Zenith Online: Rebirth of the Strongest Player

Kieran was nothing more than a manifestation of thought at this point, but he could feel himself blanch as he listened to Argexes speak to the Flame.

Though he was the Flame's son… Argexes was just as… if not more defiant than Kieran had ever been.

Whereas Kieran disobeyed the Flame after mustering enough confidence after some time, and with the help of his mystic construct, Argexes used more primitive and straightforward means that left Kieran astonished.

Sheer infernal Will and mounds of it.

It burned away the Authority inside the Flame's words, which Kieran couldn't feel until now. But it wasn't through his own efforts. He was vicariously experiencing everything Argexes felt, but it was limited to external influence and trace amounts of internal emotion.

The latter was few and far between, making it seem like Argexes was unfeeling.

Now that Kieran considered the meaning of "Hollow," it made a modicum of sense. If he was Hollow, Argexes likely lacked a lot. But, what the Hollow Body lacked, it found in Valdu.

Still, Kieran remembered his mental state as Valdu.

He had started off sympathetic, but the journey perverted the meaning of his emotions until they became twisted, mangled, and warped, making it next to impossible to dissect without causing damage.

Kieran could recall the final state of his sympathy — murderous pity. His idea of exhibiting sympathy was to permanently end all suffering. That wasn't conducive to a lighthearted personality.

All it did was darken a righteous heart.

That is why… towards the end, Kieran began viewing himself as an angel of death to provide mercy and give retribution. However, not much retribution had been given now that he thought about it.

Slaying the Flame was impossible, and the way it designed this master plan… there was no real foe for Kieran to kill and thwart all the Flame's ideals. What was he to do, kill himself?

Impossible.

He had no control over Argexes' action and was nothing but a witness.

Ignoring those questions, Kieran turned back to Argexes' use of Will.

It carried properties Kieran couldn't fathom, yet they could be enforced. It was the actualization of thought in a way that influenced the world.

'What is that? Is Argexes imbuing his Will with… something?'

Kieran watched intently, taking note of the liberal Will saturating the world itself. It made Argexes feel larger than his body actually was. Then again, was this three-meter physique his actual body?

Kieran arched a brow and shrugged. He wouldn't be surprised if the Monarch of Ruin could manipulate his form. In fact, he reasonably expected it.

"You would question your father, defiant child?"

Argexes tilted his head and smiled thinly. The world seemed to quiver and recoil from that sinister grin.

"I would question everything. I was born to ruin. I am its son."

"Foolish child! I know what you were born to. I birthed you for a good reason."

Again, Kieran saw something in how Argexes viewed and defied the Flame.

The Flame's plan worked because of its masterful weaving of Will into words. Kieran didn't know what the ability was called, but he was happy to learn of its premise in the future.

That was likely a power with endless applications.

"Not good enough. Clearly, you lacked an understanding of what you were doing."

As he spoke, Argexes cracked his neck, relieving the built-up pressure in his joints. The ground cracked and shuddered under the immense weight of this dreadful being.

"Watch your tone with me, boy. I am your Father. I guess I didn't burn away enough of that defiance, and what have you. Very well. Allow me to finish the job."

The air grew heavy and dim as a strange darkness encroached upon the Ravaged Lands. Every ounce of power was extracted from the Ruined Bastion, Citadel of Resentments, and the surrounding blood until the constructs crumbled into baffling nothingness.

That extracted power flowed through the Flame's manifestation and blasted toward Argexes.

"Yield."

A word spoken but filled with so much Will, the world itself threatened to shatter as reality started cracking between the Flame and Argexes.

Argexes regarded the incoming pressure with a gruesome, maniacal, and obsessive grin as it ominously approached. Then, he opened his mouth, resembling a beast's maw… and ate it.

Gulped everything down before waving his hand with disinterest.

"You speak too much, Father. And in your current condition, you lack the means to restrain me. I'm free to do as I please. And what I please… just so happens to be ruining everywhere. So, sit back and watch the show."

"This is preposterous! How are you so insufferably strong upon birth? This is unprecedented. I am the Great Flame, Bringer of Ruin, Father of all Fallen. You can't disobey your Father like this."

Everything the Flame was attempting to do… was being negated.

As Kieran watched this, his jaw dropped. Wasn't this a much higher application of his own Aspect? Was this not giving him insight into what he could do once his Spirit could withstand his Aspect's merciless strain?

'Yes! Show me more. This is so fucking great. It all bears witness to true power. Give it to me!'

Meanwhile, Argexes looked to his right, gazing at Heartsbane with a quizzical gleam in his eyes.

"Remarkable weapon, strange material."

With a power akin to telekinesis, Argexes lifted his hand and exacted a Will so strong that Heartsbane immediately succumbed to it, flying into his grasp with the speed of a bullet.

Argexes waved the sword around, sundering reality with each strike, then nodded subtly.

"Good weapon, not very much my preference, though. But it'll do… for its purpose."

Unexpectedly, Argexes raised Heartsbane over his head and plunged it into the ground. Then, he made a sphere with his hands and placed it over the pommel, gathering a giant orb of his blood, contaminated with Ruin and Madness.

Before continuing his actions, Argexes stopped and turned toward Altair and the others, noting their presence.

With a wave of his hand, he spoke a single word, imbuing it with exorbitant amounts of Will, enough to make reality mold to his liking.

"Disappear."

Then, to Kieran's dismay, Altair and the others ceased to exist, turning to dust drifting across a light, eerie breeze. His hand gestures were all it took to erase a handful of Adepts.

Afterward, Argexes looked at Adeia and the two Archmasters fighting. Like wounded beasts tapping into their survival instinct for a burst of primal strength, Draegerys and Rhaenys overwhelmed Adeia.

It amused Argexes briefly, primarily because of the demented emotions he sensed from their deranged mental states.

"Desperation, hatred… blame."

Argexes inhaled euphorically, then sighed and smacked his lips together as if savoring a sublime taste.

"How delicious. But it could taste better. Let us… ruin the advantage one side poses."

His hands moved expertly like a conductor composing a grand orchestra of sinister melodies. Following the motions of his hand, a globule of blood struck Adeia in her spine, and her next attack unsurprisingly rebuffed her opponents.

Satisfied, he slammed the orb into Heartsbane's pommel, and a net of viscid spread throughout the entire Ravaged Plain.

"Arise, my children. The proper Fiends. Spread far and wide…"

Every creature that had perished on the Ravaged Plain was reanimated with Argexes' Blood. Eventually… Kieran saw it. In the midst of it all, he saw Cardinal Weiss. All he sensed from him, however, was insanity.

It had all been demented and reassembled in the eye of Argexes.

Contrary to Kieran's expectations, after reanimating the fallen beings, Argexes crossed his arms and waited while his creation fanned throughout the Land of Ruin, quickly reaching the Lands in the distance, chiefly the Land of Promise neighboring their position.

Even the Flame grew curious.

"What are you waiting for, my child?"

"No need to worry. My opponents will come to find me. My birth was felt throughout the Boundary, and I have no intent to hide. That is beneath me. I am born of Madness; why must there be logic to what I want?"

Then, Kieran felt it.

A subtle tremor shook everything, prompting him to look up.

Something was coming, and its descent was meteoric, breaking apart the sky with unstoppable momentum.

"One has come."