Chapter 4 – The Beginning of the End
Huh? What happened? I can’t see anything. It feels like my clothes are off. My arms are restrained, and my legs can barely move. Donna, I already told you I didn’t want any more children. Huh? I have some kind of black sack on my head.
‘Get up, Benedetto!’
“Where am I?” I say as the sack on my head is removed.
I’m in a cave with what looks to be a cult around me. They’re dressed in weird robes and there’s a naked-IS that Lilia?! She seems to be drugged. There are weird marks on her chest, belly, and crotch.
“What did you people do to Lilia?!”
One of the hooded cultists says, “She is to be your wife and your new child is going to be the next hero of the world.”
The people in the cave start chanting.
“Who are you people?”
“We are your devout followers, the Lavit Manus. You, who is the greatest hero of them all. We are going to unite you with this woman and strengthen your child with the power of our magic. Together, you will lead humanity into a great future.”
‘I remember a cult like this from the past heroes. Heck, even I had a cult like this following me.’
“Let us both go, disband this cult, and I’ll forget about what you’re doing.”
“We’re helping you, Benedetto. We knew you would step in to stop that raging experiment and stopped by from time to time to keep the infection where it was until you finally arrived.”
“I appreciate the thought, but you’re doing this the wrong way! I’m not going to rape Lilia just so you can strengthen our child.”
“Oh, it’s not rape. She wants you. I’m sure you know that.”
“I’m sure she didn’t volunteer for this.”
“She’ll love you as a husband when it’s over.”
“You have one last chance to let us go.”
“I’m sure you can do many things to us, but you must trust us.”
“I’m taking that as a refusal.”
I turn to the closest person holding me and break their neck with my teeth then throw them to the ground with my teeth. The cultists get on their knees and offer their prayers to me.
I tell them, “God is the only one who should be worshipped! Not man nor nature nor devil.”
They don’t listen to me, so I go to free Lilia by biting off her chains. That increased strength I got as one of my first rewards as a hero didn’t just increase my body’s strength. It also increased the strength of my bite.
‘No wonder why Donna likes getting bit by you.’
Now’s not the time to think about that.
‘Yeah, we wouldn’t want them seeing you getting excited in this situation.’
“Look! He can even break metal with his teeth!”
“It’s amazing but we have to stop him.”
Okay, I didn’t think I’d have to fight like this, but I guess I have no choice! Despite these chains, I can still move around enough to fight. I use my head and back as a weapon to quickly attack and knock them out. I only use my teeth once my head starts to really hurt. That’s all seven of them.
‘Talk about using your head.’
I’m going to have to see a dentist after this or clean my teeth with wine for all the necks I’ve bitten. Now that Lilia is free, how am I going to wake her up?
‘Kiss her.’
No.
“Lilia. Wake up,” I say near her ears.
She opens her eyes, shrieks then falls off the bed.
“Calm down, Lilia. It’s okay. You’re safe. We were abducted by some kind of cult that was going to force us to have sex so they could infuse our child with their magic.”
“I wouldn’t have min-That would’ve been terrible. I think.”
I can’t.
“Can you free me from these chains?”
“…Yeah.”
I don’t like the second she took to consider it. Lilia free me and we find our clothes and things and leave the cave to arrive in what looks to be Blighted territory.
“What happened in the distance?” Lilia asks while pointing to the mess I made with the flesh experiment.
“That’s uh. A problem I had to deal with. I’ll explain while we walk.”
What I explain to Lilia surprises her since she didn’t take the experiment too seriously. The Blighted have been focused on their armor and weapon making business ever since I stopped their “old” practice of replacing human skin with dragon skin. Their culture is doing really well with new inventions being made and the faith increasing in the region. The only downside that their culture is going through a little split as part of it wants to be more like the Cuchillos and another part wants to be like Fedele, like me.
“How did those cultists catch you?”
“I don’t know. The last thing I remember is going to bed. Did you ever get your revenge for your family?”
“I did. That was yesterday.”
“Yesterday? Didn’t your family die yesterday?”
“No. You must’ve been out since the day the Lavit Manus attacked us. The rest of them should’ve been arrested by now.”
“That’s great. Another challenge completed for you, this time in three days. I’m sure that’s spiritually significant or something.”
“It is, but I’m not sure if the challenge is done.”
“How do you know?”
“Hold on. I’ll check with Tunc.”
‘I haven’t heard anything from the people above yet, which is strange.’
Woah, the ground is starting to shake. Is that experiment still alive?
‘Oh no.’
What is it?
‘Now’s the time to get serious, Benedetto!’
What’s happening? Woah! A large noise seems to shake the skies as the ground splits apart. A red light shines out of the ground as both large and small demons start pouring out. Lilia and I start fighting them as they surround us. Before we I begin to lose hope in Lilia’s survival, my Sparrows come to our aid. Donna and a large number of my forces come to our aid.
“That was quick of you,” I tell her.
“I don’t want to hear anything from you,” Donna says in the coldest voice I’ve ever heard her speak in, “We’ve been looking for you for a day and you have the balls to show up now with that little girl? We’re going to have a long talk when we get back.”
She’s not going to like what I’m going to say. There’s an army out here for me and we’re outnumbered.
“Get some portals here! There’s too many of them.”
“You heard him!”
The mages use their teleportation magic and we end up in La Santa Vedere, which is no better.
‘The entire world is under attack.’
No way.
‘This is it, Benedetto. The end of the world.’
May God keep us all safe.
Buildings and streets are destroyed already and everyone who can fight is defending those who can’t fight. Several dragons with seven heads adorned with seven disgusting crowns fly in to bring fire and disease upon everyone. This is just like the day that my hometown was destroyed except worst, but I’m not going to let it end like this. I take off the bandages where I wrote God’s holy name, which brightens up the town as if I had the sun on my shoulders. The demons fade into blackness.
‘Great decision to use your trump card, but…’
I know. I have to quickly wrap my arms back up before any human person dies. I also feel a little woozy. Thankfully I have a few warrior priests with me who can wrap my shoulders up without being harmed…
“Wake up, Benedetto.”
“Huh? Donna. Is everyone safe?”
“They are. The entire world was under attack and reported that a shining light saved them. Your shining light. What was that thing you used? Was it some kind of spell?”
“No, the holy name of God that I have written on my shoulders will allow God to completely enter into my body so we can act as one during the final battle. It can also disintegrate all demons and sinful beings if my faith and relationship with God are strong enough, which is what you saw. Thankfully it was. It can also harm people if it isn’t covered up in time, but my warrior priests helped me with that.”
“Is the end of the world starting?”
“It is.” I hold Donna’s hand. “But we can make it. I’ll save as many people as I can.”
“I know you can. I have faith in God and you.”
‘Again, you surprise me with your abilities to pass a challenge in the best possible way.’
Do I get anything this time because I don’t think I need anything else besides what I have?
‘And that’s why God keeps giving you things, you spoiled brat. Graces beget more graces. You are granted the grace of endurance. Your body is basically a suit of armor, but there’s more! You are more patient, you grow hungry and thirsty at a slower pace.’
That’s neat, but I wish I could give it to Donna.
Donna’s soft smiling face changes to a stern one as she says, “Since you got in so much trouble by yourself, I am going to be permanently by your side for an entire week.”
“What?”
“Ah! Complain and it becomes a month. I will be with you for everything including showers, but I’ll respect your privacy when you use the bathroom.”
“Oh great.”
“Ah! It’s going to be a month.”
“M-”
“Ah! A month and a day now.”
I should reverse time for once, but I won’t. I’ll deal with it.
‘What a wife you got.’
I know, but I still love her.
The end of the world is upon us. The damages that were done to the earth and our cities might be beyond repair given the time we have to fix them, but we’re still ready, nonetheless. I just hope that I can save as many people as I can. May God help us all in the coming days.
The End
No comments:
Post a Comment