Poison God's Heritage

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The Blue Sun's muscles tensed, her knuckles white as they gripped the haft of her hammer. Her eyes blazed with fury, like molten steel ready to strike. She was a wall between us and the Death Sun, an unyielding force of defiance. Blood matted her hair and smeared across her face, but her spirit was undeterred.

"Why should he give it to you?" The Blue Sun stepped in front of me, her hammer still in hand, her body bloodied but unbroken. She was a fortress of resolve, standing between me and the abyss. I could see that the fight she had against the Cryptic Sun was as taxing to her as much as it was 'rightfully' painful for the bloodied and broken Cryptic Sun.

The Death Sun's smile twisted further, a slow, deliberate motion that seemed to stretch his rotted skin impossibly. His eyes, two empty voids, seemed to drink in the fear and uncertainty around him. "Because if he doesn't," he rasped "I'll release everything I have. You can't stop me. And even if you manage to by some ungodly luck hold me, you won't be able to contain the chaos.

Do you honestly think you can fight off billions of Walkers? They're ready to flood the world, to infect every corner of the Beyond."

He raised a hand, and from the shadows of the cavern, came a distant, resonating thrum. The air grew thick with the promise of devastation. It was the heartbeat of the abyss, the Walkers, and the Rakshasa he had threatened to unleash upon the world. Their energy was palpable, like a storm pressing against the thin walls of reality.

Even without seeing them, I could feel their presence, a sea of malice teeming beneath the surface, and far above us, ready to spill over and drown the world in chaos. It was like standing on the edge of a precipice, knowing that one wrong move would send us all into an endless chasm of despair.

The Wisest Sun's face tightened in concentration. His brows furrowed as he closed his eyes and sent out his divine sense. It swept through the caverns, and far beyond through the Sea of Demons and further, spreading outward like a tsunami of energy. In a fraction of a second, his eyes snapped open, wild with realization. "You madman!" he spat, his voice trembling with rage and disbelief.

The Death Sun's smirk deepened, revealing jagged teeth, blackened and cracked. "You saw them, right? All beneath the surface, like an endless horde just waiting for the command to unleash them. No place in the Beyond will be safe." His words echoed, each one a nail driving into the coffin of our hope.

My mind whirled with fear and a desperate urge to act. He had us cornered, and he knew it. The weight of his threat pressed on my shoulders like an anvil. Billions of Walkers, a tsunami of death poised to crash against every corner of the Beyond.

If he unleashed them, there would be no defense, no safe haven. It would be an apocalypse, a world turned into a nightmare where nothing but death and corruption reigned.

I took a shaky breath, my chest tight with the enormity of the decision I was about to make. "Sure," I said, forcing my voice to stay steady, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. "I'll give it to you."

His skeletal grin widened, eyes glittering with a cruel satisfaction. "Spoken like a true cultivator, Shen Bao. But, of course, you'll want something in return." There was a mocking tone to his words, but beneath it, a sliver of respect—as if he recognized the game we were playing, the grim dance of power and submission.

"Exactly," I replied, stepping forward despite the weight pressing down on me. My heart was thundering, but I couldn't let it show. "If I give you the crystal, what guarantee do we have that you'll leave? You still need more power, don't you?"

His hollow eyes gleamed with amusement, the promise of some terrible trick. "You have a sharp eye, Shen Bao." He turned his gaze toward the Cryptic Sun's crumpled, bloodied form, a sneer curling his lip. "But don't worry, I've already found my solution."n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Before any of us could react, and with unnatural speed the Death Sun's arm shot forward. His hand plunged into the Cryptic Sun's chest, a sickening squelch filling the air. The Cryptic Sun's eyes bulged, a gurgling gasp escaping his lips as the Death Sun's fingers wrapped around his heart, squeezing with a relentless grip.

"Why?" The Cryptic Sun's voice was a broken whisper, full of confusion and betrayal.

"Why?" The Death Sun echoed mockingly, twisting his hand, and a wet crack sounded as the Cryptic Sun's ribcage gave way. "After all this time, you still don't understand? You are not a real Sun, never have been, I have given you that power for a reason after all, your only redeeming feature is that you now possess their power. You were only ever a tool, a means to an end."

With a vicious jerk, he crushed the Cryptic Sun's heart, detonating it within his chest. A pulse of energy exploded outward, rattling the cavern as the Cryptic Sun's body withered and shriveled, collapsing in on itself like a crumpled rag. His once formidable presence was reduced to nothing more than dust, scattering into the air.

The Death Sun immediately collected all the energy and with a deep satisfied sigh, he threw it at the gate.

I felt a wave of revulsion wash over me. The Cryptic Sun, for all his schemes and treachery, had been nothing more than a pawn in the Death Sun's grand game. His death was swift, merciless, and in the end, utterly meaningless.

"Honor among betrayers, huh?" I muttered, the words dripping with bitter irony. My stomach churned at the sight of the Death Sun's smug triumph. He had turned the Cryptic Sun into nothing more than fuel for his dark ambition, a stepping stone to some grand, twisted end.

The Wisest Sun's face was set in a mask of grim acceptance, his eyes locked on the Death Sun. "It was always going to end this way," he said quietly, a heavy sadness in his voice. "He's never been one to honor his promises."