(On Hold) Martial Dao of Hope & Harmony

Thorjen POV

Like a moth to a flame. Thorjen felt something deep within his soul drawing him towards a space of wonder. He was surrounded by a thick pool of darkness. Unknown how long had it been since he entered into this state. But one thing Thorjen was assured of was the feeling of unbearable coldness biting at his bones.

He was seated in the lotus position, trying to consolidate the last remnants of Mastramundus’s will. The first step was already unbearable as it is. The second one was near enough on the verge of killing him. Thorjen continued to immerse himself into this sea of nothingness. One of the most challenging problems he faced wasn’t actually the physical pain from this state. But the mental influx of all these baleful emotions pouring into him from Mastramundus’ past. At this point his entire body was covered in throbbing thick veins, like worms writhing beneath his skin.

A few hours passed and now Thorjens entire body had changed into a deep reddish tint, as though all the blood within his body had been fighting to break free. He could feel his teeth clattering against the other. Torn between a deep surge of heat rushing through his bones and a bone chilling coldness strangling him.

I cant do it…this is…too much

His mind tried desperately to fight away the negative thoughts but with every passing moment he felt as though his mind was deteriorating. His eyes flashed open and his mouth stiffened wide open. Slowly a thick red hue started to cover the white space within his eyes. Thorjen was losing control and his grip against his sanity was slowly being pried away.

Thorjen felt his consciousness slipping into an abyss. In the midst of his despair he heard an audible sounds of cackling from somewhere . Followed by the soft moans of a female voice.

“Ha-ngh! Y-yes. It feels so good-ah-ha-ahhhh M-Marco don’t stop!”

“Argh-fuck! You’re so tight…just the way I like it fufufu. How is it…how does my cock feel.”

“Ahhh..so-so goooood ngh-ahhhhh-f-fuck-me …harder…deeper..”

Thorjen couldn’t see anyone but he heard it all. Their lecherous voices and the sounds of wet flesh slapping against one another

‘No…no…stop it…stop showing me this.’

A surge of bloody thick rage bubbled inside of his gut. He felt something likened to a beast slowly waking up from within. All his senses were screaming at him to let go. To embrace the beast invading him. Allow the rage and chaos to bloom. The sounds of Threyja and Marco fucking grew louder. The sounds of the flesh pounding against one another grew even faster. He couldn’t take it anymore. He needed to let go. He wanted to break free.

On the tether of releasing a pent up roar. He heard a subtle twinkle against his ears.

“Huh”

The sounds of what he could only make out as fluttering tiny wings filled his ears. Strangely enough the arrival of such a sound had doused the rage bubbling inside of him with cold water. Thorjens sanity slowly returned and he was no longer staring at a black fog once he opened his eyes again. Instead, a bizarre brilliant, azure light was glowing right in front of him. The light started to change and eventually formed a being with four wings unfurled away from its back.

Before Thorjen could even speak. The azure figure had already spoken. But its voice wasn’t the kind he had experienced before. Firstly it was sounding directly into his thoughts. And by its tone he could neither discern whether it was a female or a male.

“I almost lost you…thank goodness I made it in time.”

Thorjen slightly gasped upon hearing a soothing voice within his head. A voice with a distinctive allure to its tone like coral music.

“Listen, we don’t have long. And its already taken me so long just to reach you. But thankfully you were stuck between ascendancy and despair.”

Thorjen was left gazing towards the being with a slightly surprised look. He couldn’t place a finger on it. But something about this meeting felt oddly familiar. There was only one question settled on his mind presently.

“Who are you?” He asked cautiously.

“Hm! Who me?… Is seeing not believing.” It answered.

“Wh-what does that mean.”

“More importantly! You need to escape from this place at once.” He saw the azure being twisting its head around the dark space. It didn’t have any features, merely the outline of a living being. Of course with four glowing wings against its back.

“Oh and don’t trust that…thing!”

Thorjen was silenced into another deep thought. Despite the indifference in his demeanor he found himself fully trusting all the things being told to him.

“You mean Mastra-“

“Indeed! Do not trust what seeks to devour your soul. You must flee very far away from this place. Your blood… your blood will be the catalyst to your escape. But worry not I will show you how to overcome the beast.”

Thorjen saw the four winged being stretch out its hands towards him. A golden sigil appeared in front of it. A golden horned goat with glimmering jade eyes. The azure being flicked its hand and Thorjen watched the sigil racing towards him. Right before it reached his forehead the sigil had shrunken down to a spec, and soundlessly imprinted itself against his head.

“Good! Now go forth and earn your given birthright. I’ll always be beside you- so…have no fear…my forgo-t-t-e-n...pr...” Those final words appeared as a gentle whisper.

The Azure being faded into dissipating particles. And Thorjen was left alone in the dark void. He felt all the previous rage had faded away. Something had changed within him, but instead of feeling happiness. He was feeling a deep sense of lost towards everything.

What must he do in order to overcome his fate, he wondered. Had he been fooled by Mastramundus? If he was to go by anything the four winged being had said. Then the so-called Guardian of chaos could not be trusted. ‘He also called me...prince? Could he have been mistaken?’ He sighed to himself whilst thinking about the little options he had left. What was to say the little winged being could be trusted anyway.

He mentioned my blood? Thorjen thought inwardly. He always knew his body constitution was different. What he wasn’t exactly sure of was just how unique was it. And whether or not he could find a way out of this realm in one piece.

Thorjen closed his two eyes and gently allowed his body to fade into a silent slumber. He felt the shadowy realm changing upon his request. As though if he willed it , the realm would respond to his very thoughts. Thorjen slowly opened his bright eyes. He was relieved to have found himself surrounded by those fleshy moving walls again. His mind quickly found its clarity as he noticed the chained guardian of chaos, watching him with an intense look.

“Wha-what happened!” It asked him

Thorjen stiffened but quickly tried to remain calm on the outside. He scratched the side of his head whilst his eyes trailed downwards. “I…I failed to absorb the blood seed.” He whimpered, feigning ignorance. He needed to absorb the blood seed in order to complete the next step. During the first time he attempted to cultivate the art, he failed due to his inability to grasp a hold against the baleful aura created once he absorbed enough of the blood. Mastramundus was luckily at hand to show him just what he needed to do. And since then it was smooth sailing in terms of him grasping hold of each vital step.

A look of indignation flashed across the grey features of the chained being.

“Fufufu failed? That’s impossible! H-how could you possibly fail…I made sure to…” a sharp glint flashed across the guardian's eyes. His brows furrowed as his demeanor swiftly changed as though he had suddenly caught on to something.

Thorjen remained silent as though he was a helpless pup, on the outside his eyebrow's wrinkled together, his face revealing a fellow who was unsure of how he could’ve failed to advance towards the next step. But inwardly he was wrestling with himself trying to figure out the next course of action to take if things truly went bad.

“Say...whilst you were meditating...what did you see?” He was asked by the chained guardian. Thorjen slightly raised his brows. He wasn’t expecting that question. “I-- don’t know...I saw a lot of things. Illusions...but I c-can't really say.”

“Illusions? No that’s not possible. Other than the blood rite itself, there shouldn’t be anything else able to halt you reaching the cultivation steps. The method I showed you is practically fool proof, even a weakling like yourself wouldn’t have any issues. Especially at this stage.”

Thorjen immediately sensed the mood had changed. There was doubt within the air. And the more time flowed on the more of it started to build.

“M-maybe your method...”

“Don’t be foolish brat! Do you know who I am? Master of 100 arts. And would you like to know how I managed to attain that title huh? ‘The flow of 8 hells and the rivers in which surround them,’ That’s how!” His chains rattled as Thorjen saw the guardian attempt to jerk himself forward a little out of frustration.

“Grr damn it! It’s been so long there must be something within your blood I failed to take account for. No matter, come here and I'll directly help you with the absorption process...what is it ...why are you weary?” Thorjen remained idle, his eyes were filled with caution.

He looked down at his own self, his body was trembling. Something inwardly was telling him not to dare make that move.

Seeing his lack of movement, Mastramundus frown deepened. Thorjen wasn’t foolish enough to not have realized his intentions directly showed his guilt. He was jolted out from his day dreams, as he heard a deep cackle from the chained guardian. What had first sounded like a soft cackle soon turned into ghastly sounding laughter.

“Hahahaha-of course it's this way-of course...how could it not be...”

“Wh-what are...you?”

“That’s enough! You can stop wearing that mask now. I don’t know what has happened, but you’ve obviously learned my true intentions. Still, it's fine this way as well...as much as I detest that blood sucking bitch Iyana...her methods are somewhat...effective.” The guardian of chaos raised his right arm and Thorjen sensed a terrible premonition descend upon him. The fleshy walls groaned loudly. And Thorjen heard the ground beneath him rumble. Amidst the chaos he heard a childish voice within his thoughts.

‘Be still my prince...I will guide you.’

‘It’s-it’s you again...b-but how?”

‘Steady your mind. I need you to sink into your inner self. The power to escape this realm has always lay within you. It’s coming...dodge it.’

Thorjen’s senses practically wailed to him. He blinked once before rolling quickly to one side.

*BOOOOOM!*

A large thick muscle like membrane slammed into the place where he was previously standing. Thorjen gazed upon the fleshy fist in terror. He then quickly moved his eyes towards the guardian, he was still seated against the wall with an expressionless deep gaze glaring towards him. Thorjen noticed the guardians' grey fingers twisting into different signs. At times his fingers were moving so quickly they looked like a blur.

‘It’s coming again...move quickly’ Thorjen heeded to the voices warning and sprang back. He was seconds away from being crushed by the second muscular membrane which collapsed like a falling steel wall. Thorjen saw sweat flying off the tip of his nose. His heart was beating so quickly as he understood a single mistake would spell the end for him.

He couldn’t keep just dodging like this. He knew the inevitable was soon to arrive. ‘Help me! How do I beat him!’ He frantically called forth within his mind. But to his horror nothing spoke back. Thorjen cursed his damned luck, he had to live through this one way or another. He wasn’t ready to die just yet.

Whenever Mastramundus moved his slender fingers, there was an attack bearing down against him. After the 5th attack he was already nursing multiple wounds against his bare torso. Thorjen was breathing heavily whilst the guardian's expression hardly changed. He almost looked bored. Waiting for the inevitable. Thorjen felt his heart go cold. He was too weak, just like he always was. Nothing had changed...nothing. Whilst despair filled his heart, Thorjen shuffled his feet only to realize he was backed into a corner.

A cruel smile creased against Mastramundus’ face. He had been waiting for this. Sending attack after attack until he was backed against a corner.

Thorjen saw two slow fleshly membranes slowly rising like deadly cobras stalking him.

“Tsk! You should’ve listened to me brat...this would’ve been less painful. But I promise you this...once I take over your body I'll make sure the world knows our name...well then...goodbye Thorjen.”

The two membranes rushed down. Thorjen simply closed his eyes. Waiting for his ****.

Other POV

Mastramundus croaked achingly. He coughed a few times spurting out black blood in the process. But a triumphant smile never left his grey face.

“And here I thought you had some kind of trump card...begs to wonder how you even made it into this prison in the first place. Kukuku-guess you’re just one of the unlucky ones. Born for the sake of furthering the real protagonists like my self's story. How disappointing.”

He twisted his hand into the tiger style and moved the membranes away from the corpse. He saw a bloodied Thorjen after being pressed against the wall, finally being released and crashed onto the ground.

Mastramundus couldn’t help but sigh.

“And here I thought we would be pals” he smiled cruelly whilst controlling the membranes to carry over the boys body. Thorjen’s body left a trail of blood as he was carried towards the guardian. Mastramundus could barely contain himself. His chains rattled as he moved his joints with excitement. He licked his pale lips with eyes bulging with insatiable thirst. The two fleshy membranes acting as hands made sure to angle Thorjens tanned neck towards the guardian.

“I must say cannibalism isn't my thing...sigh...but when you’ve been caged for as long as I've been...you take whatever comes your way.”

“Auuh!” He opened his maw and slammed his sharp teeth into Thorjens neck.

“Hmm...mm..mfhh...” Mastramundus violently sucked the blood out. Soft moans of pleasure filled the room. To the guardian it was the tastiest thing he had ever had. Surprising in fact. Considering he had never had to drink human blood before. But Mastramundus’ had long ago disregarded himself as a human. He was a vessel, a vessel for chaos.

He pulled his mouth away after drinking almost a liter of blood. “Hah-Hah...sensational!” He was gasping for air and staring dreamily into the callous wound he made against the corpse's neck. Mastramundus was shocked, he could already feel a deep profound energy coursing through him. Elation filled his heart knowing he was about to finally be free from this hell hole.

“This was...this is...w-wait...wh-wh-what's going on...”

Suddenly a burning sensation appeared within his stomach. Then his throat started to feel as though he had swallowed acid. Thorjens body fell to the floor beside him with a plop. The guardian found his his chest burning endlessly.

“Wh-argh...wh-wha-ergh-glurh" he vomited a mouthful of black blood. He shakingly lifted his two palms, with eyes filled with bewildering terror. Writhing dark veins had covered his entire hand and quickly travelled up his arms.

“Fuck! Wh-what the fuck is this!” His wails found no answer, the pain was too great for him to bear. His eyes rattled from side to side whilst he took a terrifying look towards the motionless corpse. He didn’t understand it, nor could he believe this would be his final moments. Whilst the poisonous blood continued to eat its way from the inside. He noticed a growing smoke rising from his grey skin. He was dying. Finally, he the guardian of chaos, was dying.

Within his last moments all he could think of was those who wronged him. He still hadn't paid them all back. This left him utterly furious. Mastramundus could only pitifully chuckle in the end. After all the battles he had gone through. A weak child was the one to kill him.

“You damn brat...I knew you was special...kukuku-but what the actual fuck is up with your blood...glerghh!” Blood poured out of his mouth like a fountain. He keeled over to the side and died in his prison.

Just before the light faded away from his eyes. A peculiar thing happened. The guardian of Chaos heard a gentle voice. A voice so ethereal and simple...he was almost assured he was imaging it.

A twinkling sound softly danced beside his ears.

‘Hey demon...hehehe the prince is strong...isn't he.’

His eyes could only widen, for at this point half of his mouth had already turned into ash.