Chapter 22 - one more chance?
"Lord, give me.. one more chance." Mathis begged over and over again as his vision faded, all he could see were his comrade's tearful faces--making him feel even more hopeless than he already was.
Mathis was unable to speak and vent out his desperation, all he could do was beg for another chance deep down.
As he blinked again, he found himself floating in a black void.. it had no floor, no ceiling, no wall, no end--his body was numb, almost as if it was not there at all.
Yet Mathis in his moment of desperation saw a glimmer of light in the distance--he attempted to move to it. only to realise that.. he had no body.
"Please.. lord, give me one more chance.. God..." Mathis cried out silently, unable to speak.
Mathis attempted to open the status window, only to find out there was none.
There was no message, no quests, no direction.. only the endless silence of the void before him.
Finally, a familliar glow appeared before him.
[Would you like to use the Gem?]
[The consequences of using the Gem will be severe.]
[Accept or decline?]
"I don't care about the consequences.. i want.. to live! I want to keep my promise to Selvyn! I want to know the name of that man! I want to save everyone!!" Mathis thought to himself as he accepted by using his thoughts.
[Mathis has accepted the Gem, the Gem does not reject its new owner and grants Mathis its full power.]
[Body is reconstructing due to the Gem's will.]
"One.. more.. chance.. lord." Mathis finally managed to speak, his voice could be heard echoing throughout the endless void.
As Mathis's body finished re-constructing, he swam towards the light only to be stopped as a floor appears and he falls onto it.
"You're not going anywhere." A voice rang out through the endless void.. it was Mathis's voice but it wasn't him.
Mathis flinched and looked behind him, only to find a reflection of himself.. except that one had a frown on his face.
"Where are you going? Leaving me alone in this place again." The other Mathis asked him, his tone much darker than the real Mathis.
"Every time you die, I think ill finally have a friend down here.. but you always defied death with that pesky skill of yours and went back.. now that you're finally here.. why don't you stay?" The other Mathis kept speaking, his tone growing abit more desperate and darker.
"I need to go back and help my friends.. i hope you can understand, I don't want to die now... i made a promise." The real Mathis said, his tone showing hesitation but his determination and hope had been fired up again.
The other Mathis looked at the real Mathis before him, his expression a mix of loneliness, sadness and anger.
"You must stay! If you really want to go help you're friends, then prove it you fool! You'll have to go through me to leave.. even if it's the last thing I do!" The other Mathis yelled out, his voice filled with fear and anger.
"I am the only one who can answer all you're questions! only if you stayed here!" The other Mathis kept yelling.
"Then tell me.. what are you? Because you sure aren't me." The real Mathis said to the other him, his voice holding a bit of nervousness.
The other him couldn't help but laugh abit, though his face still showed hurt.
"I am you, your desires. And also your death." The other Mathis spoke, each one of his words making the real Mathis shudder.
Mathis could tell the other him was speaking nothing but the truth, Mathis's expression grew more tense and afraid.
"That's right.. you can ignore the broken for only so long, nobody is immune to their own misery and feelings aslong as they are human." The other Mathis said, his tone holding no malice but instead truth.
The other Mathis put his hand out, his face one of slight hope.
"It is not too late, you can come back to me and return that Gem where you found it." The other Mathis said, his tone sounding sickenly sweet.
"Let me guess, your a result of me using the gem's power.. that's what it meant by severe consequence." Mathis said, his tone holding nothing but determination.
The other Mathis's expression morphed into one of horror and fear.
"That.. is right, it did not expect you to be able to tell so fast." The other Mathis said, as his expression of horror and fear converted into a sinister smirk.
"If it can't have you by asking nicely, then ill just take you by force." The other Mathis says, his tone dripping with annoyance and cockiness.
The other Mathis takes shape of Selvyn, knowing this was Mathis's true weakness.. hurting someone he cared about deeply.
Yet it did not work as expected and only made the true Mathis angered.
"You dare take on Selvyn's form to take advantage of me? You are nothing like me, you disgust me." Mathis said, his voice dripping with disgust and anger.
Yet the shape-shifting creature did not answer and only smirked sinisterly.
Mathis without hesitation punched the shape shifting creature so hard that it had to reveal its true form.
What stood before Mathis was no human, but a 12 feet tall, 18 legged, completely black monster that had 9 or more heads--each one of the heads seemed to be more and more terrifying, it looked more demonic than any demon Mathis had seen so far.
Mathis started to hear distorted voices in his head, it corresponded to the amount of heads on the creature.
Yet the fear Mathis felt was nothing compared to the determination he had to get out of there, and help his loyal companions.
Mathis steps forward fearlessly, mirroring his unknown companion.
The 9 headed creature looked on in surprise to see Mathis walking towards it without any sort of fear.
"If it is what it takes, then i am willing to fight oneself!" Mathis yelled out in determination.
Mathis manifests an odachi, using the gem's power to do it.
"If that's so, COME AT US!" All nine of its heads yelled out in a distorted voice.
In one singular slash, Mathis cut off all of the monster's legs--the mere collision of the slash with its legs, creating a massive shockwave and BANG! sound which even temporarily deafened Mathis.
"What the hell! Our legs are stronger than even the strongest, most durable diamonds!" The nine headed creature screams out in pain, it's voice distorting even further.
Mathis without hesitation brought down his odachi and sliced it's 9 heads right off in one cut, that one cut was enough to tear the void before them.
As the tear in the void expanded, the creature fell down--beyond the tear was a bright, clear, white light.
Without hesitating anymore, Mathis jumped through it and came back into the real world.
[You have been granted one more chance at life. 'Skill: 5 lived' has been deleted.]
The blood-red skies and rain greeting him again, the sounds of blades clashing and bullets going off could be heard.
Before him was a familliar yet unbelievable figure.