowledged, his gaze towards the door remained unblinking and fixed.
Those eyes were slightly heated.
Observing this, the newly arrived Jeremiah remained silent. The youth before him was one of the unrivaled talents of the cultivation world and whatever he decided to do, he held no power to assert any questions. If he did and this angered Ezekiel, it's likely that even if the gods and buddhas wished for him to keep his life, he'd still lose it here. To be more accurate, even if they begged, the situation would likely be the same.
This world was a battlefield filled with death, and with Ezekiel here, it became even more chaotic. The level of slaughter performed just a few days ago would leave many psychopaths and cold-blooded murderers to grimace in inferiority. He had little desire to just be another name on his belt.
Therefore, silent and waiting he remained.
Luckily, he didn't wait for long.
A ripple of almost endless power surged outwards quietly from the door. It swept almost this entire gargantuan world and brought about a sensation of infinite death and calamitous power. Feeling this, Jeremiah's expression turned so pale that it was as if he'd seen death itself, and death gave him a date. Jeremiah sweated profusely while his eyes widened to the size of suns.
The world went silent.
The door opened silently.
Ezekiel's eyes brightened to the point where the stars were inferior. Unlike his compatriot beside him, his expression was filled with no hint of fear. He vanished inwards with no hesitation.
"E-Ezekiel!" Out of sheer fear, Jeremiah shouted. He stood there dumbfounded and fiercely panting. After a long while, he felt the auras of many that were both his equal and his inferior surge from the eight directions. Gritting his teeth so hard that blood dripped from the sides of his mouth, he followed after Ezekiel.
--Sirius Titan Realm, Year 12,323 of the Rebirth Era.
A dense light filled with brilliant sharpness sliced downwards towards a silver-robed male with unprecedented speed. The male responded with a slight smirk underneath his hood and a wave of his sword, completely denying the light any choice in its continued existence as it was swiped into destruction.
"Cease this, Ezekiel." A rough masculine voice demanded.
A middle-aged man whose eyes were crimson red, muscles brimming to the brink upon his deep black body, and a great sword larger than his own body within his hand that resembled a wolf's fang appeared almost out of thin air. His expression was filled with imperial malevolence as he calmly eyed Ezekiel from afar.
"You can not escape, accept your death." He added. His tone was filled with a calmness and arrogance that could cause the heavens to feel insulted.
Ezekiel, the youth in silver-robes, lifted his hood from his head to reveal a face so handsome that it seemed it was sculpted by the gods themselves. He held an arrogant smirk filled with absolute confidence. Whether it was in his own abilities or other factors, no one knew.
"With just you?" Ezekiel responded.
The middle-aged man looked calmly at Ezekiel as if his words or tone were the antics of a fool. As if on cue, many different auras of all types of intensity surged from the horizon in all directions. They seemed to be honing their flights towards this direction at top speed. Ezekiel's eyes didn't move from the man as his smirk never faded.
"It's truly unfortunate, Ezekiel. Your legend, your life, it'll end here. Return that which you stole, and your end shall be one without pain. I give you my word." The middle-aged man said with a slight shake of his head, disregarding Ezekiel's false bravado. He'd already considered every scenario and locked out every conceivable way for him to escape. There was nothing left but death for this talented youth.
"You sure about that?" Ezekiel slightly laughed as he pulled out a compass-like object with eight orientating arrows pointing in the eight directions.
Witnessing this, the middle-aged man's eyes rose in curiosity, but suddenly this surprise turned into one of fierce panic and fear. An expression this man had not known for millennia. He reached out with his palm and grabbed, the world fiercely quaked, and it seemed that the very heavens would collapse and the skies would rend.
However, it was too late.
With a flash of brilliant white light and a quiet ripple of power emitted from the compass, Ezekiel's body, under the collapsing of the heavens and the skies, blipped out of existence. The man's expression changed harshly as the space that was originally inhabited by Ezekiel shattered into oblivion, but Ezekiel was already gone.
--Crimson Devil Realm, Year 12,330 of the Rebirth Era.
"Ar-Ariel...w-why?" Ezekiel, the silver-winged youth, struggled with all his might to utter those words between his heavy panting and upheavals of the chest. His once gorgeous wings were tainted with black gases that seemed to seep into his soul. Inside the eyes once filled with unlimited confidence were unwilling disbelief, soul-deep pain, and sheer disappointment - the disappointment directed mostly towards himself.
His gaze never left this once-so familiar figure.
A grey-skinned, crimson-eyed girl dressed in a crimson knee-length dress with the visual appearance of a 17-18-year-old girl slowly muttered. She stood in mid-air with the air of an empress, and her gaze looked as if all beneath the heavens were under her control. This gaze contained deep contempt and disdain as she looked towards this once proud figure of the myriad realms. Now, he was nothing more than an individual waiting for his death.
"You brought this upon yourself. Your foolish ambitions and wanton desires towards me." Her words were harsh, and to Ezekiel, this was the first time he'd heard her speak in such a tone. She, who he trusted wholeheartedly. She, who obtained his heart. Heralded as the heavenly pairing of this millennia, but it seems men presume and the heavens laugh.
Ezekiel couldn't help but laugh at this realization of her words and the reason for her actions.
Seeing this laugh, Ariel simply said, "I never loved you. I have always wanted to kill you, and now...I've done so." A sort of peaceful serenity was revealed in her voice.
Ezekiel was silent at this. He was currently inflicted with a soul-decaying technique which he could not dispel with his cultivation. At this moment, almost ninety percent of his soul had been corroded, and it was damage that'd take centuries to repair. He calmed himself down and stood upright like a spear in mid-air as if saying: 'Even if you or the world wants me to die, I'll die on my feet.' However, his eyes spoke even further volumes.
Even if the heavens want me dead, they must be willing to pay the price. If you want me dead? Ha, you're not worthy, and I'm not willing!
A surging ghostly blaze exploded from his eyes, and it seemed as if his entire cultivation was burning up as if to detonate his entire existence to take her with him to the netherworld.
"I, Ezekiel Zatanna Saintora, shall not die today. You, wash your neck. I'll take it someday, along with the others." His words were filled with no hint of exhaustion or pain and filled with undying resolution.
Seeing this, Ariel's beautiful face scrunched up in an ugly fashion and darted away to avoid dying from Ezekiel's self-detonation. However, unlike what she thought would happen — a violent explosion — instead, it was as if Ezekiel's physical body was evaporated into air revealing only his soul form that was filled with black gas. It flickered in and out of existence as if only a light blow would snuff out his soul.
A white light, emitting an aura of both extreme life and extreme death — Samsara — emitted from the core of his soul. The black gas was rid of almost instantly, revealing a weakened soul form of Ezekiel's silhouette in the world, and in his hand was a compass with eight orientating arrows.
Ariel's expression turned into one of absolute disbelief at the series of events that had just played out. With her utmost speed, she rushed with blazing light surrounding her towards Ezekiel's form, her hand formed a blade and slashed out in an attempt to destroy whatever Ezekiel's intentions may be.
However...it was too late.
With a flash of brilliant white light and a quiet ripple of power emitted from the compass, Ezekiel's soul blipped out of existence.
Ariel's eyes widened as the words previously spoken of by Ezekiel resounded in her mind and very soul. Surprisingly, this girl's eyes dripped with wet tears.
Tears of fear and despair.
--Xiantu Realm, Year 12,330 of the Rebirth Era.
Ezekiel soul form blipped into existence above a minor world and surged downwards. His eyes filled with unyielding determination and surging killing intent. With his physical body destroyed, his cultivation had been lost, and his soul form was severely weakened. However, he still possessed his personal possessions.
He glanced at the ethereal ring on his finger that seemed attached to his soul. It emitted slight spatial ripples. With this and his experience, it wouldn't be long before he returned to his previous strength. When that happened, his revenge will be swift on all those who betrayed him. On all those who hunted him. On all those he wished to kill!
For now, he simply needed to find a physical body to host his soul, so that he can begin reconstructing a proper body for himself. As he plummeted downwards, his eyes caught sight on the grassy knolls of the hillside a boy youth running away. His eyes gleamed with unyielding resolve. Without hesitation, he directed his soul form to descend rapidly towards this youth. He will wipe out his soul, and start anew!
Unfortunately, men presume and the heavens laugh.
