Trails of blood stained the grassy hills, seeping through the weeds like a plague.
The spiked silver tip of a colossal blade had driven itself deep into the nearby hills, effortlessly splitting their rocky guts apart.
Kaiser gulped. Every nerve in his body screamed at him not to move. One wrong step, one wrong breath, and he knew he would die.
Kaiser: "Y-You… you are the Ageless Brain?"
His voice barely rose above a whisper. Yet the towering entity heard him.
The Ageless Brain: "Yes. Are you here to beg for forgiveness on his behalf?"
Kaiser forced himself to calm his breathing, refusing to meet this creature's gaze.
Kaiser: "I will not beg to a false god. But do not lump me in with the actions of Jerry Windfield. I had nothing to do with this."
The Ageless Brain narrowed his scarlet eyes in quiet contemplation.
Nearby, Jerry scoffed as he watched his severed wrists struggle to regenerate. Thick black liquid bubbled from the stumps, releasing a nauseating sting.
The Ageless Brain: "You are Klydien Kaiser… yes?" His voice was almost thoughtful.
The Ageless Brain: "An exceedingly boorish man. No ambition. No desire. Merely a little mortal pretending to be something greater than he truly is. Such a sad child."
Kaiser scowled, his fists trembling violently.
He was afraid. Terrified.
But remaining silent before this thing… this mockery of a god… that would make him a coward. Kaiser was no coward.
He believed in the Balance—the sincere god who had always rewarded his loyalty and unwavering devotion.
He stepped forward. His heart pounded in his chest.
Kaiser: "You shall not pa—"
Thousands of invisible slashes cleaved straight through his body. His stomach split apart as flesh and bone were shredded in an instant.
Kaiser's body separated cleanly into two halves, both pieces hurled dozens of acres away before crashing violently into a mound of broken rubble.
Jerry's eyes snapped open.
Shock twisted across his face as he watched his longtime companion get erased in a heartbeat.
The Ageless Brain turned his gaze toward him.
The Ageless Brain: "Now then, Jerry Windfield. What shall it be?
Shall I drop your fragile body between these broken hills and crush you beneath the collapsing earth until nothing remains but ash?
Or shall I take your limbs… and stretch them until they finally snap?"
Jerry's hands finally pulled themselves together again, though they were far more mangled than before. Steam drifted from his blackened fingertips.
He stared directly into the Titan's blood-red eyes.
Jerry: "You have no right to punish me. All I did was act to save my people—my family! You're the one at fault for making the Pillar so easy to unlock."
Jerry's eyes suddenly sharpened.
"Tell me something, Titan. Were you the one who planted those hellish visions in my mind? No need to lie. I already know it was you."
The Ageless Brain yawned. Raising one colossal claw, he rubbed the pulsating mass of his exposed brain.
The Ageless Brain: "I believe I have it. The perfect punishment."
Jerry scowled at the Titan's dismissive response.
Jerry: "So now you're going to ignore me?! How childish can you get? I don't care about your punishments! Answer my damn question!"
Jerry's heart beat once. Then stopped. The Titan's enormous face was suddenly inches away from him. His immense scarlet eyes cast a suffocating gloom across the grass fields.
The Ageless Brain: "Or what?"
A faint smile twisted across his vile brain.
The Ageless Brain: "Will you strike me down? You saw what happened to your friend who dared to challenge me. He did not even finish his sentence."
The Titan slowly rose his head, straightening his skeletal neck with a sharp crack.
The Ageless Brain: "Listen carefully. Your punishment has been tailored specifically for you. You will be ridiculed. You will wander places no mortal dares to set foot.
And you will constantly push against the boundary that separates gods from men."
His immense breathing sent waves of wind rolling across the muddy grasslands. He began to walk across the isles as if enjoying a peaceful stroll.
The Ageless Brain: "Sun. Death. Love. Order. Moon. The Five Titans of Creation… and the Balance.
They are all fools who simply happened to be born with overwhelming power. But everyone knows better than to provoke them."
He glanced down at Jerry.
The Ageless Brain: "Imagine the suffering one would face to anger even one of them. Wouldn't that be mad?"
Jerry nearly choked. His knees slammed into the ground. No…
That couldn't be it. Anything but that.
The Ageless Brain: "Your punishment, Jerry Windfield… Is to anger every single one of the Five Titans of Creation. I do not care how."
Jerry's face drained of all color. His ruined fingers trembled violently.
Jerry: "Y-You must be joking… you can't—"
The Ageless Brain laughed. It was a deep, rumbling sound that shook the sky.
The Ageless Brain: "You have two months. If you fail… I will make those visions you were whining about earlier… a reality."
Jerry: "WAIT!"
Snap.
The dark lavender veil covering the isles vanished instantly. The Ageless Brain disappeared. Just like that. The timer had reset. Jerry's mind spiraled as the silence of the ruined battlefield returned.
A punishment befitting a man like Jerry Windfield.
Hours passed. After sitting in silence for what felt like an eternity, Jerry finally stood.
With a dark expression, he summoned thin lunar strings between his fingers. He stopped beside Kaiser's mutilated corpse.
Carefully, Jerry guided the glowing purple threads through the torn flesh and shattered bone, slowly stitching the two halves of Kaiser's body back together.
Kaiser's eyes remained pale and lifeless. Without a word, Jerry lifted the corpse onto his shoulders. He then began walking toward the sandy shores where his fleet waited in the distance.
Above him, dark clouds slowly gathered.
A storm was coming.