81 The Hero Has Returned (1/2)
”Ha ha ha ha ha!” Altemuller did not stop laughing, even as his heavy wounds caused him to cough up blood.
Blackie placed a heavy paw on Altemuller's back and pressed him into the icy ground. The injured man could not move at all.
”What are you laughing at?” Van demanded.
Altemuller abruptly stopped. He turned his icy blue eyes to Van, ”Don't you want to know? Don't you want to know who is behind this? Someone made me into this, this thing... They are the one who deserves... a thousand deaths! I never wanted any part of this!”
Van recoiled, ”What do you mean?!”
Altemuller squinted at the young man standing above him. A long-suppressed memory pushed its way to the forefront of his mind.
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[Memory start]
A small boy, hardly six years of age, thin and gaunt, stood in front of a figure wreathed in darkness.
”No…no, please…” The small boy whimpered. His pale eyes were full of unshed tears. He looked pleadingly at the figure before him, the one person who should love him the most in the world, the nurturer, giver.
The monster that stood before him.
”I can't eat any more…They make me feel bad…wrong…A-and they taste bad!”
The shadowed figured drew closer trailed a pointed claw down one soft cheek. A gentle press was all it took for a bright red bead of blood to well up. The boy whimpered piteously.
”Dear oh dearsss....” The voice hissed softly, ”Whatever shall we do….?”
”How about I let you off, pat you on the head and let you go play with your little friends…?”
Altemuller hiccupped. He looked up; eyes full of dim hope.
”Or how about…I bring your little brother in…hm? If one little rat doesn't want to do the work, another rat will do the trick very nicely…” The shadowed figure said gloatingly.
Altemuller felt himself fill with terror.
”No! No, you can't!” He cried out, ”Not him!”
The shadowed figure in front of him smiled victoriously, ”Then you will keep eating, won't you little rat?”
”Let the darkness slide down your throat…corrupt you… taint your soul…! Let the power breed within you, until it takes over…!”
The shadowed figure threw its head back and laughed.
Altemuller crawled forwards and he picked up his plate once more. A half-decayed demonic heart filled with dark blood lay upon it. Trembling, he bit into it and forcibly swallowed even when all he wanted to do was throw it all back up.
The demonic essence trickled into his bloodstream. Like a disease, its influence spread through his blood cells.
”Yes…you will do very nicely, my dear! Eat up! Eat until you can eat no more!”
[Memory end]
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[The present moment]
Altemuller looked pensively at the flame-haired boy in front of him; searching. Now that he was looking, he noticed things that he hadn't before. They say that the eyes are a window to the soul. In this young man's eyes, he sensed an indomitable power. A strength of will. Though his eyes were dark, they seemed as if an eternal flame flickered within them.
”What is your name…?” Altemuller asked at length.
The young man crossed his arms, ”Van.”
”Van…She won't let this offence go. I am only but one general in a vast army…and the demon nurseries that you destroyed here are not the only ones…”
Altemuller tried to continue, but at that moment he felt a terrifying presence from afar trying to breach his mind. Blood started dripping from his orifices.
”WHY WON'T YOU LET ME GO!?” He screamed, clawing at his face. With the last of his strength he forced Her out of his mind.
Gurgle. Cough cough.
Altemuller was choking on his own blood. Pale-faced, Van could see Altemuller's lips becoming blue and the time between each blink growing longer and longer. The white-haired man weakly drew out an object from the sleeve of his robes. A small box with a strange design clattered to the icy ground.
”She will mobilise the armies when the Six Country Alliance is distracted. If you want to save Cloud River...”
Van looked sharply at the dying man. Altemuller pushed the small box forward.
”Give this… to my brother…he will know what he must do...”
Altemuller focused a blue eye onto Van's dark gaze, ”… only the Mind Bore Beetle can…remove…the demons in the sect disciples...!”
The last thing the emaciated man felt was a sharp pain in his mind, and the vision of a pair of bright yellow eyes filled with venomous hatred staring right through him.
Altemuller smiled weakly.
[I forgive you…Mother.]
Then everything went black.
___
Van stared at the corpse at his feet. At the last second, he had felt a terrifyingly strong aura emanating from Altemuller before he died. The power was accompanied by a feeling of hatred and viciousness so strong that Van felt an uncontrollable need to run far away.
Jet's sigh echoed in Van's mindscape.
[Poor thing. He was only able to resist the person controlling him in his final breaths.]
Van shook his head, ”The amount of deaths Altemuller is responsible for… the amount of havoc he has created… that cannot and should not be forgiven. If he had the courage and conviction, he may have found a way out.”