Cherreads

Chapter 19 - Arc 1 | Chapter 19 | The Northern Lord (1/2)

Chapter 19: | The Northern Lord (1/2)

---

It's been days since I last fought the lord of the Grand Canyon, it was fun or so, since I truly fought him with fervor, for I had played dirty.

But that's just how the world works, and I don't know if I can last for a year.

My memories are seeping like fine grains of sand from my head, like an hourglass emptying.

Yes, as I said in the beginning, this will be my last life.

I will finally be liberated.

The crushing weight descended as the constraints of Heaven's Law finally took effect on my weakened form.

From the beginning it tried with fervor and it failed.

But now, it was erasing my memories of the past at a rate faster than before, I had been weakened too much from the countless reincarnations I've undergone.

I've lived as the Harbinger of Myth, the King of a forgotten world, a son of a whore, a hero, a merchant, an entertainer, but so what?

I'm finally going to be liberated from these memories and start anew after a year.

Yes, this was not a curse but a blessing from the Mother of All, a way for the guilt that had ridden me in the past... to finally disappear.

I am too scared to face it, for I have realized what I'd done, what the Heavenly Sage told me.

I am a sinner who devoured their existence, making them unable to be reborn, to experience life again.

I realized it too late and had done the unthinkable.

But now that my authorities, 'Desire,' 'Knowledge,' and 'Completion', are gone, with only 'Mythic Voracity' remaining, I will finally be liberated from my sins, for these painful memories to be gone.

I know I am escaping my responsibilities, I have realized I am a coward.

A coward that seeks the recognition of all beings, to be like them, to be complete.

I was a coward and nothing more...

For I chose this path, to be like this, to be a dishonorable person throughout the end, escaping my responsibilities.

While I am glad of my existence, which allowed me to meet the loves of my life, Samantha and Elara, I am still sad, for I will not remember them.

And this was the fate a sinful being like me truly deserved, to be killed again and again, to be betrayed, to be abused, to be a toy for nobles, to be nothing more than a pitiful person.

For I have done worse than that.

I pondered of what I did, the sins I committed, the wrongdoings I've done.

But I regretted none of it...

It's just that I wanted to escape the sins, the responsibilities I have, yet I didn't regret what I did.

For I was a man who embraced the sins but not the responsibilities, for I was too cowardly to bear them.

I sighed at the revelation, at the realization I'd reached throughout my countless cycles.

Truly, I was a coward.

A chill ran through my spine as I felt it, a murderous killing intent directed at me.

The current grew heavy, thick with the scent of blood and death.

But I didn't flinch at the revelation before me, as this amount of killing intent was nothing more than child's play.

Compared to the ones I'd experienced before, from my past, from those beings that killed me, from the Heavenly Sage's killing intent, I know it, for I had killed her daughter, or granddaughter, was it?

This was a mere whisper.

Well, forget it...

It's all in the past, and I am in the present.

This being, this crocodile-like whark that possesses limbs yet remains a whale, a creature of gleaming obsidian scales and serrated teeth, locked its gaze into my crimson-red irises.

Killing intent gushed from its body, analyzing my form for any sign of weakness to exploit.

Squelch!

Its massive form vanished, leaving behind only the lush, vibrant green sea of grass swaying violently where it had stood.

The surrounding wharks cowered in fear, their low groans a collective shudder, as the Lord of the North moved with the singular intent to kill.

To kill those who eyed its prey, their souls destined to be ripped apart if they got in its way.

But the wharks, ever stubborn and arrogant, gathered and formed a defensive circle, their gazes radiating a challenge.

They stared down at the platform below where the two of us would fight like gladiators, like slaves for entertainment.

The crocodilic whale let out a loud bellow that rattled the very ground beneath my feet as its body transformed, its scales shifting and reshaping with sickening pops and stretched sinew.

It took a more humanoid form as it howled, not a human with a handsome face, but a towering, grotesque monster.

Its skin was like ancient, gnarled bark, its eyes glowing with primal fury, like a draconian's.

I felt it.

The skill it used wasn't an Ascension skill, but one polished to the extreme, its very skill had evolved at least six times.

A skill that allowed it to shift its bone structures, no, its entire body, into a humanoid form.

I licked my lips at this revelation as twin horns, sharp as newly forged blades and gleaming with dark power, protruded from its forehead, surrounding its head like a crown.

As it howled, it pointed its index finger at me with an arrogance that suggested its claw could penetrate my armor.

But I snorted at its arrogance, as its skill to transform would become mine sooner rather than later.

My muscles tautened, compressed, then compacted, my bones strained from the density, making me feel heavy as solid lead, yet coiled with explosive potential.

Crash!

My tail slapped the water, sending cold spray arcing through the currents.

The sea of grass shook violently as 'Quantum Displacement' was forced to its very limits.

Its bluish eyes tracked my movements, menacingly.

I saw amusement brimming in its depths, a cruel glint that promised pain.

As it raised its claws, they elongated, their tips sharpening into obsidian razors.

Tear!

A searing pain struck my nerves as its claws turned into a streak of light, sweeping downward as an arc of light phased through my form.

Crack!

More Chapters