Fate To Fake: Loved by the Fallen; Fated to Kill the Divine-Chapter 57: The “gift” you received from your master... was me

Kai lifted both hands in front of him as if they could somehow hold back the inevitable.

"Wait, wait, let’s not be so quick to start killing each other! I mean... don’t we want to talk this out first? I wouldn’t come here to fight you... I came here to kill someone. B-Because of him, I lost my name in my family, P-Please?"

He grinned nervously.

Ophis did not grin.

She didn’t even blink.

She was suddenly gone from where she stood.

SSssshhhh~

Kai didn’t even see her move — only felt the faintest whisper of displaced air brush past his cheek. His spine went stiff, breath locked in his throat. Cold fingers rested lightly against the back of his neck.

Her voice was low... Barely a breath.

"Talk is for prey."

Kai yelped and dove forward, rolling across the floor like a panicked child, slapping a burst of water from his palm mid-roll to push himself further away. A clawed hand swiped where he’d just been, leaving a ragged scar on the stone floor.

Across the chamber, Nergal stepped forward — slow, methodical. He dragged his brutal weapon behind him, the spiked metal ball at the end of the chain scraping sparks from the stone, making a dull screech that echoed through the maze like a warning.

Facing him, Camazotz flared his wings wide. His form was monstrous — leathery flesh stretched over a skeletal frame, claws curved and sharp, eyes glowing a deep crimson. A low screech rumbled from his throat as his feet lifted off the ground, hovering with slow, ominous wingbeats.

Then the silence broke.

BOOMMM!!

Camazotz dove — impossibly fast, wings folding tight as his body twisted in midair. A blur of black and grey motion streaked across the chamber. Nergal didn’t flinch. Instead, he twisted his shoulders and unleashed the flail — a full-body motion, all weight and brutality.

The spiked balls exploded through the air.

CRACK!!

The first chain slammed into Camazotz’s wing. Bone cracked. He roared and spiralled sideways, trying to recover.

But Nergal moved again, faster than someone his size should be able to. The Chain wrapped around Camazotz’s torso mid-flight. With a savage grunt, Nergal yanked him from the air.

Camazotz crashed to the floor like a meteor, stone shattering beneath him.

Nergal didn’t stop.

He swung again.

BOOM!!

The ball hit the ground next to Camazotz’s head, embedding itself deep in the stone like it was nothing but clay. Debris exploded outward.

Camazotz rolled with the impact, screeching as he twisted and launched himself backward, his wings struggling to lift him into the air again. Blood dripped from his side. His fangs gleamed with saliva.

"You will not ground me again," he growled.

"You’ll stay down eventually," Nergal replied, cold and focused.

Camazotz frowned, his lips twitched, just then,

’A low-born God beating you? How amusing Camazotz... You’ve fallen too much.’

A voice growled inside Camazotz’s head... No, it was his voice... no... it was not... Camazotz shook his head as his eyes flickered between green and red, growling,

"YOU DIE!!!!"

Meanwhile—

Kai sprinted along the outer edges of the path, hurling desperate bursts of water behind him as Ophis pursued. His boots splashed across the wet floor, a slippery trail marking his panic.

"Why are you so fast!?"

Ophis didn’t answer.

She was there — above him — feet gliding just inches from the stone like she didn’t belong to gravity. Her body moved with inhuman elegance. Her arms stayed loose, swaying slightly, fingertips twitching in anticipation.

Kai spun around and threw his arms forward.

^Wave pulse!^

A blast of compressed water burst outward from his palms — not just liquid, but pressure, strong enough to knock a man off his feet.

Ophis spun through it. Her body twisted mid-air, red eyes glowing faintly, her coat flaring around her like wings. The water parted around her motion like smoke, barely slowing her.

Then she vanished again.

Kai’s heart pounded.

He dropped to one knee and slapped the ground.

A circle of water burst up around him, forming a temporary dome.

But Ophis appeared directly above.

She dropped like a silent bullet, both legs pointed down.

Crack!

BOOM!!

She shattered the dome with her heels, crashing through it and slamming into Kai’s shoulder.

"ARRHH!!"

He collapsed to the ground with a cry.

"Get up,"

Ophis growled, grabbing the front of his coat and hauling him upright.

"You’re utterly useless compared to that boy.... What’s his name again.. Leo?"

Kai coughed, veins popped on his forehead, ’How dare she compare me to that filth!!’ he inwardly shouted before,

"Don’t you dare look down on me, brat!!!"

He shouted.

"Brat?"

Her voice turned cold as if he hit her nerve.

From across them, the chain flail screamed again — the sound of raw iron slicing through the air like a guillotine. Nergal advanced step by step, each swing of his massive weapon pushing Camazotz back.

The stone walls bore the wounds of their clash — deep gouges carved by claws and chain, red stains splattered across the floor, and fragments of shattered brick scattered everywhere.

Camazotz crouched low, wings twitching, fangs bared. His claws scraped across the stone like blades, and from deep within his monstrous throat came a piercing sonar scream — a soundwave so sharp and forceful it shattered nearby bricks.

NNNGGNNNNNNGGGGGNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!

Nergal flinched, his head recoiling slightly from the sudden spike in vibration. His body tensed, momentarily disoriented by the sheer force of the sonic blast — and in that split-second of vulnerability, Camazotz struck.

The beast lunged forward, his clawed hand snapping around one of the flail chains mid-swing. The momentum buckled. Nergal staggered, thrown slightly off balance.

Camazotz’s wings flared violently as he launched himself upward, mouth gaping wide, fangs shining with anticipation — ready to rip Nergal’s throat out with one clean bite.

But Nergal had already learned from earlier mistakes.

This time, he didn’t resist the pull. He let go.

The chain fell limp in Camazotz’s grip, and Nergal moved, both arms shooting forward like hammers. One hand clamped around Camazotz’s jaw. The other grabbed his throat.

He didn’t hesitate.

He lifted the snarling bat-beast into the air and, with a guttural roar, slammed him down like a meteor.

BOOM!

The earth cracked beneath the impact. A spiderweb of fractures split across the stone floor. The shockwave kicked up dust in a wide ring. Camazotz’s body twitched violently as blood sprayed from his mouth, a low groan echoing from his chest.

Nergal stood tall over the beast, blood trailing down from his arms. His breathing was calm, precise. Not even a flicker of emotion crossed his face.

"I don’t fall to beasts,"

Camazotz’s eyes, dim and flickering, suddenly began to shift — violently.

Flickers of red and green, alternating faster and faster, like two minds fighting for control. His claws dug into the broken stone beneath him, twitching. His body trembled.

And then...

A voice.

’Look at you... getting beaten by some worthless little god.’

Camazotz’s eyes widened. His breath caught.

’Why are you losing? You were chosen. You were gifted. Didn’t our master grant you power? Then why... why are you on the ground like garbage?’

He mentally screamed.

’No! No, I didn’t lose! I had his gift! I’m not—!’

The voice was sweet now. Taunting. Cruel.

’Oh, Camazotz... darling... it should be obvious by now. The "gift" you received from your master... was me.’

The voice laughed — honey-smooth and venom-slick.

’Let me take over, sweetheart. Let me fix this. Or else... you’re going to die pathetically.’

Then came silence.

And then — change.

Camazotz’s eyes turned a solid, luminous green, glowing like toxic emeralds.

His body convulsed, arching unnaturally... The Liquid he took finally merged with him, running through his bloodstream to his heart and to his mind finally.... Every joint cracked, every muscle twitched.

From the gaps between his lips, his ears, even beneath his fingernails — black, sticky ooze began to leak. It dripped in globs from his mouth, trickled from the cracks in his skin, slid down his spine like tar.

Drip... Drip...

Nergal took a cautious step back, His eyes narrowed.

"What... the hell are you?"

The stench hit him next — putrid, sulfurous, like rotting meat soaked in oil.

He grimaced, covered his nose.

"Yuck..." he growled. "That’s... disgusting."

Camazotz twitched once more — then let out a shriek that no longer sounded like his own voice.

"KKRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!"

He stepped forward.

With each step, the ground beneath his feet hissed and steamed — as thick black slime oozed from his soles and trailed behind him. The ground blistered beneath the substance, melting slightly as if acid were poured across the stone.

Nergal narrowed his stance. His fingers tightened around the flail.

"Tsk. Whatever you are now, you’ll still break."

He spun the weapon, then whipped it forward with full force. The spiked iron ball screamed through the air, aimed directly at Camazotz’s warped chest.

But then—

Sluucckkk...

The moment the spiked ball made contact, it stopped — not with a thud, not with resistance — but with a wet, sickening suction sound.

Camazotz had raised one hand, now completely coated in the sticky black sludge. The flail had stuck. Like it had hit tar. The chains coiled limply, trapped.

"What—?"

Nergal blinked in surprise, instinctively trying to yank the weapon back.

But Camazotz smiled.

A horrible, crooked, dripping smile. His teeth now looked jagged and soft, soaked in black ichor. His eyes gleamed green with madness.

The ooze crawled — slithered down the chains like oil, moving unnaturally fast toward Nergal’s wrists.

"...Shit."

Before he could let go, the sludge reached his forearm.

The moment it touched skin, it sizzled. A burning hiss echoed in the air as Nergal screamed.

"ARRHHH!!"

His skin bubbled, the hand melting as black ooze seared through flesh. A hole began forming in his palm — boiling, warping, pulsing with black heat.

Nergal snarled and threw the weapon aside, stumbling back. His breath was ragged, his hand trembling violently as dark blood spilled freely.

He looked up — face pale, eyes wide — and saw Camazotz already standing before him, towering, hunched, soaked in slime.

His mouth opened wide — impossibly wide — dripping with a stream of black fluid that hissed as it hit the stone.

Nergal barely had time to register the horror.

Camazotz roared and lunged.

"ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om