The Birth of a Monster
Chapter 35
Everything felt slow.
The world around Eidolon moved like thick water.
People were running.
Screaming.
Falling over each other in desperate panic as the coliseum collapsed around them.
But to Eidolon-
It all felt distant.
Like watching a nightmare from far away.
"...Am I... a monster?"
His voice was quiet.
Almost fragile.
He could hear them.
Every scream.
Every cry for help.
Every curse thrown into the air by people who believed they were about to die.
And he could feel it too.
Their fear.
Their hatred.
Their despair.
All of it poured into him like a storm.
"I never wanted this..."
His fingers trembled.
"All I ever wanted... was a family."
A faint laugh escaped his lips.
"Just... a home."
Somewhere warm.
Somewhere safe.
A place where someone would welcome him back.
"...Was that really too much to ask for?"
Silence answered him.
The darkness inside his chest twisted violently.
Eidolon closed his eyes.
"...Maybe it's this power."
His voice became hollow.
"...but right now..."
He looked up at the sky above the collapsing arena.
"...I just want the pain to stop."
A long breath escaped his lungs.
"...I want to kill everyone."
He sighed.
Not angrily.
Not proudly.
Just... tired.
"Haah..."
Then slowly-
A sad smile formed on his face.
"I truly am a monster."
His glowing purple eyes hardened.
"And I accept that."
The air around him began to tremble.
"From this moment onward..."
His voice became a vow carved into stone.
"I will destroy anyone who stands in my way."
The dark energy he had absorbed began moving inside his body like living creatures.
Wild.
Chaotic.
Violent.
It tore through his veins, crushing bone and ripping through flesh as it tried to escape.
Then suddenly-
It gathered.
All of it.
Into the center of his right palm.
Eidolon's arm trembled violently.
It felt like holding an entire mountain.
The energy screamed within him, desperate to be released.
"Too much..."
His body shook under the pressure.
Then-
THOOM.
Eidolon slammed his right foot into the ground.
Like a warrior preparing to throw the final strike.
His arms pulled apart as the energy grew brighter.
Even the fleeing hooded figures stopped for a moment-
Because they could see it.
A sphere of pure destruction.
Lightning and darkness twisting together violently in Eidolon's palm.
It looked like he was holding a piece of the sky itself.
Then-
Eidolon brought his hands together.
CLAP.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The explosion erased everything.
A blinding white light swallowed the arena.
For the people running for their lives-
That light was the last thing they ever saw.
The coliseum...
The stone walls...
The collapsing pillars...
Everything disintegrated instantly.
When the light faded-
Nothing remained.
Only a massive crater.
Like a miniature star had crashed into the earth.
Dust and smoke filled the sky.
At the center of the destruction-
Rubble shifted.
Eidolon slowly pushed himself out from beneath broken stone.
His entire body trembled.
His breathing was ragged.
Sweat poured down his face as if he had just fought death itself.
"Haa..."
"Haa..."
He looked around at the devastation.
A weak laugh escaped him.
"Ha..."
Then it grew louder.
"Haha..."
"Hahahahaha..."
His eyes were wide with disbelief.
"I... am a-"
Before he could finish-
CLANG!!
Chains burst from the ground.
They shot upward like living spears.
Before Eidolon could react-
They wrapped around his neck.
CRACK!!
The chains tightened violently.
His body jerked as the metal constricted around his throat.
Air vanished from his lungs instantly.
Eidolon clawed at the chains, gasping for breath.
But they only tightened further.
The world began to fade.
His vision blurred.
Darkness crept into the corners of his sight.
Then-
Everything went black.
Eidolon collapsed onto the cold ground.
Unconscious.
The chains slowly dragged him down into the dust.
Silence returned to the ruined battlefield.
And somewhere in that silence-
A voice whispered.
"...What just happened?"
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