"I didn't expect you to catch on so soon," he admitted with a crooked smile. "But I suppose I should've expected as much from you... Sword Grandmaster, or should I call you Seth now?" The Devil King's voice dripped with snark, his amusement evident.
Seth's expression remained cold, his hostility burning just beneath the surface.
The Devil King sighed in mock disappointment. "You're no fun, are you?"
With a snap of his fingers, the world around them dissolved. The ruins, the corpses, the very fabric of reality- everything was swallowed by darkness. What remained was an endless void.
"Don't worry," the Devil King continued casually, as if this void was his playground. "It's just a simple memory imprint I planted in your mind... at the time of my death. Who would've thought it'd linger even after your reincarnation?"
He shrugged his playful, carefree demeanor a far cry from the monster he truly was.
Hearing the Devil King's words, Seth frowned. "If it's been in my mind all this time… why did it activate only now?"
The Devil King chuckled softly. "Ah, that's the amusing part." His grin widened, eyes glinting with dark delight. "I designed this imprint to activate only when you're overwhelmed by a feeling of fundamental sorrow and despair- despair born from the very world you sought to protect.
Who would've thought it'd take two rotten worlds for you to feel that way? For that… I commend you."
Seth's breath hitched. "Wha… what do you mean?" he stammered, a cold knot forming in his chest.
The Devil King tilted his head slightly, his expression one of mild curiosity. "Hmm… interesting. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Your mind must've blocked the memories to shield you from the trauma."
He observed Seth closely, his gaze sharp and analytical despite the playful lilt in his voice.
"Go on… try to jog your memory. What do you remember before you found yourself here?"
"I… I was in… Thornspire with Casper… and… and… Emily…" Seth's voice trembled, each word a struggle. But the moment he uttered her name- Emily, the memories of the past hour came rushing back like a flash flood, crashing over him with unbearable force.
Pure horror engulfed him.
His legs buckled, and he collapsed onto all fours. Hot tears streamed down his cheeks, dripping steadily onto the endless void beneath him. His breathing came in ragged gasps, his chest heaving with the weight of grief and despair.
The Devil King spared him only a passing glance, his expression indifferent. He resumed twirling a lock of his dark hair, as if Seth's suffering was nothing more than background noise, beneath his notice.
"Please… I… I need to go back… maybe… maybe I can still save her…" Seth choked on his words, his voice cracking with desperation as he pleaded to be sent back. His hands trembled, clutching at the void beneath him as if sheer will alone could rewrite reality.
The Devil King didn't spare him a glance. "And do what?" he asked, voice dripping with disdain. "What could you possibly do with that weak, pathetic self of yours?"
"You're already at the verge of death, simply sending you back will all but seal your fate." He added.
"Maybe… if I use magi—"
"Oh, shut up."
The Devil King's sharp tone cut through Seth's words like a blade. For the first time, he turned to face him, his playful demeanor replaced by cold, unflinching seriousness. His gray eyes burned with contempt.
"I can't believe I was defeated by someone as pitiful as you," he sneered. "You really don't get it, do you?"
Seth flinched, his breath catching in his throat.
"Think back," the Devil King continued, his voice low and venomous. "What were my last words after my defeat?"
Straining in earnest, Seth forced his mind back to the final moments of the Coalition's war against the Devil King's legion- to the very moment of his defeat.
He remembered it vividly.
As Lin Jie, he had stood above the Devil King, watching as the last ember of life flickered in his eyes… and just before it faded completely, the Devil King had mumbled something.
Something no one else nearby had heard.
Something meant only for him.
"You're next…"
The memory hit Seth like a blow to the chest. His breath hitched, his heart pounding in his ears.
"What… what does that have to do with anything?" he asked, his voice still trembling with sorrow.
"Always the naïve one, aren't you… sword grandmaster?" the Devil King chuckled, his voice laced with amusement. "It's almost adorable how you still see the world in black and white. But let me tell you something, Seth… there's a grey area. And that grey?" His smile darkened. "That grey is the most harrowing of all."
He let out a slow breath, eyes narrowing. "You once wielded great power. And what did you do with it? You bent the knee to false kings- men who sat on their thrones, bloated with pride, doing nothing but stroking their overfed egos. All in the name of fighting me… the so-called 'great evil.'"
The Devil King sneered, voice thick with disdain. "People like you are the real flaw in existence. A blight even, and that blight was one of the few things I sought to erase with my parade of darkness."
His eyes glinted with something deeper- something colder. "The Azure Sword Sect's annihilation… that was the first step. But in the end, I was defeated by a power greater than mine, yours. And no, I have no regrets."
He paused, exhaling softly. "If there's anything I am bitter about… it's the ideals you clung to. The false kings you served. I warned you, didn't I? After my fall, you were next. With me gone- the one they feared for my strength, they finally bared their fangs… at you."
His voice dipped lower, more venomous. "The world you so desperately sought to protect betrayed you. They caused your death.
But as it seems the heavens aren't entirely unjust… You were rewarded with another life. The life you always wanted."
He leaned closer, a cruel smile tugging at his lips. "Only this time… you were born weak."
"In hindsight… being born weak is never a sin, I was born weak too," the Devil King stated, his voice calm, almost reflective.
He paused briefly, letting the words linger in the void before his gaze hardened. When he spoke again, his tone dropped several degrees colder.
"But getting comfortable with that weakness… subconsciously avoiding the pursuit of strength without even realizing it… that is a sin. A great one."
"In one life, you possessed great strength… yet those most precious to you were already gone." The Devil King's voice echoed through the void as an image of Li Mei's broken, divided corpse appeared before Seth.
Seth's breath caught in his throat, his eyes widening in shock.
Then, without warning, the corpse moved. It twitched, convulsing unnaturally before dragging itself across the endless darkness. Blood and torn organs left a slick, grotesque trail in its wake.
"B-Brother Lin… you said… you would… protect me…" Li Mei's voice gurgled, distorted and broken, as she inched closer.
Horror clawed its way up Seth's chest, his heart pounding violently in his ears.
"And in this life… where you were born weak but lived in relative peace… you are once again powerless to protect those precious to you. Condemned to watch as they die… one by one. You've already lost one."
The Devil King's voice echoed through the void, each word striking Seth like a hammer blow to the chest. He gasped, trembling as Li Mei's grotesque, crawling corpse dispersed into ashes, carried away by an unseen wind.
But the torment wasn't over.
In her place, another figure emerged- Emily. Bloodied and broken, her fragile form collapsed into Seth's trembling arms. Her skin was cold against his own, her breath shallow.
Seth's heart clenched painfully as her lips parted.
"L…Live…" she whispered.
But her voice wasn't hers. It was distorted… grotesque.
And it shattered him.
"I take back my words… Maybe the heavens aren't as just as I thought," the Devil King sighed, his voice carrying a calm, almost pitying tone. "It seems your fate is a cruel paradox- to either wield great strength, only to live and die alone… or to remain weak, destined to lose everyone you hold dear."
Seth's breathing hitched. His hands trembled as he clutched his head, his mind teetering on the edge of breaking. The weight of those words crushed him, pressing down like an unbearable weight on his chest.
"Tell me…" His voice cracked a desperate, pleading whisper. "Please… tell me… what should I do?"
The Devil King smiled, the corners of his lips curling upward ever so slightly.
"That is an answer you've known all along… but refused to accept."
He leaned closer, his cold, piercing eyes locking onto Seth's.
"Defy your fate… and cut down all who stand in your way."