EXTRA CHAPTER 9: THE LAST STAND OF THE BLACK GOD

***In the abandoned world of Cherflammen…***

The Black God had lost track of the time he was in that accursed place, after taking the Seductress with him. While the first few days after ‘crossing the border’ were spent with him fighting the Seductress in a never-ending duel of attrition, he eventually realized that he could only keep the monster from the Void as weak as he could, before dying.

When the deity got tired of the fight, he simply retreated as far from the Seductress, who—as she needed to ‘eat’—pursued him. But even then, the Black God knew it was a futile effort, for he could never leave that world. As he looked up the dark skies of the destroyed realm, he could only think of his loved ones…or at least, he was trying to. Though he was a god, slivers of his ‘mortality’ had taken hold; he never wanted to die, not like the fate that awaited him. And as he had been familiar with the dead Cherflammen, he hated the idea of ending up trapped in there, for this was his second time.

The first was when Gaius killed him…

“So why would you allow yourself remain in here, alongside me…your hated enemy?” a disembodied voice said to his ear. “You can always break through the barriers, you know?”

“That’s the last thing I’d like to do,” the Black God grinned. “And even when you consume me, you will never have my god-powers.”

“Yes, I know. Hence, I won’t even try it. Nevertheless, I’ll make you demise as slow as I can, hoping that I can change your mind somewhat.”

“Nah, I won’t. You know me.”

“Won’t you reconsider? You’re the only one here with me, voluntarily sacrificing your life for those people and their descendants who won’t remember you in the future…”

“I do not remember asking for your pity, Arame,” the deity answered the dark mass forming behind him. “Yes, I’m aware of what will happen later, but you won’t tempt me with those. Time and time again, I would always seek ways to kill you, once and for all.”

“Correction,” the dark miasma finally took form of a beautiful woman—Gaius’ wife. “It’s not ‘you’, but your other ‘versions’.”

“All of them has succumbed to you,” he pointed out. “Except for ‘Kuro’.”

“He shall go to my side as well; after all, the fruit falls not too far from the tree.”

“Yes, well, except that tree is also a ‘version’ of the others.”

Silence then floated in the air surrounding the two. The Black God never raised his sword, stuck on the ever-shifting sands of what was once the demon realm. He could feel the miasma of the Seductress grabbing his feet, but he never resisted. It was a futile endeavor anyway.

“You’re really confident with ‘Kuro’, huh?” the dark lady quipped. “Or did you just realize you’re only prolonging your suffering by resisting?”

“How about both are correct?” the Black God chuckled. “I know it’s stupid to avoid my eventual fate—just like my loved ones you devoured. And at the same time, I’m passing the torch to ‘Kuro’. Unlike me—and the others, he’s the one you failed to corrupt.”

Though it was dark, the deity could tell the expression on the Seductress’ face changed from that of contempt to pure rage. “See, even when I can’t fully see you, I can feel the air of defeat hanging on your head. We both know that you have no power over that man.”

The miasma tightened its grip on the Black God’s body, almost making it impossible for him to breathe. Nevertheless, in his dying moments, the deity tried to squeeze out the words he wanted to throw at his enemy, “A-And…y-yes, re-remember my l-laughing f-face as you slowly d-devour me! Your…e-end has already been written on stone!”

At that point, the Seductress’ miasma completely wrapped the defiant and jubilant deity, then crushed his body in one quick implosion.