Retsuki (to himself):
"I'm losing myself. But maybe... I never had anything to lose."
He walked past the others, his steps slow and deliberate, his form flickering with unstable energy. Behind him, the air crackled with the faint smell of ozone and scorched earth. The storm within him was growing, its tendrils twisting deeper into his mind with every step. Alitha and Verena exchanged uneasy glances while Marten lagged, his face pale and drawn.
But Marten's thoughts were elsewhere.
The industrial district melted away as Marten drifted into an uneasy sleep, his body slumping against their temporary shelter's cold, cracked wall. In his mind, the darkness of the tunnels twisted into an endless expanse of gray mist, heavy and suffocating. Shapes shifted and writhed in the fog-half-formed faces, shadowy figures, and voices that seemed familiar but always just out of reach.
Then, clarity.
Marten stood in a bright, sterile room. The walls gleamed white, unnervingly clean, like the Upbringer interrogation chambers he had seen during his time as a strategist for Serkiuln. In the center of the room was a glass cylinder filled with a viscous, glowing liquid. Floating inside were two figures-a woman and a child, both unconscious but alive.
His breath caught. He recognized them instantly: his wife, Selina, and their daughter, Leyna. Both had been taken years ago during the early days of the resistance. The Upbringers had claimed they were executed for Marten's defiance, yet here they were, suspended in some horrific form of stasis.
A voice echoed from nowhere and everywhere: cold, clinical, and dripping with contempt.
Voice:
"You see? They live. But their survival is fragile, dependent entirely on your actions. One misstep, one act of rebellion too far, and this delicate balance will end."
Marten's knees buckled, and he fell to the floor, clutching his head.
Marten:
"No... this isn't real. They're dead. They told me they were dead!"
The voice laughed-a cruel, hollow sound.
Voice:
"They told you what you needed to hear. But now, Marten, you must face the truth. They live because of your silence, your compliance. Every moment you've fought against us has brought them closer to oblivion."
The scene shifted. Marten was no longer in the sterile room but in a field of ash and ruin. In the distance, he saw Retsuki standing on a pile of corpses, his lightning illuminating the charred remains of Serkiuln's allies. Beside him stood the Upbringers, their faces hidden behind featureless masks. They all turned to Marten in unison, their hollow voices blending into a single, accusatory tone.
Voice:
"You can stop this. You can end the cycle. All it takes is a choice."
Marten tried to move, but his legs were rooted in the ash. His wife and daughter appeared again, standing just out of reach, their faces blank and expressionless.
Selina (whispering):
"Save us, Marten. Please."
Leyna:
"Do it, Daddy. You can make it all go away."
When Marten woke, his heart was pounding, his hands trembling. He stared at his palms, his thoughts a chaotic tangle of guilt and hope.
Marten (to himself):
"They're alive. They're alive."
Later
The team huddled in the shadows of the abandoned factory, the walls groaning under the weight of the storm outside. Retsuki leaned against a broken conveyor belt, his energy dim but erratic. Alitha spread out a rough map of the central Upbringer complex, tracing potential infiltration routes with a piece of charred metal. Verena sat to the side, sharpening a makeshift blade, her face set in grim determination.
Marten stood apart from them, his back to the group as he stared into the darkness.
Alitha:
"We go through the tunnels here." She tapped the map. "It's risky, but the Wardens won't expect an approach from below. If we time it right, we can be inside before they know we're there."
Verena (without looking up):
"And if they do know we're there? Then what? Another massacre? Another failure?"
The room fell silent. Even Alitha couldn't meet her gaze.
Retsuki (quietly):
"We can't think like that. Not now. This is our last chance."
Marten turned, his face shadowed, but his eyes filled with a newfound resolve.
Marten:
"What if we're wrong? What if this isn't the way? All we're doing is throwing ourselves into another slaughter. Maybe... maybe there's another path."
The others stared at him, confused.
Verena:
"Another path? What the hell are you talking about?"
Marten (hesitant):
"I'm saying we need to think strategically. The Upbringers aren't just going to let us walk in there. Maybe we should-"
Before he could finish, the factory's walls shook violently. A high-pitched whine filled the air, and the faint red glow of Upbringer drones illuminated the windows.
Alitha (panicked):
"They found us!"
The team scrambled to grab their gear, but it was too late. The factory doors burst open, and Wardens, their weapons trained on the group, flooded the space.
Marten (shouting over the chaos):
"Wait! Don't shoot! I did what you asked!"
Time seemed to freeze. The others turned to him in disbelief.
Verena (screaming):
"You traitor!"
Before she could lunge at him, a Warden struck her down with the butt of a rifle, sending her sprawling. Alitha's face twisted in fury, but her hands trembled, her weapon dropping to the floor.
Alitha:
"Marten... how could you?"
Marten looked at her, his expression a mixture of guilt and defiance.
Marten:
"They have my family. I couldn't-"
Retsuki (cutting him off, his voice low and evil):
"You didn't just betray us. You betrayed everything."
The room erupted into chaos as the Wardens opened fire. Retsuki unleashed a desperate surge of energy, the walls crumbling under the onslaught. Alitha grabbed Verena and dragged her toward the exit while Retsuki held the line, his power flickering dangerously.
As they escaped into the storm, Marten's voice echoed after them:
Marten:
"I had no choice! I had no choice!"
Hours later, the group regrouped in a crumbling warehouse on the district's edge. Verena lay unconscious, her wounds hastily bandaged. Alitha sat beside her, her face streaked with dirt and tears.
Retsuki stood at the edge of the room, staring out into the rain. His energy had dimmed to a faint glow, but his anger was palpable.
Alitha (quietly):
"Can we even keep going? After this?"
Retsuki (without turning):
"We have to. Because if we don't, everything we've done, everyone we've lost... it'll mean nothing."
But deep down, he wasn't sure if he believed his own words anymore.
Retsuki stood motionless, his form flickering with traces of Gluttony's lingering power. The air around him was heavy with an unseen pressure, as if reality was recoiling from the energy radiating off his body. His once-precise form of crackling lightning had grown grotesque and chaotic-tendrils of dark energy intertwined with the blue, pulsing erratically like living veins. His eyes, once a reflection of Paragus's vision of hope, now glowed an unnatural crimson, giving him the air of something both divine and demonic.
He flexed his hand, and the surrounding air warped with the distortion of gluttonous energy, an embodiment of insatiable hunger that turned objects into ash, as if the mere existence of matter around him was offensive. The ground beneath him cracked and blackened with every step, a creeping corruption spreading outward in jagged lines like arteries feeding a poisoned heart.
Retsuki (darkly, with a grin):
"We're heading deeper, to the heart of the beast. Deep within the central Upbringer complex... where they think they are gods in their towers of data and steel. Oh, they will know-know the taste of despair when their sterile, perfect walls are painted with their failure."
He turned to the others, his face shadowed, but his teeth bared in a smile too broad to be human, a grotesque parody of confidence. His voice was low and reverberating, like thunder, just before it splits the heavens.
Retsuki:
"They think they can control us, Marten. Control me. But they don't understand... I've seen it. I've felt it. This hunger... this power... it isn't theirs to wield. It's mine now. They thought I wasn't their Messiah. That I wasn't a god. Maybe I lied. Maybe I am the one above."
The words hung in the air, oppressive and terrifying. His grin widened further, his energy flickering violently. His voice dropped to a guttural whisper, charged with menace.
Retsuki (mockingly):
"Marten, as for your wife... and your daughter... shall I tell you what I see?"
Marten froze, his face pale, his body trembling.
Retsuki (stepping closer):
"They dangle in the balance, don't they? The perfect bait for a perfect fool. You'd betray everything-your friends, ideals, and soul-to keep them safe. But here's the truth you're too cowardly to face: You've already lost them. To save them, you chained yourself to a monster. And now the only thing left is to see how tightly those chains will bind before they snap."
Marten's knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, his face twisted with grief and rage.
Marten (desperate):
"You don't understand! You think you're above this-above humanity-but you're just like them! You think you're better, but all you do is destroy! You're becoming exactly what you claim to fight against!"
Retsuki tilted his head, his grin fading into something darker, more contemplative.
Retsuki:
"Destroy? No, Marten. I'm cleansing. Look around you-this world is a corpse, its soul devoured long ago by greed, by pride, by gluttony. And if I must burn the rot away, then so be it. I never claimed to be a savior. But maybe that's exactly what I've become."
He laughed softly, the sound sharp and jagged as if cutting through the silence that followed.
Retsuki (to himself):
"Or maybe... I'm nothing but the storm that comes before the end."
Later
The team moved deeper into the city, its outskirts a wasteland of decayed structures and collapsed infrastructure. At its center loomed the Upbringer complex-a towering monolith of sterile, mirrored steel. Its spires pierced the sky like the claws of a great beast, and its surface reflected the storm clouds above, creating the illusion that the building itself was alive, breathing in the chaos around it.
As they approached, Retsuki's energy grew more erratic, his form bending and warping as if the very presence of the complex was forcing him to shift. His lightning now carried traces of Gluttony's influence-dark, oily currents that dripped from his form like a bleeding wound.
The interior of the complex was no less oppressive. Stark white corridors stretched endlessly, their smooth surfaces broken only by the hum of energy conduits and the faint glow of holographic displays. The air was sterile and cold, reeking of artificiality. Massive data terminals lined the walls, their screens flashing information streams in a language too complex and alien for human understanding.
Alitha (whispering):
"This place... it's like a cathedral. A temple to their arrogance."
Retsuki chuckled, his voice echoing unnaturally in the silence.
Retsuki:
"A cathedral? No, Alitha. This is a mausoleum. And soon, it will be filled with their corpses."
As they navigated the labyrinthine halls, the group came to a massive chamber-an open, circular space dominated by a central platform. Above it, a gigantic holographic figure loomed, its faceless visage watching them with an air of judgment. The platform itself pulsed with light, and standing at its center was a figure clad in Upbringer armor, his face hidden behind a helmet.
Marten stopped, his breath catching as he recognized the figure.
Marten:
"No... it can't be..."
The figure removed his helmet, revealing a man with strikingly familiar features-Marten's younger brother, Eran, who had been presumed dead years ago.
Eran:
"Surprised to see me, brother? The Upbringers saved me. Gave me purpose. Something you threw away for your pathetic rebellion."
Marten stumbled back, his world collapsing around him.
Eran (mocking):
"And now here you are, a traitor to your kind. Betraying your friends, your cause, all for a family that doesn't even remember you. Do you think they'll thank you? Do you think you'll ever be forgiven?"
Retsuki stepped forward, his form a chaotic storm of power.
Retsuki:
"You speak of purpose, but you serve nothing but a lie. And you, Marten-clinging to your broken ideals, still shackled by fear. Shall I show you what freedom looks like?"
Without warning, Retsuki unleashed his power, and a massive wave of lightning shattered the platform and sent Eran flying. The chamber erupted into chaos, the sterile walls scorched black, the oppressive silence replaced by the sound of destruction.
Marten fell to his knees as the battle raged, his mind fracturing under the weight of betrayal and loss.
Marten (whispering):
"They were alive... but I've lost them anyway."
Retsuki turned to him, his voice soft but laced with venom.
Retsuki:
"Then rise, Marten. Rise and embrace the truth. You were never going to save them. But you can still help me burn this world to the ground."