Book 1: Chapter 26

When the crystal Cyil was blown away he immediately sensed that a deadly crisis was soon approaching. He didn’t hesitate to spam the Time spell Absolute Stop, but to his surprise Baccaus wasn’t affected at all! Although everything else had stop, he and Baccaus were both capable of moving.

Dread filled the crystal Cyil’s eyes and an involuntary shriek came out: “impossible!” He grew exasperated and knew that with the meager 40 seconds he had left, it would be impossible to subdue that thing in front of him. With his vast knowledge, the crystal Cyil was shocked that he didn’t know what spell Baccaus had conjured but he could see that Baccaus’ revived state was temporary. Even so, he couldn’t flee because Kara could come after him once the forbidden Time spell wore off but he also couldn’t fight against that monster who might actually kill him without regards to what would happen to the boy’s physical body.

The crystal Cyil felt that his head was about to explode from all the anger he had accumulated since entering the darkspace. He had just finished gathering most of the materials he needed to break through to a rank 8 Saint and was already in seclusion about to do so when he noticed that Cyil had escaped from his imprisonment. This startled him greatly and although it was taxing to enter the darkspace, he had to do so to check and that was when everything had gone horribly awry. He had no clue who Baccaus was or how he got in there; at the same time he cursed himself for being to careless and not personally, thoroughly checking the darkspace.

But all that was in the past now and perhaps even the power of a god of Time could not reverse the flow of time to fix this.

Caught in a pinch and without many options, the crystal Cyil roared out with madness, unleashing all of his pent up anger at once. “You think you’re the only one with a final move?! Don’t make me use it or we could all very well perish! Think of what would happen to this boy’s physical body!”

The crystal Cyil quickly tried to bring some sense to Baccaus but when he saw Baccaus’ apathetic look the crystal Cyil cursed inwardly and quickly began conjuring up his forbidden Death spell.

Baccaus noticed what the crystal Cyil was doing and smiled. In this moment, Baccaus felt very calm and at peace for some reason. He walked over slowly, as if taking a stroll in a meadow, to the frantic crystal Cyil who was trying his best to complete his forbidden Death spell.

“Nothing is impossible. There are no absolutes in this world,” Baccaus calmly said, as if he was teaching Cyil one last lesson. “Things in life must come to an end so death is not necessarily a bad thing. As long as you have lived a happy and healthy life then all is well. There are bad and goods in Nakrul and many more things that can only be confirmed once you have experienced it yourself. Though it is impossible to experience everything, I hope you will have had the chance to explore as many of them as there are stars in the sky. Remember to be kind and good and stay true to yourself. If you can help it, do not kill for all life is precious… I never taught anyone, nor was I a good enough person to teach someone so young, so pure. May the elements be with you…”

Bacccaus’ speech was neither long nor short; the words echoed off into the void and was carried away with time. The crystal Cyil was shocked as he heard Baccaus’ words. As Baccaus began talking to himself the crystal Cyil thought Baccaus was rambling like an idiot and had finally gone senile but as he continued to listen he noticed that these words seem to contain a profound energy behind them.

It was at this point that the crystal knew his ‘final move’ wouldn’t be able to hold a candle against this man. He knew this well because this man in front of him had, for some inexplicable reason, already broken through to become a god! The crystal Cyil didn’t know how this was possible nor could he explain it with common logic but the mystical powers held behind those words swayed even his soul! Also, the crystal Cyil knew for sure that this was godhood because he had heard a god speak to him before long, long ago when he still had his own physical body. That very same god who spoke to him was also the one who destroyed his physical body. But with some luck, an arcane soul splitting spell and furious resolve to get revenge on that god, the soul of the Death God (crystal Cyil) had managed to escape with part of his soul.

The crystal Cyil would never forget that day nor the power of a god.

When he found out that Baccaus had reached godhood, although he knew it couldn’t be permanent, the crystal Cyil gave up all hope. He didn’t even think of trying to ditch the body to find a new one. He simply stopped running away and waited for his doom. Looking up with his crystal eyes that now seem to glitter brightly, the crystal Cyil said to himself: “What luck do I have. To be born a Death Saint and be given so much power but be shunned by all those I love. To have trained to be a rank 9 Saint on the verge of becoming rank 10, only to be killed by a god. I don’t believe I was born evil, but after my physical body died and my soul split, something in me changed. I became Death itself. Now it is only fitting that Death has come for me itself.”

As the crystal Cyil lamented his fate, the forbidden Time spell’s duration ended and all of his wounds instantly returned. The suddenness of this shock and the physical wounds shook the crystal Cyil’s soul and completely destroyed his half-physical body; thus rendering full control of the body back to Cyil or whomever’s soul could inhibit the body.

Baccaus hadn’t done anything at all and only stood to the side and watched the crystal Cyil collapse. But just as the crystal Cyil’s soul was about to shatter and return to the elements, Baccaus waved his hand and a gentle breeze held the soul firmly intact.

After that, he turned to Kara and smiled at her.

Kara had just noticed the power surge from Baccaus when all of a sudden the walls imprisoning her began collapsing and Baccaus was floating a hundred feet away from her, smiling. She was shocked at the turn of events and was about to ask Baccaus about what had happened when he appeared directly in front of her and hugged her.

Again, Kara was shocked because she could feel his warmth and his body. “How is this possible?” She thought.

“Kara,” Baccaus began, a strange alluring tone to his voice that would make others unknowingly worship him. “You sacrificed yourself to save me back then, and I had to live with that burden everyday… everyday I would think it would have been better if I had died with you. My days were filled with nothing but bitterness without you in my life. And when I finally had hopes of reviving you, I still failed. I tried and tried but couldn’t save you in the end. It wasn’t until I saw you here that my heart came alive again. I didn’t care if you were an illusion or just a figment of my imagination because I had wanted to talk to you and apologize for leaving you all alone….But you know, there was something good that came from me staying alive. That was our grandson, Cyil. It seemed fate had brought you, me, Cyil and even that Death Saint together. Kara, I have so much I want to say and tell you- about him, about us, about anything but time is impatient.”

By now tears were running down Kara’s glowing golden cheeks. She didn’t want to interrupt Baccaus and only listened with a pang in her heart because she had felt that Baccaus’ lifeforce was almost gone. When he had hugged her, she had felt it. So she only remained silent and let Baccaus say his final words.

Baccaus un-hugged Kara and held her at an arm’s length, staring into her eyes. He gently wiped away her tears and continued: “It would have hurt me more to know you are someone’s slave than facing death a thousands times over. And. Though I may no longer be by your side anymore to bug you or cook you my special dishes, remember that I will always be with you. Though I know it will be hard, you must live on, and when the time comes, we shall surely be reunited. That I know.”

As Baccaus finished his final words his lifeforce completely slipped away into the nether, gone for good. There wasn’t even a chance to salvage his soul like what had happened to Kara or the Death God. As Kara felt Baccaus’ aura disappear and his body go limp, she began to wail. And as if to tease her, she could no longer touch Baccaus’ body like before. He simply slipped right through her body. Kara wailed and tried to calm herself down but seeing the smile on Baccaus lifeless face hurt her heart even more.

On 452 A.I., in a darkspace outside of Nakrul, at the age of 145, Rank 7 level 10 mage of wind and shadow dual element, Baccaus Petros, the fourth son of Zale Manos the 76th wizened, married to Kara Lialeth and grandfather to Cyil Cintu has perished.