Novel [+18][Graphic content]Beyond Mortality 1-16

Chapter 14- All is Lost
“Is this love? How touching.” Mark said jokingly while looking over Locux and Holland
.
Locux just continued to stare down Mark. He was thinking of a way to get out of this room with Holland. He obviously couldn't go out the way he came in because of Mark’s obstruction. If he had any confidence in going against Mark than he would just go past him but Mark was a deity force cultivator and he was a mere mortal. The outcome of such a collision is easily determined by any sane person. There was no was no way for a mortal to beat a deity force cultivator.

After thinking through all of this he was lost in despair.

“Why did you do this? What did she do to you and where’s her family” Locux questioned Mark hoping to get some answers and buy some time.

“I did it because this little slut wouldn’t willfully come to the sect with me. As for her family, they are all dead because of her rebellious nature.” Mark answered all of the questions without the slightest bit of emotion. It was as if he was discussing something completely unrelated to him.This person was a truly heartless individual.

“You…..You killed them.” Locux was shocked. This person before him was a sick person. He could kill and torture people without blinking.

“Yes and I’ll kill you too. ‘ Mark calmly answered.

At this moment Locux was lost in thought. How should he get out of here? It was at that moment that he remembered.
The Window!

He remembered the window that was behind him. He was on the second floor so he wouldn’t sustain that much damage but he also had to think about Holland.

“Any last words before I send you on your way” Mark smiled at them with a radiant and pure smile despite what he was saying. It was a strange scene.

“You’ve got to catch me first!” Locux jumped up with Holland in his arms. He turned around and ran towards the window with all the speed he could possibly muster. When he was close to the window he wrapped Holland in his arms and jumped out of the window! The glass shattered and many pieces stabbed made their way into the skin.

On the descent, Locux once again wrapped Holland around him so that he would take the most of the damage that would come from impacting the floor.

SHAWCK!!

Locux hit the ground hard. He felt extreme pain but he knew he couldn’t afford to rest so he ignored the pain and got up with Holland. He ran with her in his arms for two minutes before he saw Mark near them.

“Put her down or I will let you experience hell” He didn’t shout but his words still carried an imposing air.

Locux knew he couldn’t stop or death would be certain for both him and Holland.

“So you would rather run to hell than stay in heaven.” Mark then gave some command to the knights near him. The Knights seemed hesitant at first but that was only for an instant. They took off after Mark’s order but strangely enough they didn’t chase after Locux they rode their horses out in various directions
.
Mark looked towards Locux after the Knights rode away.

Locux was still running at top speed even with all the injuries on him and the added weight of Holland. This was a situation in which a human suppressed their limits in the face of danger.
Locux was nearing the outskirts of the village but then a shadow of a person appeared in front of him.

It was Mark!

“How…..how did you catch up that fast?” Locux had fallen into despair. He looked around for a way out but he couldn’t see anything that could help him.

“Just let me and Holland go. We won’t speak of a word of what happened and who would believe the words a few nobodies?” Locux tried to reason with Mark.

“HAHAHA, "you are right but letting you go wouldn’t be as fun as what I have planned for the two of you.” Mark laughed at Locux like he was a fool.

“But….” Locux wanted to respond to Mark but all of a sudden everything turned black



………



“Hello everyone of Carefree village” Mark’s voice sounded out.

“Uhhh, ” Locux had regained some clarity and could open his eyes but as soon as he opened his eyes he wished he hadn’t.
He was inside a cage with a cover over it. His hands and feet were also bound.

“Today I have a special event planned out.” Mark’s voice once again sounded out.

All the villagers were surrounding Mark and around the villagers were Mark’s Knights.

“What could young noble Mark have planned?” Some villagers asked.

“Maybe he wants to present a gift to a village. Be sure to thank him.” Other villagers responded with their various guesses.

“HAHA” Mark laughed when he heard these villagers.

Locux had a bad feeling about what would happen next.

“Villagers let’s look at what’s under this cover.” Mark grabbed the cover and pulled it off the unknown object
.
The moment the cover was pulled off, the village was filled with countless gasps.

“What could you mean by this Mark!? Is this a joke?” The village chief stood out and yelled questions at Mark.

Under the cover were two cages. In one cage Locux sat there looking around in shock. In the other cage, Holland was slumped over looking lifeless and dead.

“This is not a joke by any means village chief even though the outcome will leave a smile on my face” Mark calmly responded.

“Son! Are you ok?!” Locux saw his parents in the crowd when they called his name

“What happened?” The village chief asked.

“This pest invaded my residence and tried to steal something that belonged to me.” Mark pointed to Locux as he responded to the village chief’s question.
“Is this true Locux?” The village chief turned to ask Locux.

“No, it’s not true! Mark, he kidnapped Holland’s family then he killed her parents. He didn’t stop at that and then he proceeded to torture Holland!” Locux revealed all that he knew.
“What?” The Village Chief was shocked. He looked towards Mark with anger.

“I invited her to the sect countless amounts of times and she continued to reject my invitations so I showed her the meaning of power,” Mark responded calmly.

“How could you do this? You’re worst than human! Leave this village and never return.” THe village chief was furious.

“Yeah, get out of here!” Said a villager.

“You fucking beast!” Another villager cursed while yelling.

“Are you even human?” The villagers yelled and cursed at Mark. They all wanted him out.

“Haha.” Mark only laughed when he heard the villagers cursing at him and then he turned to Locux.

“I brought all these villagers here because I wanted to show you what true despair is like.” As soon as Mark finished speaking the Knights that were stationed around the villagers started to tighten their formation and move up. This caused the villagers to panic.

“What are you doing?” The village chief got worried when he saw this scene.

“I’m having a bit of fun. Kill any that try to run.” Mark jumped out into the center of the formation where the villagers were all gathered.
The villagers were shocked at his speed and while they were processing that a head came flying off a man but that wasn’t all. Another head came flying and then after that limbs came flying off.

The villagers wanted to flee from this killing God but the Knight's formation was unbreakable.

“NO! STOP! PLEASE!” Locux cried out and begged when he saw this happening.
All the people he knew were being slaughtered like farm animals and he could do nothing at that moment. He was a mere mortal and was in no position to oppose a deity force cultivator.

“Help!” One villager cried out before he was split in half with his guts spewing over. He could see the lower half of his body disconnected from the upper half. He yelled in an inhuman manner at the sight of this.

“Why have the Gods abandoned us?!” Another villager cried out as his sons and daughters had their limbs cut off and their hearts ruptured.

“HAHAHAHA” All the while Mark was delighting in his slaughter. He had a smile glazed over his face that was covered with the blood and body parts of others
.
Locux was lost in despair at the sight of this massacre. He wanted to turn away but he was worried about his parents and siblings. He hoped that they would somehow make it out of this but his hopes were crushed in the next moment.
He witnessed his family members being cut down by Mark while he turned to Locux and smiled. Mark took his time with them as he wanted to make Locux lose his mind at the sight of his parents slowly dying with lost limbs.
Before his dad died with his mom next to them they looked at Locux and said “Son, we don’t blame you. Just live and we’ll die happily”
His family truly loved him. Even with him being the cause of their deaths they still showed him an immense amount of love. This only caused Locux to hate himself more. He was weak and his weakness doomed all those he loved and cared for.

“Lo...cux” A weak voice called out to him from his side. It was Holland. She seemed to have had awakened at some point during this horrible event.
“Holland! Are you ok?” Locux asked with tears in his eyes.
“Run...far, away.” After saying that a small amount of light emerged from Holland and traveled towards the cage that was holding Locux. The small light was dim but it radiated a faint aura of power. WHen this light made contact with the cage, it managed to cut through it easily.

“I’m free! Thank you, Holland.” Locux was free of the cage but that happiness only lasted for a second before he looked towards Holland. Blood was running down her lips.

“Locux run. Escape. I can’t live any longer. I used all of my life force to free you from that cage.” After saying that her eyes closed and she lay motionless in the cage.

“No, Holland! You can’t be dead. You’re the only person I have left.” Locux wanted to cry but he was completely drained of tears. He felt as if his world was quickly collapsing. Everything he knew was gone. Everyone he loved was dead.

While Locux was lost in thought Mark was focused on his slaughter. He sought to kill in many ways. He would often test how long a person might live with only one arm and no legs. He didn’t notice that Locux had been freed from the cage. The Knights were also focused on maintaining the formation. It was much easier now since the villagers had been mostly killed by Mark. In the beginning, there were about 200 hundred villagers but now only30 remained and they were being toyed with in a brutal fashion.

Locux wanted to rush in but he knew he couldn’t do anything.

“Mark Lyset...I will be back!” After saying these words he reluctantly ran away.

Mark was in the middle of finishing off the remaining people when he glanced over at the cages and saw that someone was missing and a huge hole had appeared in that missing person’s cage.
“Damn it.” He yelled!

“Contact the family assassin.” Mark relayed his orders to a Knight after he had finished with the last villager by slicing their tongues out and letting them bleed.

The future Locux was watching all these scenes occur with tears in his eyes. He looked as if he might give up on life at any moment.
“Don’t give up hope, kid. We have seen what we came here to see. Let’s go back to the present.” The shadow said that and then the world turned blurry and black.

 

Chapter 15- Testing

The Shadow brought Locux back to the present and returned to the book. He decided to let Locux process all of the previous events that occurred.

Locux looked drained. He wanted to cry and scream but he couldn’t find the strength to. He didn’t know what to cry about or who to blame. Should he cry for the lost of his home, his parents, or Holland? Should he blame Mark for being a cruel asshole or should he blame himself for being weak? Would any of this have happened if he had the power to protect those he valued?

He felt as though he was nothing before he was just an ant trying to go against an elephant. His only fate was to be played with and squashed underneath the legs of this behemoth. Locux rethought his actions over and thought up millions of alternative actions he could have taken. But alas, each of the scenarios he thought of ended in the same fashion. In front of absolute power, his schemes meant nothing.

After thinking of all these things, he came to the conclusion of the world being unfair. This world let the strong do whatever they please without any consequences while the weak had to simply accept whatever was done to them. No matter what civilized image society tried to present it wouldn’t change anything. The world was a jungle and only the strongest had the right to speak so he would never have that right. He was a weakling that had no talent for deity force.

He couldn’t do anything at all, he was truly powerless.

His fate was not in his control.

Locux just thought about these things while staying in the same spot for three days. On the fourth day, he came to the conclusion that life wasn’t worth living if he was below everyone.

“What if I could give you a chance to change your faith and maybe regain all that you lost?” The voice of the shadow sounded out when Locux was lost in the depths of despair.

“If I could treat that noble scum to a life worst than hell then I would be satisfied immensely,” Locux replied with a voice that lacked any bit of emotion.

“How will you regain what I lost? Can you bring my family, Holland, and the villagers?” Locux thought this was impossible to do but he did just come back from the past so he was a bit more open to the absurd at that particular moment.

“Not only will I help you get revenge on that puny little ant but I’ll show the way to bring those people back.” The Shadow responded as if these tasks were laughably simple.

“Anything good has a price. What’s the price for this.” Locux asked the Shadow about the price but he would even use his soul as a bargaining chip if it meant that he could make Mark suffer and bring back the people he loved.

“I only require two things. A suitable body and complete chaos.” The Shadow responded.

Locux thought that this was a strange request.

“A suitable body?” Locux questioned.

“Yes, I tire of being one with this book and seek a suitable vessel to contain my eternal soul.” The Shadow replied.

“ I can agree to that but what do you mean by chaos?” Locux didn’t know what this request meant.

“ This world is too peaceful. The power balance is too stable. I want to see everything turned upside down. Your job will be to cause war and death wherever you go. You shall be the harbinger of chaos.” The Shadow explained his unusual request.

“Harbinger of Chaos!” Locux thought of this evil title for a while before replying to the shadow.

“Yes, I’ll do it. This world shall mirror my torn and dark heart. I will cleanse this world before I remake it!” This world took away the ones he loved the most so he felt no attachment to it any longer. All beings meant nothing to him at this moment. He only had his goal in his sight.

“ I have agreed to your conditions.How will you give me power?” Locux calmly asked.

“Ingest this” The shadow retrieved a small black bead from the book.

The bead was black but that description was lacking. The bead seemed to be void of color as though it were a black hole that would not allow light to exist in its domain.It radiated a sense of evil and darkness that originated from the deepest level of hell. It gave one a heart-chilling feeling.

Locux looked at the bead in shock. It took all his effort to remain standing in the presence of this bead.

“What….what is this?” Locux said as he was kneeling on the floor of the cave.

“This is a one of a kind object. An object capable of making the Gods feel fear! An object that shouldn’t exist. An object that can bring about the destruction of not only this world but also every other world! Be thankful that I don’t have a physical form that can use this or you wouldn’t have this privilege.” The Shadow sounded excited and fearful while talking about this bead. This was strange because the Shadow always seemed to be cocky and unbearably proud as though nothing could possibly catch its eye but this bead caused fear to appear in the Shadow’s voice.

“It’s that powerful?! What will happen if I ingest it? “ Locux didn’t think anything good could come from this bead.

“You will take either gain ultimate power or you will die and be assimilated with it but at this point do you really want to live as a nobody? “ The Shadow knew that Locux had no choice anymore. Locux was just like all other humans and couldn’t live without any hope.

“Fine, let’s do this!” Locux grabbed the bead and immediately swallowed it.

As soon as he swallowed it everything turned pitch black. He felt as if he was transported into another space. He could feel control of his body but each step he took was meaningless. It was if he was in a space of nothingness. It was cold and silent in this space too so he had no level of comfort whatsoever.

“ YOU WISH TO CONTROL MY POWER?” A powerful, evil, and sinister voice appeared out of nowhere. This voice didn’t originate from a single direction instead it came from everywhere.

“AH” Locux felt a huge shockwave impact his body as the voice sounded out.

“Who is this? Where am I?” Locux asked the surrounding darkness around him.

“You are in the testing area, foolish human. If you can withstand the trials laid out by the Evil Sovereign you will gain Supreme evil force,” The voice responded out from nowhere.

“What happens if I fail?” Locux asked.

“HAHAHA!” The voices booming laughter echoed out and then it said in a chilly voice.

“You don’t want to fail.”

Locux could feel that the failing was not an option he had and neither was surrender.

“What’s the first test?” Locux wanted to know what he would be getting himself into.

“Let’s not spoil the surprise, human.” The voice replied.

SHWACK

Locux lost consciousness all of a sudden.
……

“What happened?” Locux said as he slowly opened his eyes

“Welcome to the playground” The same voice from earlier responded.

Locux tried to get up but he found himself bound to a wooden table. He gave up struggling and decided to look around. All around him were blades of various sharpness and sizes. These blades seemed to have already be soaked in blood.

“Let us begin!” The voice sounded out then a kind old man appeared out of nowhere.

“Hey, do you know where I am and who are you?” Locux asked the middle-aged man.

“Don’t you recognize my voice?” This was the voice from the darkness. It seemed to have taken form.

After the man addressed Locux, he slowly walked to the blade closest to him. This blade was not sharp at all and seemed very used. It also had white bits slowly falling from it. The man took the blade than walked towards Locux.

“What are you doing?! What do you...AHHHH” Locux couldn’t finish what he was saying before a blade came down and started to cut his fingers off one by one.

“AHHHH STOP, STOP” Locux screamed and begged but the man wouldn’t stop.

This continued to happen until Locux had his entire right arm mutilated. His right arm was dyed in his own blood. Veins were protruding out in many places and bone was cut deeply into.

“You didn’t lose your will to live.” The man said.

“What’s keeping you going and how long can it keep you going? HAHAHA.” The man seemed to take a great amount of pleasure in this.

“ That was blade 1 out of 666. Let’s keep going.” The man walked back to the collection of blades and but down the first blade and then he picked up another one which seemed a lot sharper. This blade seemed like a normal blade in appearance but this only served to make Locux more worried.

The man walked up to Locux and started to mutilate his left arm. This time as he stabbed and cut Locux, small little insects emerged from the blade. These insects bit and devoured his arm. The insects exploded when they ate their fill but they still kept at it even with the risk of death.

Some insects didn’t get to feed on his arms so they made their way to other places on his body such as his legs. Some insects made their way to his eyes and started feasting on his eyeballs. Locux let out an inhuman wail from the bottom of his soul but he still held on to hope and his resolution.

He closed his eyes in order to get rid of the insects but they seemed to have enjoyed the taste of eyes and they continued to bother him. They ate the skin that covered the eyeballs and then proceeded to feed on his eyeballs. Locux had to endure this torture for hours until the final insect ate its fill and exploded.

“Well done! Getting master’s power is very costly. It’ll probably cost you an arm and a leg. HAHAHAHA.” The man seemed to be getting a kick out of this since he could even make jokes about the situation Locux was in.

“2 out of 666”

“3 out of 666”

“12”

“30”

Locux persisted and held on to his will even throughout this horrible process. As he went on to the 31st blade he only had a head remaining and yet he was still alive.

“Mhh. You’ll need more than that.” The man then pointed at Locux and muttered a few words. In that instant, Locux felt all of his limbs regrow even his damaged and missing eyes grew back.

He was astonished and horrified at the same time. If this man can heal him and torture him without fear of his subject dying than could this possibly go on for all of the eternity?

“HAHAHA as good as new! Let’s go on!” The man then walked to the next blade.

 

Chapter 16 - Suffer in Silence

The man walked to the next blade as he laughed with pure and unrestrained joy. When Locux tried to look at the blade the man was walking to, he momentarily lost his vision and felt his eyes burn. The feeling was quick and intense.

“Oh, don’t look at the blade hahaha.” The man took great joy in the pain Locux was feeling.

Locux learned his lesson the first time and decided it was best to not look at the blade. Furthermore, Locux started to hate this guy after being tortured for what seemed like days. Locux knew the man was gaining joy from his misery and screams.

If my screams and misery cause you happiness then I’ll take that away for you. If I must suffer then I will suffer on my terms. I will suffer in silence.

In that moment Locux chose to finally take control. He didn’t have sufficient strength to control the world, people, and his situation but he had the power to control how he reacted. He was aware of his powerlessness but he also knew that he had power.

“Ok kid, ready? Let’s hear those sweet screams.” The man was preparing to enjoy this to his fullest. He took the blade and beginning cutting Locux into pieces but he didn’t hear any screaming. Locux didn’t even let out a whimper as he was being cut apart.

What’s with this kid? Is this blade faulty?

“You’re a lucky kid. It seems as though there is something wrong with this blade. We’ll just go on to the next blade.” The man dejectedly walked away with a sigh. One could tell that he greatly enjoyed creating fear and chaos. While he was picking up the next sword he looked back to Locux and just saw him laying down with his eyes looking straight up. He didn’t seem to care about what was the next blade. The man smiled when he saw this.

He’s in shock haha. The kid is just waiting to wail and scream. Fear is eating away at him

“Blade 33, kid. It only gets worse from here. You still have 633 blades to go.”

He started cutting with Locux with the blade again. He made sure to miss a single body part and yet not a single scream was released from Locux. He continued looking up with complete silence. He didn’t acknowledge the man at all. It was as if he wasn’t there and the torture wasn’t happening.

The man became nervous at the sight of this and decided to check on Locux to see if something was wrong. He scanned Locux with his power and found nothing wrong with him. This made him slightly angry.

“Good, good, let’s see how long you can keep up your tough act.” He said deviously and then went on to the next blade.

“Blade 34.”

“Blade 40.”

The man was really angry at this point. His spirit had been stuck in this bead without contact with the outside world for so long and he wanted to enjoy this time. He was somewhat happy when he saw his ‘toy’ appear in the bead. He thought it would be fun until his toy eventually broke but that’s not how it was turning out. The kid before him didn’t seem human at this point. It was as if the kid stopped feeling pain altogether. The man never met a human like Locux before.

“Blade 135”

“Blade 666”

This was final blade and yet Locux didn’t even care. He had long since entered a special state. He felt nothing in this state. Space and time didn’t account for anything while he was in this state. Locux didn’t know how a God felt but he at that moment he felt like a God. Nothing could control him. His mind was his and no one could take that away from him.

“Kid.”

“Kid”

“Kid!” The man was trying to get Locux to pay attention to his words.

Locux heard a voice yelling and noticed that it was the man’s voice so he lazily responds.

“What?”

“We’re done here. You passed. You have the right to become the master or the chaos origin bead.” The man said dejectedly. He was obviously not happy. He was the almighty spirit of the chaos origin bead. What right did this stupid kid have to become his master? This all felt ridiculous to him. He thought the kid would have given up and submitted in the beginning.

“I passed?” Locux was stunned for a second. He didn’t think he could make it when he was subjected to torture under the first 30 or so blades but he unexpectedly made it through. At that moment he knew he only passed due to his change of mindset. He only passed when he realized that he was too weak to complain about his lack of power and control. All of his complaining made no difference and only when he chose to suffer in silence did he gain strength and power.

“What is this bead?” Locux was curious as to what this bead was and what it could do.