Apocalypse Healer - Path of Death

His eyes fluttered open to a crimson sky. There were no clouds or a sun, for that matter.

David sat upright, but the landscape remained unchanged. He was not in the Dwarven Sanctuary, lying on one of the mattresses they'd ransacked in Arc. To be fair, he was probably not even in the Earthen Union. It was hard to tell, as everything around him was crimson.

"I went to sleep and then…" David mumbled, trying to recollect what had happened. But there was nothing. He had gone to sleep and woken up in this crimson… world? That didn't sound right, but it wasn't like he understood where he was in the first place.

"This is my Domain. Cozy, ain't it?"

A crimson cloud gathered before his eyes, first forming a large face before shifting into a humanoid figure.

"Asmodeus?"

David jumped to his feet, letting Blood surge into his eyes. The effect was weaker than expected, but it was enough to see the minuscule threads connecting the crimson figure to the world—this Domain—around them.

"Did you bring me here?"

"I don't know. Did I do that?" Asmodeus replied with a shrug, his tone laced with ridicule.

Fuck you. This isn't funny.

David grumbled inwardly while casting [Holy Touch]. A bloody tendril oozed from his palm and connected to Asmodeus' threads.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Asmodeus said, though he didn't move an inch as David ignored the Ruler of Blood.

He continued, tapping into the power surging through the minuscule threads. They didn't resist him. Instead, they integrated the holy tendril seamlessly into their network, flooding David with immense power.

He couldn't even process what was happening as the energy tore through his Energy Pathways, ripping them apart. But it didn't stop there. It surged through his veins, following his blood to his heart. It felt like an eternity, yet only a quarter of a second had passed before his heart exploded.

David felt it clearly—death.

His eyes widened momentarily as realization dawned upon him, and he collapsed to the ground.

Move! He wanted to scream, but his body no longer obeyed him.

He was dying.

"I told you," Asmodeus sighed. "It's not that I don't want to show off my power. But you can't handle it."

A snap resounded in his ears, and his eyes were forcefully shut.

David was certain death loomed over him—but nothing happened. He kept his eyes shut even as he regained control of his body, expecting to die at any moment.

"How much longer are you going to play dead, kid?" Asmodeus chuckled.

David opened his eyes to look straight at the crimson figure once again. He was standing—when had he gotten up from the ground?—and his heart was intact.

"What was that?" he asked, but the Ruler of Blood waved dismissively.

"Death. Precisely, death by stupidity."

David narrowed his eyes, which seemed to amuse the crimson figure.

"Are you angry? That's interesting. I was sure you chose your Secondary Class to get your emotions under control. Then again, you didn't kill the tirac child. That would have been interesting. Maybe you would have received Unity—you know, for killing the kid who killed your prey."

Asmodeus laughed, his crimson figure transforming back into a massive face.

"Seraphine would have loved that. Or maybe she wouldn't have. I wonder what she would have done. It's the first time she intervened in the Earthen Union's business."

"What do you want?" David interrupted. Listening to Asmodeus was irritating—more so than the Pantheon's silence.

"Are you here to give me something? Maybe Unity? Or something with similar powers?"

"Of course not." Asmodeus stopped laughing. "Unity is Seraphine's thing. And since you failed the challenge, you will never procure it. Well… except if you kill her. If you want to give it a try, go for it. I won't stop you. If anything, I'll cheer for you from the back."

"So…"

"Sooo," Asmodeus cleared his throat, "I wanted to show you something interesting."

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The Ruler's face expanded suddenly, showing him images—some still, others moving.

First, David saw Arc, or what was left of it, but the scenery changed quickly as the image zoomed out, revealing the country, the continent, and finally the whole Earthen Union. He didn't notice anything amiss at first. Of course, some regions looked different than before—mountain ranges had appeared where plains once were, flora had flourished and swallowed whatever remained of civilization before the Pantheon's integration—but that was only the beginning.

Creatures appeared in the oceans, on land, and in the sky. They were large enough to be seen even as the whole Earthen Union unfolded before him as a head-sized globe. The creatures had to be massive in reality, yet David wasn't afraid of them. It didn't feel like Asmodeus wanted to show him these behemoths.

It's something else, David thought as he silently studied the Earthen Union while it changed again. Time seemed to pass, and the flora expanded further. But so did a sudden darkness, creeping across certain parts of the Earthen Union. It stretched out, slowly at first, but the process accelerated rapidly until the entire planet transformed into a ball of darkness.

No, it wasn't just darkness.

Something felt off when David studied it more closely.

The Earthen Union's lifeforce… is no more, he thought, eyes widening.

"Wha—"

"No questions," Asmodeus said, his voice devoid of the joy and madness from earlier.

David took the hint and kept watching. Time seemed to reverse as the Earthen Union spun backward, transforming back into a bright, flourishing planet. The process repeated itself again, only faster this time. The life-draining darkness emerged sooner, consuming the Earthen Union at an accelerated pace.

But the vision wasn't over. The Earthen Union rewound once more, the cycle repeating. This time, more planets appeared in the crimson fog—worlds he had never seen before—but David remained silent, watching.

On the third iteration, the Earthen Union was devoured more slowly, yet something about the other planets had changed.

He observed the fourth, the fifth, and countless more until hundreds of worlds unfolded before him, each seemingly connected and infected by the events unfolding in the Earthen Union.

"The Cycles…" he muttered after what felt like dozens of repetitions. "Why are you showing me this?"

No response.

"Right, no questions." David grimaced and shuddered as he watched the life-draining darkness consume the Earthen Union and its surrounding worlds.

Again, the withered planet reverted to its original state—but the other worlds did not. They vanished, revealing the Earthen Union and the vastness of space in full clarity. Yet something was different this time. Details he hadn't noticed before now stood out—like the sparks of light scattered in the void near the Earthen Union and the pitch-black life signals forming on its surface.

He infused Blood into his eyes but couldn't discern anything more about the dark life signals. There were only a handful, yet an instinctive fear took root in him.

"These things… are they 'them'?" he asked, but Asmodeus remained silent. Instead, the image shifted again, zooming in on the sparks in space. As the vision cleared, David saw dozens of figures hovering before a thin crack in reality. His gaze landed on one of them—a god of the Pantheon—but his attention was drawn to the crack itself.

Small. Insignificant. Something he never would have noticed. Until now.

He stared at it and stumbled backward, his heart racing as fear consumed him. Something oozed from the crack. Not much, but enough. Enough for David to know that whatever lay beyond was worse than the black life signals on the Earthen Union.

"Is that… the current Cycle?" he asked.

This time, the image dispersed, and the crimson fog reshaped itself into a humanoid figure.

"The situation is getting out of control," Asmodeus answered quietly. "And we've learned not to speak too much about them or their actions. It gives them power. Even the weakest of them can accumulate enough strength to rival the gods."

David shuddered, trying to process what he had just learned. He had known about the Cycles, had even heard of the existence of 'something' Zachariah cryptically referred to as them, but accepting that these beings could grow strong enough to fight gods simply by being known—how did that make sense?

It was hard to believe, yet the Ruler of Blood looked serious, which seemed rare.

"If they gain power from being known, why did you tell me about them?"

Asmodeus sighed. "That fool is always thinking and talking about them anyway. The others might not approve, but at least now you won't have to bother Zachariah about it. The long-term benefits outweigh the short-term risks. Or… I'll get whipped later when the cosmos collapses. We'll see about that."

He shrugged, his crimson form inching closer. "There's also been a rather… unpleasant change in the plans of some colleagues of mine. And you—you're behaving differently than anticipated. While you use my power, you wield it differently from me. Not all the time, but your focus on Lifeforce and Essence is intriguing. The System must have sensed your compatibility with my Essence and Bereth's."

Asmodeus' crimson fog surged high above him, forcing David to look up.

"You should focus on your Intent and your growing affinity for Essence. I am still the Ruler of Blood, and I won't surrender my title anytime soon. Plus, your talent with the Law of Blood is passable, but nothing remarkable. That's great for a mortal—since I'm comparing you to minor gods and other trashy immortals—but it's not enough. Not if you want the strength to help us in the future."

David raised an eyebrow at the last part but remained silent.

"The Law of Blood has kept you alive. It fits your Primary Class well, but never rely on the Laws gifted by other gods and Rulers. After all, the Law does not belong to you."

Asmodeus' tone was eerily calm, making David's hair stand on end.

For a moment, he braced himself, half-expecting the Ruler of Blood to strip the Law of Blood away from him—but nothing happened.

"You have a Legacy Skill, and you comprehended an Intent on your own. Make use of it. Be better than the fool."

The crimson world dimmed as his final words echoed. Yet, Asmodeus wasn't finished.

"It looks like my time is up," he sighed again. "Listen to my advice. As much as you love to fight—and believe me, I enjoy watching your bloody massacres—you should keep your anger in check for a while."

Huh?

Numerous questions tormented his mind, but he couldn't voice them.

Asmodeus' Domain disappeared, and darkness swallowed him once more.