Vengeance Upon Fate - Chapter 24
“What a shame.”
…..?
An unknown voice abruptly called out to young Kurogane.
Gasping and raising his head, he looked forward to get a glance of who or what stood before him.
To his surprise, it wasn’t an ordinary person. In fact, the atmosphere remained dark as well, as if he were in a different dimension altogether.
No details could be made aside from a black, shadowy mysterious looking figure that emitted what seemed like a fair amount of dark energy.
“Wh-Who are you?”
“Why ask a pointless question? It’s rude to act like you don’t know someone who’s always been within you.”
Completely void of any clue as to what he was witnessing, Kurogane stared in fear.
“Within.. me…?”
“Yes, I sure have. I suppose you can call me.. a darker persona of who you are I guess?”
“My darker self..”
It was then that Kurogane realized that the figure was identical to his body height and shape, though lacking any facial details aside from it’s utterly disturbing smile.
Scared to no end, he could feel himself beginning to breathe heavily as his heart pounded out of control. Fear was undeniably consuming him at an unfortunate, steady pace.
The shadowy figure then sat down with its legs crossed, a few inches from Kurogane who was still using his arms to keep himself up.
“Oh, don’t be scared. I mean, you have to deal with me regardless. I’m a part of you, after all.”
Kurogane’s swollen eyes closed as he shouted and shook his head.
“NO, NO YOU’RE NOT. GET AWAY FROM ME! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!”
“Mmh, I’m afraid that won’t be happening. Unless of course, you want your friend to die a gruesome death… is that what you desire, must I ask?”
Kurogane’s eyes opened up in surprise, unsure of what to say in response to such a question.
“I-I don’t.. by all means. If I don’t do anything, he’ll never see his family again…”
“Well then, the way you are right now, you won’t be able to lay a finger on them. Heh, just imagine your friend getting fed to a horde of beast-like beings… or getting tortured on a daily basis by a slave owner. His feeble soul wouldn’t last long. It feeds my curiosity enough to wonder what kind of screams he will let-”
“SHUT UP… SHUT UUPPPPP!”
Oh? You still want to resist? I’m amused. Time is running out. Don’t you see? Your friend is about to get his limbs pierced”.
…
“DAMNIT… why.. why did this have to happen?”
“You haven’t noticed? It’s all because of you of course. You knew something was wrong, yet you failed to do the one thing every friend does. How can you even call yourself his friend at this point?”
Kurogane’s eyes began to water, eventually discharging tears onto his cheeks.
“He’s right… I’m.. awful.”
“Absolutely. Despite my absence, you proved to be a terrible person. It makes no difference, so let me help you. Besides, your friend might forgive you if you save him, you never know.”
“But I can’t.. if I accept you, I know you’ll cause me to do terrible things later on… I can’t let that happen!”
“I see. You’re as intuitive as ever, hmhmhmm.”
The shadowy figure then moved his head closer to Kurogane’s ear and let out a sharp whisper.
“In the end, you don’t have much of a choice, do you?”
“But I..”
Deep down Kurogane knew there was no way out of it now – no other possibility of another option he could pursue. He was trapped in the inescapable, dark corner of a dilemma.
With the bitter feeling of helplessness, he dug his fingers into the floor and gritted his teeth.
{KKRRGHHH…}
The shadowy figure then moved its head back a few inches and stared malevolently into Kurogane’s petrified eyes.
“You’re a useless, pathetic child without me. You can’t do a thing on your own. Just take a look at yourself! Always relying entirely on mom. And in the one very moment she needed you, all you did was sit back and watch.”
Reflecting what he did as a child, Kurogane calmed down to an extent after coming to a state of realization.
“He’s right.. all I did was hide under Mom’s wing. I took advantage of everything… and did nothing when it mattered most.”
“Even after the training she gave you, none of it was ever used for the greater good. How pitiful. You’re nothing but a disappointment to her.”
Kurogane let out a frown and closed his eyes, his teeth tightening hard enough to damage his gums.
“Useless? Pathetic? There’s no denying it.. I understand now.”
“Indeed. Unless you want to make the same exact mistake with your friend, the best you can do is clean up this mess your awful self started. You’re only doing the right thing, after all.”
“Yes… the right thing”
The shadowy figure slowly placed the tips of his fingers on Kurogane’s forehead, fusing its eerie essence within the young soul in the process.
“Right now, everything else is nothing but a meaningless obstacle.”
Kurogane didn’t move a muscle. He was ready to accept this side of himself, despite knowing a part of his humanity was at stake. The care and concern for any other possibility was no longer existent.
Subsequently, the darkness surrounding Kurogane began to slowly fade away.
“Meaningless indeed.” Wuxiaworld for visiting.
Feeling like a different being altogether, his tears were nothing but a memory now. He was going to show his enemies the true, unforgivable mistake they made by exasperating him to such a level.
“It looks like our little meeting ends here. It was fun, but there is something you must do now. So go onwards! Decide your outcome!
“MY outcome..”
This is your life to live! Your OWN fate!”
“MY fate!”
Kurogane’s eyes lit up, widened and overflowing in anger and purpose unlike ever before.
The shadowy figure let out a greedy smile before slowly vanishing into nothingness.
“Good boy.”
Those were its last words before the head portion disappeared entirely with the rest of its body.
…
