There were no more lazy thoughts of food or sleep in my head. Only noise remained. A hollow, rhythmic, maddening roar:
"Kill. Kill. Kill. Death. Death..."
In that moment, I hated everything. The grass, the stones, the sky, the people. This entire world felt like a mistake that needed immediate correction. I slammed my palm against the cracked earth with all my might. From the point of impact, bright red, pulsating lines branched out in every direction like opened veins.
I began to pull the earth upward. Gravity compressed, and in the place of the ruins, a mountain began to grow at a staggering speed. Higher, faster! The massive cone of a volcano pierced the clouds, and rivers of blinding lava poured from its maw.
— "More... Not enough..." I whispered, my voice sounding like the grinding of tectonic plates.
I flicked my hand.
KABOOM!
A deafening explosion rocked the earth. The volcano erupted, spewing millions of tons of ash and red-hot stone into the sky. I soared upward and began to laugh. It was beautiful.
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I began to drive the clouds. I lashed the flows of mana into a single knot, summoning a horrific, icy wind. A blizzard descended upon the burning city. Ice and flame collided, birthing hail and lightning. Below, I saw villages and the remnants of buildings vanish into the chaos. The sky turned pitch-black; ash smothered the sun. The eternal night of my wrath had arrived.
And then... something inside broke.
THUD. THUD. THUD.
My kidney, liver, lungs—my organs began to detonate one by one. For a second, I lost control, choking on my own blood. In that instant, a shadow loomed over me. A familiar silhouette against the black sky.
— "I'm sorry, Zen," I heard a cold voice say.
CLANG!
A massive hammer strike landed precisely on the crown of my head. I felt my skull crack, and in the next second, I was plummeting downward, away from the summit of my mountain. I fell for a long time, catching every rocky outcropping with my back.
I landed in a bloody mess. Blood flowed from everywhere: my ears, my nose, my ruptured stomach. The internal bleeding should have killed me in seconds, but my regeneration was working in a frenzy, stitching tissue together on the fly.
I stood up. The rage hadn't left—it had only grown sharper. I carved massive slabs of stone from the earth, shaping them into mindless titans.
— "DESTROY!" I roared. "DESTROY EVERYTHING!"
But my body betrayed me again. The vessels in my arms and legs burst, turning my limbs into crimson tatters. The figure appeared behind my back once more.
SHING!
Cold steel pierced my back and emerged from my chest, skewering my heart. In that same instant, a wave of absolute cold began to radiate from the blade. My organs, my blood—everything began to flash-freeze. The ice shackled me from the inside, quenching the fire of the core.
Then came the final hammer blow. Heavy as the moon falling.
The light in my eyes went out. The world, covered in ice and ash, vanished. I slipped back into the silence.