亚洲综合中美

*Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, from when thee were born until thee dies, I, heir to death, hold in mine hands the strings of which binds thee to reality, by my authority, I order said chain to be severed: Tactus Interitus.*

“W-who a-are you...” the knotted expression untangled upon breathing the last breath, the remaining image being Igna Haggard.

‘Lord Death,’ dropped to the gritty ground, the stairway to floor sixteen opened yonder. Every blink sent jolts of pain, blood stained the outfit, ragged and torn, brownish red, ‘-the true unknown of the world,’ the body gave and tumbled onto his back, ‘-is you. Persephone is a childhood friend of yours, you cursed us to suffer for her sake. Relinquishing the weapon was more trouble than imagined – without it, the later generations were doomed to fail. Increase of power without a sufficiently adequate outlet; I thought I fought against my weaknesses. My story isn’t glamourous, I’m no hero, I’m afraid. She might be dead and I have no way of knowing. It all feels wrong, a deeper scheme, someone’s behind my defeat, I don’t care for it. I can’t do this alone, I need help, Origin, someone, my head feels dreamy, I w-want t-to s-sleep.’ Outside showed the 20th of December, and inside was the unfortunate end of Igna’s journey into the Underworld. The element unconsciously went into a dormant phase; the heart pulsed at long intervals; the already pale complexions divulged into an actual corpse. History often repeats, the outcome never guaranteed.

An empty black space masked inside a replication of the night sky held two chairs, one in which sat Origin and the other, Igna, “-my other self,” said Origin, “-the battle’s arduous; no element to support the regeneration, the crushing aura of the underworld. There’s no winning, the expanded realm has nullified any of our abilities – the anti-death trial. Every four hours, the body expires to revive an hour later, the cycle repeats, immortality from the nightwalker’s blood have saved thee. You can’t hear me, the consciousness’s locked in constant battle; the journey might end,’ a hopeful glance shot to a blurry portal, ‘-the old representation of you would have made it a few floors below and eventually claw his way to the bottom floor, each rebirth would have skyrocketed his powers. I see the outcome clearly, after rescuing her, you’d have gone into hiding, frightened about the overwhelming power – recluse into a life of a hermit. How interesting,’ he smiled, ‘-your companions are worried. The path may be carved out on thy lonesome, yet, behind thee walks guardians and a realm. The time will come,’ he smiled, ‘-the time will come when the realm is expansive enough to greaten thy powers, help will arrive. Take the moment to rest, my dearest other self, the trial will peak sooner or later.’

Days, weeks, months, time sprinted through the calendar, plucking away at the numbers uncaringly, eventually, the date read 30th of November X102, a full year later.

“Lady Gophy, we’re ready,” said a squad of ladies who stood beside whiteish winged horses.

.....

“Good, Brvya, we’ll stand by and jump into battle. Are our forces ready?”

“Yes, my lady,” she nodded, “-Cora and lady Starix have split our army.”

“Excellent,” she stood peering over a courtyard filled with soldiers – most bore armored vests, black outfits, and handled large and expensive-looking weapons, prominently, guns. She turned on her heels, wrapping her shawl around her neck, ‘-the day’s here,’ her black hair grew longer and swayed from the heated inside breeze. A large hallway, carrying beautifully crafted pillars, unblemished tiled floors beige and golden rimmed, held maids on each side. The sound of her heels echoed and met against the chatter of three similarly dressed individuals.

“Greeting’s ladies,” said Gophy.

“Good morning to you too,” they answered, the entourage consisting of, Intherna, Miira, and Lilith.

“Today’s the day,” commented Miira, “-the realm’s expanded beyond our imagination.”

“All the domain stuff bores me,” added Intherna, “-you sure we can’t teleport there and help him?”

“No,” returned a composed Lilith, “-our forces are on standby in case he calls for them. We don’t need to intervene. Gophy said before, Igna is a man of strong will, he will figure a way out the situation.”

“Good,” replied Intherna sarcastically, “-which is why we left him into the underworld for almost a year. Time moves slower here, how many years must he have suffered through, constantly dying, reviving, and dying.”

“No time to argue,” added Gophy, “-today I shall turn my blunder right. Miira, do look after the realm while I’m away.”

“What about the children?”

“The three devils,” she chuckled, “-order them to stand down,” a blackish hue converged at her soles, “-I’ll be off.” *Teleportation.*

“And she’s off.”

“Listen, Intherna,” warm hands slithered from the back into a gentle embrace, “-we know, and we understand. His being lock in such a vile place isn’t to be proud of, nonetheless, the fight is against a being of supreme stature. The year hasn’t been wasted, Gophy and I worked without rest to find a solution,” whispered softly, “-and we’ve found one. The transmutation of Totrya into the Shadow Realm. The whole domains on par if not greater than the other domains, a hidden world known to only a select few,” they teleported to the opposite end of the castle.

“Look around,” intervened Lilith posed gracefully against a balustrade, “-the population expanded, children are born whose soul belongs to the Shadow Realm. Villages, towns, and many others have sprung, those we transferred have greatly advanced the general way of life. Igna’s constant deaths made a world’s life possible, double strength on each revival, then double said prior boost, it stacks up to infinite lengths.”

“I know,” her scarlet locks hummed, “-my tone and words may and will be wrongly interpreted. I love the Shadow Realm, and I love us, our growing family. My rank’s risen to the status of High-Tier goddess, I can’t argue.”

“The Shadow Realm truly is a place of idyllic pleasures,” said Miira, holding Intherna and Lilith’s hand, “-people are happy, nothing is granted for free, they work, they gain; not thoroughly equal but merit-based. The place we call home is the best,” she cheered, and in good reason. A metropolis of tall fetching skyscrapers propped inside the capital, expansion carried beyond the walls – the emphasis was placed upon the railway, there’s no place a train can’t reach.

Landscape swaps for the Overworld, ‘-the spell is ready for activation. Wait just a little longer, Igna, I’ll undo my mistake.’ Her tall figure stood strongly before a barrier into Totrya, the Azure wall rested behind, after the thick fog.

“Lady Gophy, I’ve been waiting.”

“Lady Vesper,” she returned courteously, “-per the agreement, I’ve come to transmigrate thy world into the Shadow Realm.”

“About time,” they entered, arriving at a purples sky of two suns, “-Scifer’s domain,” pointing to the side, “-is crumbling, nothing lasts forever. What little remains of power was drained a month ago, the world’s collapsing on itself. Lady Miira must have relayed the details?”

“Yes, tis the reason of my appearance,” she smiled, “-Scifer’s domain has absorbed a realm before, correct?”

“No, his majesty decided against.” The hill sloped to a humble village of monsters, basked in a purple backdrop, poorly cared for fences, starved-looking villages, abandoned children rummaging in the upper fields, “-humans,” added Vesper, “-prisoners of war.”

“Prisoners?” returned a questioning gaze.

“Wrong choice of words, they were captured by other monsters. The humans are our foe, some of our warriors find it amusing to bring strays. It is cruel, yet, rodents’ art be left alone.”

“War is cruel,” they crossed the village center whereby a lonesome man desperately tried to drink water from the well. The monsters kindly assisted his plea, the man showed no sense of gratitude content of filling the stomach.

“Father, father,” said a little boy sprinting from a desolate-looking building, “-I found an apple.”

“Good job,” a hastily snatch of the fruit sent the boy on his bottom, meanwhile the adult ravaged the food, “-stop being useless and find more!”

“Ignore them,” whispered Vesper.

“A jarring sight.” The journey followed onto the backs of wyverns, flying over a thickly covered forest. In the distance loomed sharp ending cliffs, rough terrain, and vindictive gusts. Vesper ordered the descent, the forest ended, a distance which grew upon closing ground.

“Here we are, the heart of the realm,” said Vesper, “-the grave to Scifer and alter to the supreme god, Kronos.” Chatter would but stall the process; Gophy’s stern expression advanced to the center, a massive circle of the scale equal to the mountains of Totrya rose to the purple sky, a coarse edged staff buried onto the ground, her arms pressed in prayer, every word recited levitated in a dulled black font. *World Transmigration,* her hair shot upward in tandem with the surrounding, the very fabric of reality shook, ‘-done,’ she smirked and clapped.

“Welcome to the Shadow Realm.”

“Wait...” paused the assistant, “-are you serious?”

“What, did you expect some greater show of power or some convoluted chanting?”

“Y-yeah?” her shoulder rose.

“I apologize for the disappointment. Scifer’s realm has now merged with the Shadow Realm. Lady Vesper, you will leave for Rosespire shortly, an ambassador needs to join the council. The foggy barrier is admonished.”

“What about our forces training in the overworld?”

“Nothing is changed,” she replied convincingly, “-they’ll spawn in the overworld, fight, level-up, and return when the strength is adequate. Moving to and fro is simple, a portal’s ready for action, till later, lady Vesper.”

‘There, the realms have merged and evolved into a greater world. Igna it’s time to wake, my friend.’

Dust covered the floor in layers, *thud,* ‘-my companions,’ blood pulsed, ‘-the Shadow Realm,’ the vision opened to the same sight a year ago, ‘-what happened?’

‘An induced comatose state for self-preservation.’

‘Origin, I saw the Shadow Realm expand and grow, what does it mean?’

‘You’re a Watcher of the Realm, once the consciousness yielded, the mind fluttered to the next best place.’

‘I see,’ he sat upright, dust and dirt littered his body, ‘-the pressure’s stronger than ever, I don’t feel strong,’ scrambled to a stand, ‘-how long has it been...’

“Ten years,” replied Origin, “-in this world that is.”

“Bad, this is bad.”

“Truly,” added Origin, “-there’s no telling what side-effects it will have.”

“Well, there’s nothing I can do,” *Death-Element: Unleash Aura,* “-I have to rescue mother, I need to, I must.”

“Good, then fight.”

‘Ten years,’ he moved to the next floor, ‘-the pressure of the realm doesn’t affect anymore. Gophy’s done it, the realms have been merged.’

*Knowledge known to only the watcher, I, master and inheritor of Origin, beckon thee; Mantia, Library of the all-knowing; Realm Expansion,* ‘-the realm is strong enough to maintain the connection.’ Opposed to swallowing the area, it focused onto Igna, effectively becoming Mantia himself, ‘-much better,’ movement regained its flare. Devils of the underworld leaped for battle; ‘-I’ve wasted too much time.’

*Summon Forth: Vengeance,*

“My master,” it leaped with a grin, “-I’ll kill them all!”

*CRASH,* “-HALT!” a headless horse galloped on the air, “-Igna Haggard, many years have passed. The Tower is a place of torture for mortal souls, there’s no further need to conquer for the obstacles and monsters have been removed. Thy presence repulses me, I should better,” *clang,*

“-should better what?” he turned slowly, “-teleporting behind again, I’m sorry to say, the sneak attack won’t work anymore,” Orenmir rose from blocking the attack, “-the reason I lost has been fixed.”

“The pressure has no use,” stepped back, “-I see, then, follow me instead. I shall gather my army for one last battle. Alas, the one named Persephone is but an empty shell,” he forcefully teleported them outside, “-a decade of torture,” showcased confidently, “-look at her body and visage, is it not the definition of pity and terror?” magma bellowed from the depth, a tinge of sadistic pleasure wrote on Zagreus’s visage, “-she’s alive but not, dead, but alive, tell me, will rescuing her be of any use?”

“True her body may be weak, her mind beaten beyond recognition, I’ll still fight.”

“Imbecile,” *clap,* pure entities vested in white overalls, fluffy wings, and white halos, summoned, “-I’ve yet to test the might of my army,” more creatures clawed from the very magma itself, one by one, the numbers increased ten-fold till the army of the underworld stood, “-the stronger foes are greater demons, boss level monsters who guarded the tower, where they stand ready to bring death. What say you, little man, fight or not?”

“Little man?” he snickered, “-afraid to say,” *COME FORTH, MY COMPANIONS!* black portals opened, “-I’m not alone,” the goddesses’ arrived in bearing murderous intent,”-death has come.”