Re: Timeless Apocalypse-Chapter 80: Ophanis(II): Sacred Eye of Lies

Uriel smiled, softly.

His heart eased, and all tension faded from him, his body relaxing. He reached out, grabbing Ophanis’ flaming hand.

Gently, he caressed it.

"It’s alright. It’s fine. I get it."

His voice soothed her, and she seemed to calm, taking a deep breath in and exhaling all the worry that had been building in her heart.

He didn’t know what had made her so agitated at seeing him think for so long, but he could guess.

He had once told Enoch a seemingly random set of words.

...

["No, but I choose to trust nonetheless. You threw me to my death because you trusted I’d survive. And inversely, the only reason I’m not shattering your core right now is because I trust you’ll have an explanation I’ll like once she’s gone."

Enoch’s eyes widened, suddenly feeling all the natal aether in his core shake, the reins that controlled it torn away and falling into Uriel’s hands.

"And you trust that I won’t kill you right now because you’ve known me for years," Uriel continued with a smile. "But at some point, you didn’t."

"Trust has to start somewhere."]

...

He would live by that, then.

"So, Ophanis, where are we? Can we leave?"

She looked at him. "We need to sign a contract, something known as a Root Contract."

"Once the contract is made... someone will appear, and then, to leave, we’ll have to pay the price I was telling you about."

She pointed at his chest. "That’s the only way for the both of us to come out of this relatively whole. Otherwise, the Lineal Talent will keep us here forever."

He frowned. "The Lineal Talent? Which—" His eyes widened. "The one I got from my pack?!"

"Did Thoryl mess with it? Is that why we’re trapped here?"

She nodded.

Uriel’s jaw tightened for a brief second, but then he chuckled. For what felt like the first time, his gaze sharpened, tinged with malice.

’Thoryl.’ He smiled, making sure to etch the name into his memory.

He refocused on her. "Alright, let’s do it."

He saw she was about to speak, most likely trying to make sure he understood the gravity of what was happening, but he shook his head.

It was truly foolish to sign a contract with a strange entity of fire he’d never seen before, just as it was foolish to sign a contract he didn’t read from a man claiming to be from the future.

Just as it was foolish to sleep in the house of a woman he knew was hiding massive secrets from him, just as it was foolish not to care about the fact that dozens of old monsters wanted him dead.

His whole life since he left the prison had been foolish.

["Trust has to start somewhere."]

She had saved his life once, and now would do so a second time. That was enough.

"Let’s do it!"

Ophanis’ hands trembled.

[{?} Ophanis {?} has extended a Root Weave System-Contract of Unity to you.]

[The first article of the contract states that—]

He grinned.

[The Contract had been signed!]

Across his body, tongues of white fire erupted, melding into the silver-white expanse of his hair, tightly hugging him and filling him with warmth.

On his back, a tattooed mark began to take shape; two overlapping serpents, each biting their own tails.

One serpent of radiant ivory, and another of somber onyx.

WHOOOOOOOOOOOSH! BANG!

As soon as the mark settled, mere meters away from them, a gigantic and looming gate of steel appeared; wider than anything Uriel had ever seen, so expansive it plunged the white expanse into pure darkness.

Upon the gate, countless runes were etched, as well as many faces, of humans and beasts and of entities Uriel couldn’t quite name.

The gate emanated terrifying pressure, yet it was also blurry, as if Uriel didn’t fully have the right to witness its grandeur.

Far above, at the highest point of the gate, an eye twisted into being from shadows and silver matter. The pupil was a piercing scarlet, looking down with the might of a god, blotting out the skies of the white expanse.

Uriel looked up, weakly, fighting against the pressure that had suddenly consumed the space. He didn’t know why, but for some reason, he felt like he needed to look at the eye.

It was of primordial importance.

He looked up.

He met its gaze.

[You have seen the Gate of Truth.]

Uriel felt something break within him.

His core shattered. His spark, something he could suddenly feel, shattered next, its pained cries echoing in his mind.

And then... he felt his soul. For the briefest of moments, he felt his soul. He felt it shatter.

But for some reason, his mind didn’t shatter. In fact, the fog that had been covering his thoughts for weeks disappeared, and he regained his usual sharpness.

His newly formed path, which he could clearly feel, shattered, followed by his frames, his class, and all else born from it. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

He felt it all happen in excruciating detail, and it was agonising, but his face didn’t so much as twitch. As painful as what was happening to his body was, staring at the eye hurt even more.

It felt like the end of all things—the highest truth, the most twisted and perverted of creations, but also the most holy and sacred of divinities that existed. It felt like the eye of God itself, of infinity and unity.

It stared down, intent on shattering him. But for some reason, he didn’t flinch, even as he felt his mind begin collapsing.

He didn’t know where this mental fortitude was suddenly coming from.

Looking at the eye, he almost felt like sneering, but instead, a grin surfaced, painting him in a devilish light as blood leaked from all his orifices and crimson cracks appeared throughout his skin.

He wasn’t dying.

He was being erased.

[You have seen the Sacred Eye of Lies.]

He looked deeply into the eye, and something from deep within him seemed to harmonise with his mind. He remembered something, but he couldn’t name it, nor could he see it.

He began laughing.

"I’ve killed you before."

A pillar of lightning fell from the eye, crimson and thin, like a falling cylinder of blood. It crashed into Uriel.

[You have inherited the Sin of [?]!]