Chapter 57

1500 0 0

The small town of Hillfar is ruthlessly burning to no end, filled with the dead bodies of the townsfolk as many are fleeing for their lives from the threat that looms in the sky above them. One particular individual with blonde hair and brown eyes is seen carrying a child, trying to get away from the threat above, only to be immediately annihilated into smithereens by lightning.

"I'm absolutely radiating! Everyone must see this!" The twelve-foot androgynous entity with yellow feather wings announced loudly, its booming voice mixed of man and woman reverberated through the sky, "LOOK AT ME!" Not long after, the monster let out a couple of bolts of strikes in random directions, some hitting civilians while others hitting buildings as a result of this chaos.

Adam and Vesh could only watch in horror at what they had gotten themselves into, watching many innocent people being mercilessly killed left and right while others were wounded incredibly badly, some still managing to flee the scene for their lives. Neither he nor his companion have any idea how to process this situation.

"That's my daughter. Oh god." Adam despises seeing her become like this; she was a wonderful and cheerful young lady. He knew that she would turn out to be nothing but an amazing person with no reason to commit such horrifying atrocities after managing to change her for the better. He was able to notice her resemblance from the first time he met her; she looked so much like Eve, but now the resemblance is all gone.

There floating above the town is this...monster. Adam could tell that it's neither man nor woman; mix from whatever the two became. Not that it matters; he didn't come here to reflect on its gender identity, but to save his child. It's the least he can do to be a good father and honor his wife's last dying breath.

"Lilim!" Calling out the monster, much to Vesh's shock. "What are you doing?" His companion asked, feeling quite uneasy as to why Adam was calling out the creature in front of them that was busy slaughtering innocents from below, "We had to make a plan before—" He hadn't finished his own sentence when the monster turned its attention to them.

"Can't you both see the radiance flowing inside of me?" Her, or rather, it spread its arms like wings, revealing more of its feminine features to them, saying, "SEE IT!" It let out several more bolts of lightning at them, not minding that there were other innocent civilians in its path; the only thing that mattered to it was spreading its delusions to those unfortunate enough to encounter this monster.

Vesh knew these attacks would simply be immediately absorbed into his exoskeleton, not harming him one bit. But Adam, on the other hand, has a different plan. Without a moment to waste, his instincts and precise reaction timing dodged them before they could fully hit him, nearly costing his life if it weren't for his reflexes and experience of dodging or running away from dangerous threats.

"Adam!" He yelled out to him as his friend dropped onto the floor, head and body facing flat onto the snowy ground, "Get up, we don't have time for this!" He ran up to him before helping him stand up by pulling his hand up with force, while his friend did his best to push himself off the ground using his arm strength alone.

Not long after that, the blue alien grabbed his friend's arm and placed it over his own shoulders, being a support to help the young man stand up properly from the exhaustion of having to dodge multiple lighting strikes. "You okay, human?" He asked before glancing back at the monster, rambling about its radiance and the incoherent meaning behind it.

"I'm good, I think," he said, breathing heavily from the amount of stamina he used, "but forget about me; pull your weapon and stun her already!" Adam yelled out to Vesh while pointing at the monster that is still high in the air, looking down at the burning small town of Hillfar with a maddening display at the carnage it has caused.

"Okay, I'm going to—something is wrong," Vesh worriedly said with realization, "my exoskeleton...it's overcharged." How stupid he must be to think of that! He should have known better than this. "I can't materialize my weapon until the energy of my suit slowly dissipates to moderate level." His grip tightened on Adam's arm, expressing his own stupidity and forgetfulness.

"Great, just great!" Adam let out a deep sigh as he stared at the monster in the air with nothing but dread. "It's coming!" As soon as he said that, the monster dropped down onto the ground, and right before Adam could warn Vesh, he pushed the alien off him, as despite his low stamina, he can still move and run at the cost of risking his rapid-beat heart malfunctioning or the strain his muscles are going to put on him.

That didn't matter now when his body leaped itself off to the side after the monster flew towards them at hypersonic speeds, dodging it with milliseconds to spare. "Get out of here!" Adam yelled out to his friend, knowing fully well that his alien friend cannot use his weapon while it's overcharged, meaning the monster will attack again once it rises up, "this only should be between me and my daughter! Just go and tell my friends to stay away from this place!"

"I'm not leaving you human," he stood up from the ground, stern and determined, "and don't even think about asking me to." It was strange to even feel a friendship with the likes of a human, but Vesh could help himself in finally seeing this young man as his equal. "You're going to need all the help you can get to survive against this thing."

Adam sighed at that statement, but there was no time to argue now when the monster rose up into the air and aimed itself towards them once again, saying, "Look at me! LOOK AT ME!" Its madness had been brought out from the carnage it just made, showing off its fangs with saliva dripping down as if drooling while looking down at its own father with hunger in its eyes, "LOOK AT ME!"

As if time had nearly slowed down, he could see the eyes of this monster, black like the night, yet behind them was the image of his daughter, screaming at the top of her lungs while banging furiously on the door of her prison, unable to escape the prison she is forced to be trapped in, trying to say something with tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Lilim?"

In a second, the monster grabbed him up in the air before his friend had the chance to yell out for him, continuing to go up in the starry sky until there is nothing but the violent winds in this barren atmosphere of clouds and the illuminating stars where only he is present with his captor, savoring this moment of silence as the two simply stared at each other in silence before speaking.

"Can you see me? I'm like a moth finally close to bloom," the monster's voice echoed across the emptiness of the night sky, sending chills down his spine while he was unsure what he meant by that, "a moth trapped inside the prison of my body, feeling myself grow smaller with each passing day as my wings get thinner." Its hand is  then placed on Adam's chest, pressing further while feeling his heart beating fast and throat drying up with a bit of fear of this monster in front of him, "so close to you but so far away."

"Daughter," Adam broke free from his troubles and fear, "I know you are still in there; please let fight it." The words surprisingly didn't have any effect, much to his surprise. The more he observed its unrecognizable facial features, the more he learned the immediate truth of the monster's sentience, or lack thereof.

It doesn't have any rational thoughts nor is it able to comprehend its surroundings; the monster simply acts according to its instinctual nature, which is nothing more than pure madness and delusions of the mind, an impossible task he could not bring out no matter how much he tried, as there is one thing Adam couldn't do.

Persuading individuals who are primarily driven by madness with no sense of understanding in what they are doing if they were mindless themselves, and animals aren't known for their capacity for having sapience or self-awareness, something he is unable to accomplish as the former world's best self-proclaimed psychologist.

Then the monster implanted its nails inside of his skin, its hand placed on where his heart is located as if it could feel it, feeling blood trickling down from his wounds, digging deeper as he felt the beating organ slowly being pulled out within his chest cavity, letting out a scream of agony across the world around them.

"GAHH!" The pain was far more excruciating than anything he experienced, and his mind went blank for a few seconds while seeing everything blurry with sweat forming on his forehead. As if time had stopped and reality had shifted to something different, hearing only his heartbeat as Adam tried to fight back with all his might against this thing.

But even with all his might and willpower, it only proved an inevitable loss for him. And that's when he heard something in the back of his head, as if there was another presence with him in this space, feeling something coming towards him while ignoring the pain of losing his heart to the monster's grasp.

"I CAN SAVE HER..." The beast screamed in its high-pitched voice, declaring himself the only hope to save his daughter. "YOU NEED ME, ADAM! You can't DO THIS ALONE!" He kept repeating those words in their insane tone, almost like it was a desperate demand to a parent: "OR ELSE, YOU WILL DIE!"

As his heart slowly moved out of his body, Adam began to question himself if he should allow this darkest aspect of himself to let loose out in the world again, terrible thoughts crossing his mind at the very idea of allowing the beast to take control. "I...I..." He doesn't know anymore, feeling so unsure and hesitant to give the go-ahead.

"LET ME HAVE CONTROL AND I WILL RESCUE YOUR...PATHETIC WEAKLING OF CHILD," he hissed angrily at the thought of seeing himself playing hero. "WILL YOU LET THE MADNESS TAKE OVER AND END IT ALL? IF SO, THEN KEEP BEING THE FAILURE THAT YOU ARE," the beast chuckled humorously. "WHAT WOULD IT BE, FATHER?" Mocking him with an insulting word that only Adam's daughter would call himself as such.

It was too much for him to handle right now, and Adam began to question if he could really trust this beast. But he has no other choice, doesn't he? He doesn't want to die, nor does his daughter or anyone else. In times like this, it is always the hardest decision to make, where a choice is nothing more than a gamble and only the luck of the draw matters.

With a hasty breath, Adam agreed to his questionable, vague offer: "I accept!" When he said those words, he immediately heard a voice inside his head, one that spoke to him with confidence. "GOOD CHOICE," the beast laughed as it slowly disappeared in the wind. "FINALLY, I CAN SEE THE CARNAGE YOU HAD SHOWED ME SINCE THE DAY I WAS BORN." Adam heard its words clearly before his own body begin to rapidly and painfully transformed, confusing the monster in front of him.

Now having transformed into dangerous adversary, he let out a powerful howl that spoke of hate and rage never seen before as the monster's hand was brutally torn off by Adam, causing an agonizing scream of pain from the monster, causing both to slowly fall to the surface in the process as the biting, scratching, and tearing of flesh were silenced by the long fall.

My novels will always be accessible for everyone to read, no paywall or hiding behind locked content and any of that sorts. All of them are accessible to read.

Support Moony1's efforts!

Please Login in order to comment!