Level Up Legacy

Arthur snapped his back toward the calamity hovering over the city. He raised his arms, and rubbles gathered from the lake around them, rising in the air to surround Cassius like soldiers.

The people around him looked at the calamity with confusion as murmurs spread among the crowd. Even a non-awakener could tell that Cassius was no human but more of a humanoid monster that resembled a shell of a former human.

Ba-dum!

His heart thumped in his chest as Arthur realized that a fight here would kill these people who tried to save him. The children hid behind their mothers, and the brave men stepped forward to protect the elderly.

Fear seeped into the hearts, minds, buildings, and air. It was the natural reaction of meeting a higher being and a threat to their lives. Cassius stared at Arthur with his starry eyes before turning toward the citizens, and his face morphed into rage.

"Why are you now kneeling?" asked the calamity, enraged. His voice made their hearts tremble in fear, and the weaker ones started to kneel.

Arthur looked around and found everyone kneeling, even against their will. There was no will to oppose this creature, who was on a higher level of existence, to be exact. The Sin of Pride seemed satisfied but still raised his arm.

"These are the citizens you protected, Outsider," Cassius said as the giant charcoal boulders lined the skies. "Are you going to protect them now, too?" as he said so, Cassius brought his arms down.

The boulders lunged toward the citizens in the public square, seeking to crush them. Arthur wasted no time and used his rune, Telekinesis-IV, to block them. His mana took control of the boulders, which were listening to Cassius.

The whistling boulders stopped descending as Arthur felt his arm shaking. His mana was being drained just to oppose a single command Cassius gave. His ability to command everything was far more troublesome than the absolute strength that Amelio showed.

"This time is different, Outsider. The Sin of Greed wants to lure you while I want to kill you. However, killing is not fun unless I break your heart first. In a contest of control, I never lose!"

Cassius raised his arms again and pointed his index fingers toward the sky. Then, he brought them downward, pointing at the ground. Arthur could feel a force push the boulders downward, stronger than ever, and more of his mana was drained.

"STOP IT!" roared Arthur as his mana exploded, holding the boulders back. He wanted to disintegrate or send them flying, but he was already using maximum effort to hold them down.

It was a hard pill to swallow, but he realized that Arthur was no match for the calamity in a direct contest of control. He could feel that despite his opposition, the boulders were slowly descending downward.

"Run away while I hold them off!" shouted Arthur toward the citizens, but all kneeled without moving a muscle. Arthur stared at them and found their bodies glued to the ground. Cassius roared, laughing.

"When ants meet their god, none of them dare to oppose, even when the blade is hanging over their necks," said Cassius with a grin, his eyes crescent moons. "All of them are happy to be killed for my sake."

"You… sick bastard!" spat Arthur while his blood boiled. "These innocents have nothing to do with our battle. This is between us! Keep it as such!"

"Don't command me," said Cassius as his smile disappeared. "It seems that a punishment is necessary to make you understand your situation," said Cassius, while his thumbs pointed outward as well.

Whoosh! Boom!

A whistling sound rushed through his ears, and his face was splashed with something. The ground started shaking, and Arthur was confused about what had happened. His mana started retracting toward his body after being diffused.

His eyes moved toward the sky, and the boulders were gone. The realization and conclusion arrived simultaneously, and he lowered his eyes toward the ground. The boulders lined the town square, each just a meter apart, while a red liquid flowed from underneath them.

Arthur looked at the boulder closer to him, which had an arm outstretched. The arm held a cane that the old doctor used. Another beside it crushed the head of the man kowtowing toward Arthur earlier.

There were no screams, as they all died in the same instant. A once crowded public square turned full of corpses in under a second before Arthur could even realize or manage to protect them.

"I have been kind and allowed them to die without anguish. I wonder if some are still alive but unable to scream due to being crushed?" snickered Cassius from above. The only two remaining in the square were he and Arthur.

Ba-dum!

Ba-dum!

Arthur could feel his heart thumping in his chest as the world started spinning around him. The blood of the innocents unceasingly flowed to cover his shoes. It dyed the pavement red as the snickers of the calamity grew louder.

Ba-dum!

Ba-dum!

Ba-dum!

His heart was beating faster as his spinning world grew darker. Arthur opened his eyes as the images of the corpses, and the broken arms filled his mind. The dark emotion he had been trying to suppress slowly rose to the surface.

Ba-dum!

Ba-dum!

Ba-dum!

Ba-dum!

Arthur's rage made his blood boil. It was overflowing with every breath he let out and every thump in his chest. His heart was beating faster every second until he could hear nothing, the thumping, and the calamity's snickers.

"Is it that insignificant to you?" asked Arthur as he breathed out, his rage making the world seem hazy to him. Cassius paused and stared at him before a smile appeared on his face.

"I feel nothing toward these ants, but seeing your reaction brings me joy."

The calamity was the only thing Arthur could see now. Darkness was overtaking the rest of his vision as his heart beat faster. The contrasting images of the living citizens and their corpses kept appearing in his mind.

Ba-dum!

Ba-dum!

Ba-dum!

Ba-dum!

Ba-dum!

With each thump in his chest, Arthur's vision grew darker. His rage was the sole thing that he felt. He didn't feel regret, guilt, hate, or love; he felt nothing but rage. The darkness clouded his vision, and even the calamity disappeared.

At that moment, Arthur was standing in a dark space alone. It was a cold space that no light reached. His heart was still beating faster in his heart, almost two hundred times each minute. It ached, and Arthur grabbed it.

[…]

A panel from the legacy appeared in front of him, blue and blinking. It was an urgent message from the legacy which drew his attention. Arthur stared with his bloodshot eyes at the message while his fingers dug into his chest.

[An unknown entity has been detected.]

The words confused Arthur, and the panel blinked as fast as his heart. Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum! It thumped faster and faster until there was nothing but its accelerating rhythm.

"An unknown entity?" muttered Arthur with confusion. "Does it mean the calamity?" wondered Arthur as he reached toward the panel to dismiss it, but his hand never did. Instead, his vision grew hazy enough that he couldn't see the legacy.

After the panel disappeared, Arthur started feeling weak and fell to his knees. His rage was unceasing, making him unable to think of anything else. Moreover, it made him desire pain for Cassius, the arrogant bastard who believed he was above all others.

Arthur snapped his eyes open as his rage burned through his heart, making it feel like a fire in his chest. Something was looking at him. It was no astral being or Cassius, but something else. It was looking at his soul.

"Is it you?" asked Arthur the giant in his sea of consciousness but received no answer. There was nothing but darkness around him. Arthur stared ahead, and after a few seconds, the creature stared back.

A pair of red lines appeared in front of him before they opened. They were two red eyes, staring at him with their unstable and shaking black irises. Arthur stared at the pair of eyes, and his teeth gnashed against each other.

The darkness also started touching his body, and Arthur began to lose control. It birthed an emotion in his heart that he found unfamiliar. It was a higher form of rage and sought to destroy his soul.

"No…" muttered Arthur.

It didn't seek to destroy him. It sought to destroy everything else. His desire aligned with that feeling, and Arthur was tired of everything. After being touched by the dark emotions, his mind wanted to destroy what enraged him.

Despite being a foreign feeling to him, Arthur knew what it was. It was akin to knowing the sky was blue and who your mother was; it was an instinct. Arthur then called out for its name, making it howl.

"Wrath."