Chapter 9 – Endurance

Aien already had a profound impression of Karzek’s prowess from their past endeavors. The man had never been hurt in any significant way and was almost invincible in the eyes of the bandits. Nevertheless, Aien would forever remember the appearance of the enraged bull walking through his minions while leaving a mountain of corpses in his wake. Those were the fortunate ones with remains left to bury and not the ones that had been evaporated the second they got too close to Karzek. Everyone within a ten-meter diameter was incinerated from within their bodies in an instant. There were clues on how to stop this from happening. Once you got too close, there was only death waiting for you.

Yet, despite the incarnation of their nightmares walking towards them, the bandits did not falter. As if all their fear had left them, they stood valiantly between Karzek and his target.

“You’d throw away your lives for him!?”

This was his last warning as the range of his ‘torch-making’ increased. Within one breath two-hundred more bandits were incinerated on the spot they’d stood, dwindling down the total number of Karezek’s bandits to half. Together with the previous explosions caused by Aien, the formidable troupe of bandits, feared by everyone in this region, had lost half its members. Cries of anguish filled the surroundings as two hundred torches rolled on the ground, trying to extinguish the fire that came from within to no avail.

Karzek thought that this would teach them a lesson and rekindle the fear within them, but he’d thought wrong. Nothing had changed, and without exception, the rest of the bandits continued to block his way towards Aien.

“What have you done to them!?” Karzek shouted at Aien, who was watching from a distance. Unease began to fill the man as well as astonishment. This was...

“Protect, Aien!” The men shouted in unison, nothing indicating that they’d back down, no matter how many of them died. Not a trace of fear could be found within their voices that usually broke down the moment Karzek was in front of them.

Finally, Karzek was forced to stop in his tracks as his face turned even paler. But the furious red in his eyes shone brightly in contrast as he locked his gaze onto Aien. No matter how you looked at it, this was too unnatural. No amount of charisma or loyalty, especially from these men, could explain what was happening.

“Suggestions or some would call it hypnosis,” Aien answered calmly. The facade he’d put up over the year disappeared without a trace, revealing his true nature. His expression was neither cold and heartless or excited and filled with anger at his past treatment. Instead, he wore an emotionless expression like the ones you could find on the face of a statue that spectated the events of the world without a care.

“It’s quite easy if you find the right ingredients and weak-minded targets.” He continued, not caring about time. It was Karzek, who was pressed for time and Aien simply indulged in answering his questions.

“You think my men are that weak!? No, what exactly did you do, Michael!?” Karzek shouted, resuming his onslaught. Not one of the bandits was able to touch him before they died, but slowly the time required to kill his men was going up. The range of incinerating the humans in his vicinity became smaller as time went on and gradually Karzek began exhausting himself. As mighty as the man was, almost a thousand men seemed too much for him to handle. Especially since they didn’t care about their own safety.

“No, but drug addicts are.” Aien continued and slowly backed off.

“I call it the Seven Clouds Beyond… I have to admit it’s some scary stuff. I’d never expected the effects to work out to this extent.”

It was the truth. When Aien had first conducted his experiments on some bandits or random captives, he was even more astonished than Karzek. The withdrawal symptoms were intense and with some thoughtful suggestions, it wouldn't be much different from actual mind-control magic - if that existed. All that he'd used were a mixture of several hallucinogen plants. Their primary purpose was to create a high that would make its victims addicted to it. The suggestions afterwards were simply an idea he'd played around with, which turned out to be surprisingly effective even though he'd never learned any profound skills regarding this subject.

Karzek thought this wasn’t all of it. He couldn’t believe a poison like this existed in the world; something that could possibly control someone to this extent, but he had more pressing concerns. There were still several hundreds of bandits left, and instead of just blocking his way, they began actively attacking. A simple snap of Aien’s fingers was enough to make them willingly jump into their impending doom. This further filled Karzek with confusion at his current predicament, but he put those stray thoughts aside. Struggle and hesitation appeared on his face, but when the first bandit had closed into an arm’s length of distance before he died, all doubts disappeared. With a pained expression, Karzek reached out into his jacket to pull out a crystal. A violet crystal with a very uneven surface made of several sharp edges. In the middle of it, there seemed to be a red fire burning. Like a moving picture of a miniature campfire that was trapped in time, it flickered within the crystal.

With one last look at the crystal, he turned to stare at Aien with an expression that bordered on madness and crushed the crystal with his hand.

“Once I get you in my grasps, I will let you suffer a fate that would make you wish you were never born!!”

The moment the crystal was crushed, a shockwave devoid of any sound traveled through the surroundings. Immediately after, a sea of purple flames washed over the remaining bandits, engulfing every last of them. Not a single one was able to escape the silent wave that traveled at the speed of sound. Then, the purple flames transformed into a sort of smoke that invaded the orifices of everyone present. Seconds later, the first results revealed themselves. Without omitting any sounds, the bandits began collapsing to the ground. Soon, every single one of them lay on the ground, with all signs of life extinguished. Their eyes had been burned to smithereens, revealing their hollow sockets and their deaths had come as quickly as the sudden appearance of the shockwave. There was no time for them to feel any pain as they met their demise. There was no time for them to regret and think about what had possessed them to make them act as they had done.

In the center of the shockwave, Karzek dropped to one of his knees with a face as white as a sheet. After a few heavy heaves, he looked into the direction where the man who'd caused all of this had stood. Begrudgingly Karzek began pursuing Aien, but there was no immediate rush. He could sense where Aien had fled to and he was clearly incapacitated. This gave Karzek some time to reflect before closing in on his target.

For the first time in a long while, Karzek felt a sort of regret. He had to admit this was outside of his expectations. Never would he have imagined that the little fish he'd caught at the river about a year ago would cause him this much trouble. There were some previous signs that Michael had behaved suspiciously, but he didn't pay them any heed. He'd thought that no matter what it was, there was nothing that could harm him. Even if that was still true, his losses today were apparent. But more than his loss of minions or the crystal, he felt humiliated. His sense of pride in being a superior being as a magus was being questioned. That some ant-like creature had dared question his authority like this was unacceptable.

During his short explanation, Aien had already begun stumbling away from the fight. There was no reason for him to witness the outcome. He expected that Karzek was not that easy to deal with. With no way for him to outrun the man even if he was exhausted, Aien headed towards the building that was once Erwin's house. There was no tremor or sound, but the sudden blast of wind had told him that the onslaught was over. In other words, Karzek would soon pursue him in a fit of rage.

Aien knew there were very few ways for him to win against the man, regardless of his methods. As if his 'torch-making' wasn't convincing enough, Karzek's physique was just as inhuman. Possessing the strength of a dozen man, and regenerative abilities he didn't know the full extent of, made the man seem invincible to any mere mortal. If he had any weakness, then it was his lack of speed, something that Aien made full use of at the moment.

The door to Erwin's home stood wide open when Aien arrived in front of it. With no hesitation, he stumbled through the entrance and into the living room to arrive at a wall made of stone. He pressed the lever within the wall that allowed him to push open a hidden door. As it was to be expected of stone, the door was weighty and challenging for Aien to push open with his current condition. He carefully adjusted his body several times while pushing it against the door, lest he would pierce his own lungs with his broken ribs.

After an enormous effort, the door was opened to the size of a slit that allowed Aien to barely squeeze through. He didn't bother closing the door as he headed down the flight of stairs into the basement. It wasn't particularly big. Several bookshelves almost filled the entire room, leaving only a small space for walking. This was Erwin's secret he'd confided Aien in. The former didn't know how well Karzek would react when he found out that one of his minions studied ancient history covering devils and demons. Thus, he created this small cellar over the years. Slowly, Aien stumbled to the end of the room and sunk to the ground with his back against the wall. He hadn't winced once at the pain but knowing how to endure it, didn't make it less painful or exhausting. Gradually, his frail body would meet its limits, regardless of how tough his mind was.

There wasn't much time for Aien to relax, however. The door he'd barely opened with all of his strength was blasted open with a single swing of an arm. The rubble was sent flying through the room, destroying several bookshelves but missing Aien. Instead of a furious rush, Karzek slowly descended down the stairs, stifling the atmosphere with his imposing manner. As if everything was within his control, he looked down at the man that had defied and cost him a fortune his meager life would never be able to repay.

“Erwin was afraid I would take away his little toys? How meaningless...”

Karzek said in a calm voice as he stared down at Aien, not leaving him out of his sight for a single moment.

“So, what now little pup? Summoning a devil?” The fury within his eyes was a strange contrast to the wide grin on his face. He had to admit, despite its enormous inconveniences, this had turned out into a rather entertaining hunt. Regardless, he'd make this fool suffer a fate worse than death.

“Can't say that thought didn't cross my mind,” Aien answered just as calm. He slowly raised himself up, looking directly into Karzek's eyes. No longer did he look at the man with eyes that were filled with terror. Instead, he seemed to believe just as much as Karzek that everything was within his control. His stature radiating confidence and strength that his previous selves had lacked severely.

“I'll admit. You are superior. I would have never imagined for a single human to be able to attain this much strength.” Aien continued despite Karzek slowly closing in on him. The latter didn't care much for flattery, especially at this point. The only thing on his mind was to get his grasps on Aien. That's when Aien gathered his remaining strength and took one last breath before he proceeded with what he was about to do. He steeled his mind and pressed the lever behind him.

All calmness within Aien's eyes disappeared in an instant, replaced by a gaze only fit to be described as insane. Karzek halted in his tracks as he felt an unease rising within him. Even the suicidal bandits' appearances couldn't compare to the expression of the man in front of him who suddenly had a look that lost all sense of reason. No, never before had he seen a man with such a gaze that would send shivers down his spine.

A chilling snicker escaped Aien's lips. Something you'd never expect from the kind man that was once the doctor of the bandit group. Before Karzek could recover from the sudden dread appearing within him, fierce gusts of wind blew through the cracks of the stone wall together with a cloud of dark smoke that filled the entire cellar. Despite the open door, the room was filled within seconds until the smoke obstructed all of their vision. Only the sound of two men coughing in a fit remained. Karzek decided to end this nonsensical effort of an escape attempt and walked forwards. He dispersed the doubts that had surfaced in his mind, but just as soon as he'd resumed walking, he stopped again.

Then, all of a sudden, Karzek cried out in an agonizing voice that echoed within the small cellar while at the same time a mad cackling erupted from Aien. The smoke had invaded both of their bodies and what they felt was a suffering that could not be made justice with words alone.

Karzek felt overwhelmed, unable to hold back his cries that had begun revealing a trace of fear. An onslaught of stimulations assaulted him and made him lose track of everything in his surroundings. He felt as if his blood had been replaced by an atrocious acid that circulated through his veins, trying to erode his body from within. His lungs burned up, seemingly breathing a scorching fire instead of air. Yet, his entire skin, on which several black spots of different sizes appeared, was covered in goosebumps while his body shivered uncontrollably. He'd never felt so cold before yet he'd never felt so hot before. The training he'd went through should have prevented either from happening, but it became all meaningless in this situation. If it was only the pain, it might have been bearable. If it was only the different temperatures, he might have been able to ignore it. He might have been able to press forward. But that wasn't all of it.

His own nerves were robbing him of his sanity. An unbearable itch that no human could endure originated from his nerves across his entire body. As if along each strand of his nerves, an uncountable number of tiny ants were crawling, they screamed in a desire to be scratched. Deep within his body, where nothing that could lessen the torment could reach it. This feeling alone slowly drove Karzek to insanity. He clawed madly at his own chest, gushing open wounds and almost shredding it entirely into pieces. Yet, it wouldn't relieve him of this terrible itch.

A sound was filling his eardrums. A high-pitched squeak that on its own wouldn't be much of a problem. But in combination with the other symptoms, it only added to the insanity as it came and went at a steady rhythm, changing its volume. Furthermore, his sight had almost entirely disappeared while his eyeballs seemed to be eroding from their own fluids. There was not a single place within his body that wasn't in excruciating pain. He felt like his body was melting and that death would reach him soon, but there was no apparent end to this.

“Mi...MI-ChAe-L!!!” An almost indistinguishable voice erupted from Karzek's angry shout that further revealed the hint of fear he felt. Whatever was happening at the moment was something even he would never wish to his worst enemies.

“Ant-i-do-te~~!!!” He wailed, grasping at the air like his last straw. The last trace of reason within his mind knew the cause was the poisonous smoke he'd inhaled. A venom that must have originated from the depths of hell itself. But when the smoke slowly lessened and revealed Aien who stood in front of him, he was no longer able to suppress the terror within him.

What Karzek saw made him lose all hope as the pain and despair consumed him. He was only barely able to make out the shadow of the deformed figure in front of him. Several black spots were covering his body from which a disgustingly smelling ooze dripped out of. A similar black liquid streamed down his eyes in place of tears, and an unstoppable stream of blood erupted from the figure's mouth.

Despite that.

Despite all of that.

The figure stood there calmly with a smile that would frighten Devils and Gods alike.

“Antidote? I don't have that sort of stuff.” Karzek felt his world falling apart when the words fell on his semi-defected ears.

Aien continued, not once ceasing his light chuckle. There was nothing. While his body was decomposing worse than a corpse ever could, the man stood calmly without flinching once. He smiled calmly almost as if...

“It's enjoyable, isn't it? Why don't we see which of us can endure longer?”

In response, all sanity left Karzek's mind. He stormed towards Aien with the rest of his strength, trying to disperse all of the thoughts and feelings rising within him. Why was he here, again? How had it come to this? None of that mattered as he charged mindlessly to try and forget the suffering.

But this wasn't something you could just go insane and be done with. The pain wouldn't disappear. Neither would the chill and the scorch within him. Neither would this terrible itch that still made him want to claw at himself.

The conclusion needn't be mentioned. A mindless rush was something Aien was able to deal with and the outcome was obvious. Despite his injuries, that were laughable compared to the suffering they both went through, he evaded the exhausted bull's last charge as he crumbled into exhaustion.

“F-Fin...ally...”

Karzek stammered to himself in his last breath as he welcomed the darkness that relieved him of this suffering. But before he could fully embrace the comfortable blanket of darkness, the quiet whisper of a devil accompanied him into his slumber.

“You think this is the end, but it's only the beginning...”