Beyond the Apocalypse
Chapter 485: Discover my path

Chapter 485: Discover my path

"Who are you!?"

Those words reverberated through the hidden dimension with an overwhelming blend of rage, authority, and something akin to looming dread. To Vlad’s ears, however, the angry undertone that dominated the voice was not the only emotion carried in that echo. He detected confusion and uncertainty beneath the fury. Though he felt the voice brimming with menace, it also seemed that this entity was struggling with a question it could not readily answer, just like a child who was trying to understand the world around him.

Before the Depravita of Wrath could respond, the voice sounded once more, this time sharper and tinged with hateful recognition, "I recognized you! You are our enemy, the one that has defeated us again and again!"

With those words, Vlad felt the dimension itself begin to quake. It heated up like an immense stomach churning acid to digest a trapped victim. He had barely cheated death moments earlier, narrowly escaping irreversible doom, yet it seemed the grim reaper wasn’t finished with him. A sense of urgency coursed through Vlad’s mind.

He had to find a way to escape this new threat, but there was no way to fight back against the entity. Then, a flash of insight crossed his thoughts as he shouted. "What is your name!?"

The moment Vlad uttered that question, the crushing pressure flooding the dimension—a pressure that threatened to crush his soul completely—came to an abrupt halt. A small smile tugged at the corners of Vlad’s mouth. He had gambled that demanding a name would disrupt the entity’s lethal impetus, and it worked.

"I am..." the voice echoed once more, only to trail off as though unable to complete that sentence.

Vlad’s smile widened. He had a good idea of why the spirit in this obsidian obelisk could not supply a name. Although it had once been a core portion of the Leviathan Race’s collective consciousness—the primary control node for the Hive Mind—this spirit was now something else. It was no longer fused with the rest of the Hive Mind.

After undergoing the Seven Sins Ritual, it had become a Depravita. As a result, it was no longer part of a multi-minded collective. It existed as a singular, confused soul grappling with the sudden emergence of individuality. And it had not yet found an identity.

"I AM..." roared the voice a second time, this time surging with frustration, confusion, and fury. "What did you do to me!?"

Once more, it focused intently on Vlad, but its rage was mixed with an undeniable panic. It demanded answers to explain what had transformed it so drastically.

Vlad’s mind remained calm and as sharp as ever. He understood the precariousness of his position: if this newly born entity decided to obliterate him, he had no immediate power in this dimension to fight back. Therefore, he had to play his cards carefully.

"You were part of a collective consciousness of the alien race I call the Leviathans," Vlad explained, choosing honesty over evasion. "But thanks to my abilities, I turned this piece of spirit into a true and complete soul. Now you are your own entity, an individual in every sense of the word."

Silence reigned in the obsidian dimension. An oppressive hush descended while the new being processed Vlad’s words. He could all but feel the swirl of emotions raging behind the entity’s pause.

"Why did you do this to me? We are enemies. Do you wish to enslave me!?" The entire realm pulsed with an overwhelming wave of killing intent and murderous wrath as the entity uttered those words, demanding answers.

Vlad steeled himself, carefully resisting the urge to panic. One misstep could mean permanent death. Maintaining his measured tone, he gave the entity what it wanted. "I did it only to stop you from following your instincts and consuming me. As for our being enemies, that might have been true in the past, but not anymore. Harboring anger toward you for what the Leviathan Race did would be like raging at a single gear in a massive machine."

Vlad allowed his words to settle, carefully gauging the entity’s reaction. He let a few seconds of quiet pass, then continued more softly, "You were just born—your own person now. The sins of the Leviathan Race no longer rest on you. You’re free to choose your path, make your own decisions, and based on that, I and the rest of the universe will judge you."

Another wave of silence fell, and Vlad picked up on the tumult in the newborn Depravita’s emotions. The dimension felt as though it seethed with every new wave of feeling—anger, disorientation, compulsion, and searching. Finally, the voice reemerged.

"I... we... I don’t know my past or anything before arriving in this world, but I know we were built to kill and consume. That is my purpose and my nature, and my decisions should follow that goal!" The confusion in the entity’s mind seemed to intensify, swirling like a violent storm cloud.

Born mere moments ago, it had no memory or guidance other than the primal instincts that the hive mind had once enforced. Yet it was no longer fused with that consciousness. It was a blank slate, but that "blankness" was also layered with the Leviathans’ innate impulses: Devour. Assimilate. Conquer.

Vlad listened carefully, not letting worry creep into his voice. Instead, a broad, almost encouraging smile spread across his face as he knew exactly what to say.

"That might have been your origin, your purpose once," he said gently, "but you’re a Depravita now. The core of our existence is to surpass our nature, to forge a path built on our own choices and no one else’s!"

His voice echoed throughout the dimension, resonating with conviction and determination. The swirling emotional chaos within the entity escalated, culminating in a moment of near-violent intensity. Then, all of a sudden, it asked a question that seemed to emanate from the core of its soul.

"Will you help me discover my path?"