I was lying on the ground inside a dimly lit cell soaking in my blood and I was terrified, feeling the last bit of my strength slowly leaving me. I tried to fight back the fear and helplessness that I felt knowing that I was a going to die, but it was something that could not be accomplished in moments like these. I was starting to feel the numbness replacing the pain of my mutilated body.

“Say… Do you want to live forever?” A distant and foreign voice sounded in my head. I was too far gone to even acknowledge it.

“If you do not decide soon… you may really die for good this time. “The voice was nearing closer and closer. It woke me up from the feeling of fading into oblivion.

I painstakingly lifted my head and looked around the room. I expected to see the face of my jailor, but all I saw was the silhouette of a man shrouded in violet smoke. The smoke covered him and all that could be seen was a faint outline of a person standing inside it. Coincidently, he was standing atop my shadow as if complementing it.

Slowly, a dark violet hue spread all over the entire cell. I was still on the ground shivering not knowing what to fear. I assumed it was the angel of death that came to show me the way to the underworld. Finally, the end I’ve always wanted was near. No more pain. I could not hold onto this little life of mine, even if I wanted to.

“Well, I can still bring your soul back from the underworld, but it is a pain in the ass. I would rather not get caught trying to smuggle you out. Hurry up and make your choice while you are still breathing. “

It was at that moment that I realized that this person or thing was trying was trying to start a conversation with me, a dying man, about living again. I wanted to ask him who he really was but before I could say anything, I immediately understood that the answer I was seeking was not the priority at the moment.

It then struck me, I did not understand it. All this time the entire conversation happened in my head, nothing else echoed in this room but my painful desperate breathing. Our thoughts were linked.

Fear. An unknown feeling crept up my heart as the first thing in my mind was to try and run away or die faster to escape this demon, but his previous words informed me that even after my death I would still be within his grasp.

I was born a slave. The goal of this wretched place was to create physically enhanced individuals. The slaves called it the trial of power. Those who successfully survived the last possible stage of enhancement were sold as slaves for guard duties, difficult labor or cannon fodder for wars. The might of such an individual was physically strong enough to contend with a Grand magician. The pain of going through the trial of power was unimaginable. Only a handful out of a thousand could reach the third stage also known as the third mutation. Of all the selected candidates this time, I was sure to be the first to succumb before the completion of the first stage. I was born with a frail constitution, it was already a miracle that I had lived nineteen years. All I wanted was for the torture to end. The last year had been a living nightmare for me, it was time for me to leave this world in peace.

“Say yes while you still can or I will soon be gone.” He said.

I wanted to know why of all people, this demon decided to freely give his help to a dying slave. My poor luck had followed me to my deathbed.

I found it hard not to laugh. It was painful.

“If you are dying to know why, hehe…Know that me being here was preordained. You will come to understand shortly, why I had to come and waste my time begging you to allow me to save your life when you are never going to die on my watch. “ My head was about to explode as his voice kept resonating everywhere in my mind.

“Listen, you were born unlucky. As a slave, you have no free will. You have been living under the threat of imminent death even without this useless trial of power with that frail body of yours. I understand that you want everything to end right now, but you really have no choice other than continue living for now. The sooner you accept that I am here to save you, the better your future will be from now on. I am only an errand runner today, I am not here for your pitiful soul. “ He was practically begging me to accept his nonsense. I could feel that my mind was being taken over by the demon’s eagerness to hear me agree to his proposal. Would I be signing away my soul if I agreed? Maybe there was some other hidden agenda inside this demon’s head. Nothing had made sense from the beginning.

Not knowing your fate at the very moment of your death is a kind of torture no one should encounter.

I was lucky enough to die during the first mutation. My body could not handle it. I have always doubted the existence of gods as they kept a blind eye to my suffering, but seeing this demon that lusted over my soul, I felt compelled to keep the only thing I had mine. Once again, I had forgotten that he could read my thoughts. My decision was already known to him.

He stood there looking puzzled before he sighed and this time his voice reverberated in the entire cell.

“I told you already, I am but an errand runner today. Even if you died now which is never going to happen as long as I am here, I would have no choice but to bring your soul back from the underworld. “This time he was using a human voice, albeit eerie.

“And before you get confused…“

He waved his right hand in front of him and an old looking parchment unrolled itself in front of me. I could not read the black sigil in the middle, but I could tell it was a contract as there was what looked like a signature at the bottom. It was a deep red hand print. Most likely the signature of the demon’s previous customer.

“This contract was signed by your ancestor and it concerns you, the last member of his lineage. There is no way for you to escape it no matter where you run. Even if you somehow managed to leave this universe I would still find you and bring you back here. It means that in this life you are never going to die without seeing me. He made sure that his bloodline will never go extinct by having the last one inherit everything he left behind so he could safely continue his lineage. There is no escaping it. He left behind this entire universe as well as his cosmic god pool for you. Whether you become a benevolent god or a demon, decide to live a peaceful life or create chaos everywhere, it is per your wishes. The prerequisite is for you to accept but as the last inheritor, you have no choice unless you continue the bloodline. Hehe.. Inside this cell, it will become a bit challenging to do that. All your ancestor wanted was for this universe to have a backup Cosmic God, just in case. Only his bloodline members can enter the cosmic pool and only one can do so. He wrote this contract for us to reach out only to the last living person. You will know about the rest of your responsibilities should you accept.” He said it as fast as he could. His voice was echoing in the cell. I was there coldly laughing at this demon’s lack of craftiness. I was having a hard time believing that every dying plebian would believe his shitty story of a God who left behind the world for his last descendant to rule ‘just in case’. Even I could think of a better story.

“You have forgotten one thing here. You are supposed to be dead by now. Where are your wounds? I told that if I am here, you are never going to die. You are so convinced you are going to die and in shock after seeing me that you failed to notice that your wounds started to heal the moment I arrived. “

The moment those words reached my ears, I was brought back to an alarming reality. I was fine. Maybe all of this was the afterlife or I was simply having a nightmare. Even the blood I was drenched in had magically disappeared. Before I knew it, I was crawling like mad to the furthest corner of the cell hoping that I could put some distance between me and that thing.

“Believe me now? I can assure you, this is not a dream. Now. Are you interested in your ancestor’s legacy? How many times do I have to repeat that you have no choice? Before you there were others but they were all so scared of me that some of them lost their minds. Ultimately, the bloodline continued and they never heard from me ever again, until the very last one appeared and the story repeated itself all over again. My old bones are tired you know. The fact that none of them, just like you, never died before the continuation of the bloodline is still a fact.”

I had finally managed to make my way to the right corner of the cell as he kept talking. By the time he turned to ask the question, I was already hugging the wall praying that I could punch through it and escape from this nightmare. I threw a punch and only managed to make a hole as big as my fist. I knew that surviving to the first mutation would give my body a considerable boost in physical strength but these walls were made to imprison people like me as well. I crazily punched the wall until I bled only to see the violet smoke released by the demon heal me.

He calmly stood behind and watched my hopeless struggle. We both knew I could not go very far.

“They have already dispatched the trash collector to bring you to the incinerator as they think that you are dead already. They are supposed to come and check up on you shortly.” He paused for a few seconds and continued his annoying lecture:

” Now that you’ve survived the first mutation with my help, they will keep injecting you with that useless diluted blood until you are on the verge of dying again. I will still keep you alive until the end, but your fate after this, if you are lucky, is to be another disposable super soldier for the royalty and nobles. If you are not lucky, they will find out that there is a problem with an unsuitable body surviving the third mutation and you will become a lab rat for the rest of your life. In that case, can you tell me if you will be strong enough to survive the pain the next two stages will bring? Or is your future life as a slave or lab rat your wish?”

I stopped punching the wall and sat down on the ground. I was mentally spent, a joke compared to this new body that knew no hunger or exhaustion only at the first mutation. My mind was overwhelmed by everything that was happening.

This demon was right. I was bound to be a slave no matter what. Surviving this measly first stage meant nothing if I was going to suffer until I reached the third mutation. From my earlier action of punching the wall the flesh and bones of both my hands should have been in an unsightly state but now they looked as good as new, not mentioning the state my body was in before he magically appeared in the cell.

I did not know what to do. I was completely overwhelmed. Should I accept his offer? Become the new Cosmic God of a world I knew nothing about? Should I believe all his bullshit just because of he saved me?

I recollected myself before I looked at him and said:

“I am not interested in your offer” I finally said trying to sound as resolute as I could with a trembling voice.

He maintained his silence for what seemed like an eternity and said:

“Fine. I will not talk you out of it anymore. You are just taking a long and painful road. At the end of the day, you will still have no choice. I will give you free reign for now.”

If he was going to save me whenever I was about to die, I will just let him do it. I have nothing to lose. As long as he does his job, these madmen will keep making me stronger until there is no one strong enough to stand in the way of my freedom.

“Sigh.”

“Since you chose to go down this road…” he said before his index finger pointed at me and a tattoo the size of a hand appeared on my chest. It looked like a wisp of the same violet smoke that the demon exuded. The smoke tattoo fluttered to an invisible wind on my chest.

Shortly after, an endless amount of violet smoke came out of his finger and converged in front of my chest before the animated tattoo absorbed it all.

“I have another job you know, I can’t always be there to talk you out of it and save you. The tattoo that I left you will make sure you stay alive for me. If you are no longer the last descendant, the tattoo and the smoke stored within will just dissipate. Consider it as a reminder that I was here today. If you happen to reconsider my offer, I will know.” Following those last words, he disappeared from my eyes. The lingering smoke left behind was absorbed by the violet smoke tattoo turning the room to its normal state.