Return of the Fallen Volume 9 Chapter 42
As the Miasma grew and grew, it consumed millions upon millions of living creatures. Each creature the Miasma took in, the more memories it absorbed. The more it absorbed, the more pain it felt. The most powerful memory and experience were always the last ones. At the moment of death, everything would become clear and would therefore be heightened to the senses.
In the thick of the Miasma, something brewed and churned. The mind that was once Zephris had been destroyed long ago or so everyone thought. The Miasma itself was an amalgamation of minds, souls, and power. Every soul that was taken in first had to be split from the Azirian’s and the Azirian’s originally came from Zephris’s very soul and blood.
When the unique ones had their souls split, a part of Zephris still remained in those fragments, along with the unique soul fragments.
With the crown under Torzz’s control, these split fragments were meant to be thrown away, tossed aside until they faded into the void but what none could have predicted, was that the Miasma’s greedy nature absorbed these fragments from the surroundings. As it absorbed them, tiny pieces of Zephris’s soul came along with these unique soul fragments and they began to gather and concentrate inside of the Miasma, fusing together with it.
At first, these tiny soul fragments meant nothing and were basically dormant. As the years went on, however, the Miasma continued to absorb more and more of the unique fragments that carried with it small pieces of his soul. The more these tiny fragments gathered inside the Miasma, the more they fused together and grew until finally his soul and mind were reborn.
No, not fully, but enough for him to recognize who and what he had become. This though could not last. Just as he had reformed, his mind could once again not take all of the other souls and minds screaming out in absolute agony and he fell apart. This was not his end, however.
His soul and mind fell apart and scattered like drops of rain falling from the sky but they did not scatter very far, rather they could not. The Miasma, like a greedy magnet, kept pulling the piece back together. As the pieces came together, more were added whenever a unique soul was split from the Azirian’s. These new pieces only added to Zephris and his soul and mind formed slightly quicker this time.
How many years had passed for this second coming, he did not know but before he could put a new string of thoughts together, the other souls drove him to the brink, and again he was shattered. As the years flowed like a hurried river, Zephris suffered over and over. The more the Miasma absorbed the stronger it became. This did not benefit Zephris as it made the other broken voices stronger as well.
No, instead, Zephris’s reformation came from the Azirian’s. The more their souls developed into unique ones, the more times the crown in Torzz’s possession would split them and the Miasma would then absorb the fragment that carried the smaller soul fragment of Zephris.
He would then reform with a little bit more strength each time, only for the other conscious’s madness to break him. In this way, his mind and soul were torn apart over and over and over again, only to then be put back together. The absolute agony he felt was never-ending but slowly but surely, he could feel whatever was left of him was strengthening with every iteration. Not only that but every time Glacious destroyed part of the Miasma with his severing tempest, it weakened the many opposing fragments within it.
The Azirian’s were giving Zephris his power back while the Miasma was taking it away. An unknown tug of war was taking place before everyone and no one knew but Zephris himself. As he grew stronger, he was able to wrestle control from Torzz randomly. Torzz didn’t understand why this was happening and it took more of his won power and focus to retake control from Zephris.
Time ticked by more and more and now Zephris was reforming at such a rate that he could rebuild himself nearly every day and for a few minutes at a time before he was broken once more and scattered. He found that he could use a minuscule amount of magic and his hope was reignited. That is until he learned of Fera and Torzz’s plan.
Zephris understood that as long as things continued as they were, then possibly in the next million or so years, he would have enough power to form himself fully and take back control. Things completely changed after Torzz and Fera began to move things up. If their plan was successful, then the Azirian’s that he relied on to continue to grow his strength would be no more and he would never be able to recover again. The Miasma would only grow and his powers would only shrink.
(I have to escape, I have to take back control before it’s too late but I’m still not strong enough. I have no way out, I need something, I need someone. But no one can understand me, no one even knows of my existence. To the world, I am merely the all-devouring Miasma. Is this truly my eternal nightmare, my personal hell realm. Never-ending suffering.)
As he contemplated his own personal hell, something happened. Torzz sent the Azirian’s away and sent the Miasma someplace else entirely. When Zephris saw this, he felt panic set in.
(Is this it? Is Torzz sending the Azirian’s to finish off humanities warriors? Are they about to complete their plan? This is too soon! Not only that, with the Azirian’s gone away from the Miasma, the Miasma will not be able to absorb the fragments coming from the Azirian’s. My power will no longer grow. This can’t be happening. Just where in the 7 realms of hell is that bastard Torzz sending us?)
Zephris felt himself sink as he and the Miasma were forced underground. Time passed and when they reemerged, Zephris found himself surrounding a palace along with some people.
(Torzz sent us here, to kill these small mortals?)
Zephris witnessed Kazuki and the others start to panic when they saw the Miasma closing in around them. He watched as Kazuki lifted the palace and everyone else before taking off with incredible speed.
(This one’s fast but it’s obvious he’ll kill his companions if he continues to travel at that speed.)
Just as Zephris thought, all of the people in the floating palace could not take such force and their organs ruptured and were crushed under this influence. At the same time, Asuna, Sam, and Kimi were starting to bleed from their ears, eyes, mouths, and noses.
Just when Zephris thought Kazuki was about to forgo his people and was going to let them die from his actions, Kazuki suddenly came to a standstill.
(Hmm, this young mortal gave up his escape to let his friends live a little longer. What a fool. He could have gotten away but now they will all simply die in here together.)
The Miasma closed in completely and the escape route was now sealed.
(If only that boy was a bit more merciless and abandoned those weaklings. He could have lived.)
Zephris did not know why he had such thoughts. Maybe it was because he realized that Fear and Torzz were about to succeed and anything he did was now pointless. So his thoughts were loose and unencumbered. He had given up.
Watching the young mortal and his friends, he wondered what they were up to. To his surprise, the one that was a golem formed a cage of lightning around them all.
(Hmm, I thought they were familiar with the Miasma. Surely they know the Miasma will simply eat that lightning and then them as well.)
The moment the Miasma surrounded the cage of lightning Zephris once more was surprised. The lightning contained some of the same properties that Glacious severing tempest had.
(This lightning, it’s destroying the Miasma. There exist someone other than that dragon that knows how to destroy this damned body!?)
As Kazuki and the others made their way through the Miasma, Danny extended a finger and touched the Miasma, as the Miasma ate away at his finger, he quickly pulled it back and dealt with his finger. At the same time though, Zephris who was watching all of this became shocked.
(That golem, it’s made from my god metal. I thought the bulk of the god metal sank to beneath the world and into Zetrazz territory. For this Golem to exist, one would need to take god metal directly from my metal city. In order to do that, one must either completely overpower the Adrola apes or must gain their respect and trust through strength. Not only that they would also have to have Zetrazz’s permission to take anything out from the abyss. Everything beneath the Feya continent is Zetrazz’s, everyone knows this, yet this golem exists. Whoever built it, what kind of expert must they be to get past a titan as well as create such a golem.)
Zephris suddenly became rather curious about Danny and the one who brought him into existence.
(Even if I am to be ripped to shreds for an eternity, I will at least watch this fellow without fail. My alchemist and craftsmen spirit are firing up. How many years have passed since I last felt something good? I will watch their light go out without fail.)
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