Chapter 71 • Against Death
In that bone chilling moment, Xalender's spectral form crumbled into dust. This silvery mist flew towards Phenor, swirling around him like a phantom's embrace. It was a chilling sight to behold, the embodiment of death and a king's sacrifice.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
All the fallen Kingins, brave warriors who had met their end on the battlefield, all also crumbled to dust, their bodies merging into the once-great ruler's form.
As the dust converged, it went into Phenor's body, trough his open mouth. The flow of time, which had beem frozen, suddenly resumed. The world regained its vibrant hues, and the battlefield came alive once more.
Remarkably, Phenor's wounds vanished, leaving his body unblemished. His eyes, though, were a different story. They blazed with an unnatural intensity, devoid of the life they once held.
In that surreal instant, Akun sensed the shift. Phenor appeared unscathed, but something had fundamentally changed. With an bone chilling chorus of voices coming from his mouth, Xalender spoke trough Phenor, his tone otherworldly and commanding. "Unhand me, mortal."
Akun's response was swift, but it proved futile. A tremendous, invisible force struck him, sending him hurtling backward. He landed some distance away but quickly regained his footing. Phenor was no longer the ruler they had known; he had become a vessel for a god.
As Akun struggled to comprehend the surreal events unfolding before him, his murmured words escaped like a breath in the chilly air. "What the hell?"
Meanwhile, Memorina, frozen in the midst of her desperate sprint, observed her husband's transformation with a mixture of dread and despair. She could sense that something profound had gone wrong. Crumbling beneath the weight of the unfolding tragedy, she fell to her knees on the blood-soaked battlefield, her voice choked with grief and anger. "You fool."
In the midst of the chaotic battlefield and the enigmatic transformation of Phenor, Akun's attention was drawn to a sudden and colossal system warning notification that appeared before him, its digital voice resonating loudly in his mind.
[warning to the player!!! GX-Chaos- has designated the target: -Xalender- as a god level entity!!]
[The player has been warned to avoid a battle with such overwhelming odds of death!!]
[Ding!! an †Authority† has be detected in the target!!]
[Ding!! GX-Chaos- is reacting greatly!!]
Akun's thoughts raced as he stared at the warning in his mind. "Since when does the system warn me about my chances of death, and what is this about an authority? And who is this Xalander, is this guy possessed or something?" he pondered, a sense of unease settling over him.
But before Akun could fully grasp what the system's warning meant, a chilling voice echoed through Phenor's body. "State your name, child. You intrigue me," Xalender, the god of death, inquired through Phenor. His voice was a bone chilling symphony that sent shivers down Akun's spine.
Akun, remaining calm reguadless, responded, "I don't want to, so I won't."
Xalender's voice, still emanating from Phenor, resonated with an otherworldly amusement. "Amazing, truly amazing," he chuckled, his multiple voices forming a disconcerting chorus that left everyone present unsettled.
As Akun continued, his voice unwavering, he asked, "What is you find so intriguing?"
Xalender's laughter resonated through the air like an eerie melody as he continued, "It's you." His finger pointed directly at Akun, who stood there, mystified by the god's words.
The god of death, Xalender, elaborated with an almost mischievous tone, "Normally, I, the god of death, Xalender, can see an hourglass above the heads of all living creatures. It allows me to know exactly how long it will take before they meet their inevitable demise."
But look at this." Xalender using Phenor's hand gestured towards Akun's head. "Above your head, I don't see an hourglass. Truly intriguing."
Xalender's words seemed to hang heavy in the air . Akun's lack of an hourglass was a profound mystery, something that transcended the laws governing life and death.
In the mysterious situation with Xalender around, Akun felt confused and curious, with thoughts rushing like a storm. He wondered why Phenor's voice sounded different. Was it a skill or something unexpected from Phenor's actions? He also felt a sense of danger, like the air around him had suddenly shifted, suddenly becoming more intense and slightly harder to breathe.
And then, there was the matter of identity.
Phenor, Xalender - the names seemed to blur and overlap on the system window. Who was this mysterious being inhabiting Phenor's body? Was "Xalender" truly his name, or just one part of a multi faced existence?
As Akun's mind filled with questions and suspicions, he couldn't help but compare his situation to the fantastic stories he had read in games and novels. "This person talking is most likely no longer Phenor. That thing he did when he grabbed his heart must have been a ritual of some kind, even the bodies of the dead Kingin warriors have disappeared.
It's similar to all those fantasy games I used to play where cult members use corpses to summon powerful demons."
The line between reality and the fantastical seemed to blur as Akun tried to make sense of the supernatural events unfolding before him.
In a voice that seemed to resonate from the depths of eternity itself, Xalender spoke trough Phenor, "Enough with the pointless chatter. I must fulfill my part of the contract now."
Xalender, the god of death, chuckled with an eerie, echoing tone as he extended his hand into the a rift that cracked open before him. The very reality around him quivered and fractured, as if it were an ancient mirror struggling to hold its form. Then, from the gaping tear in the fabric of existence, he drew forth a scythe that radiated an aura of death.
Akun's eyes widened in disbelief and fear at the supernatural display before him. Urgency filled his thoughts, "If this guy is truly a god, things just got a lot more complicated." The tension in the air was mounting as Akun braced himself for the unknown.