Soon, Rory met up with the group. "Babe, your back! Thank god, how's everything? Do you need anything!?" Rory said panicking, "Hehe, the baby isn't born yet, Rory. You can panic when we can actually see Rio." Kiara said.
"Hah... Right. So, what's going on?" She asked, "Uh, yeah... You see babe, about that."
Belial continued to hopelessly dodge Gigantomachia's insane attacks, his willpower waning significantly. "How long am I going to have to run away from this guy!?" Belial thought. Machia didn't slow down, eat or sleep, hell, he didn't even get tired! "So how am I going to make him submit!?" Belial thought, grinding his teeth. "How am I going to avoid my own death!?" Belial yelled out.
"I can't even scratch this guy... And when I can, I can barely see it before he regenerates. What kind of hopeless situation did the previous God-King hope to put me in...?" Belial said to himself, attempting once more to hide from the brutal assaults of Gigantomachia. He could hear the giant's footsteps, he could feel him getting closer, and by default, he could feel himself getting closer to death.
"I don't want to die..." Belial thought to himself.
"Of course I don't want to die. Everybody says that in their last moments, even if they don't know it. It's not like this will affect my true form... I'll simply reform a few hundred years from now. Hell, I can just replace my mind since this won't even physically kill me..." Belial thought.
"But if I lose here... I feel like I'd be giving up on my ideals." Belial said to himself, "I can't give up yet... I can't be tied down...!" Gigantomachia eventually found Belial, violently launching attacks towards him. He shot fire from his breath that moved at unfathomable speeds, forcing Belial to push his body to the limit over and over again just to stay alive.
"Slowly but surely... You get faster. You get stronger."
Gigantomachia was slightly enamored by Belial's sudden growth... It may have just been a few hours to a day on the outside, but for Belial and Machia, it felt like years had gone by. It felt like centuries were going by in the blink of an eye in Belial's mind.
"But it isn't enough!"
Machia raised his fists into the air and smashed them into the ground, generating an enormous shockwave that blew Belial back and caused him to cough up blood. He gritted his teeth, "DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT IT ISN'T ENOUGH!?!"
Belial summoned an enormous tidal wave of shadows, crashing it into Gigantomachia in an attempt to stagger him. "I KNOW THAT WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR IS UNREALISTIC! SORTING OUT THE WEAK TO MAKE WAY FOR THE STRONG!? I'M SMART ENOUGH TO TELL YOU I CAN'T ACHIEVE THAT!!" He yelled out.
Gigantomachia was unaffected by Belial's attempts to stagger him and simply charged forward, faster than before. "I can only HOPE! This is the only way I know how to preserve the peace! We need stronger people, more resilient people, who can take care of themselves! And with my idea we can achieve that in 15 years with no unnecessary casualties!" He yelled out to Machia.
"Then why have you yet to steel your resolve!?"
Belial's eyes widened, "My resolve is steeled. I won't let anybody get in my way... Not David, not Yharon, Not Shalor... And not Rory." Belial said, creating an enormous amount of shadow projectiles that he would use to distract Machina. "I'm going to grasp my ideal!"
"Is the face you wear the face of somebody who is adamant!?"
Belial was confused, "What the hell are you talking about-" Belial could feel it. His face was contorted with sadness and pain. Internally, he knew it. His ideal would hurt the people that he loved. "No... I am resolved to do this."
"You hold yourself back! Do you truly believe those people will be around to love you forever? Do you believe YOU will be around to love THEM forever!?"
Belial froze up, "Just shut the **** up, servant." Belial said as Machina plowed through his projectiles, "JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!" He yelled out once more, his voice filled with anger and rage towards Gigantomachia. He fruitlessly jumped forward, delivering a punch to the face of the giant, which ironically broke Belial's fist instead of harming Machina's face. "Shit...!" Machia breathed a bit, knocking Belial away.
"A true ruler is not tied down by the cries of the masses, or the criticisms of the opposition. A true king will press on in his endeavors, and whether or not others agree with that is irrelevant. Thus, you are not my master. You are a fraud tied down by his emotions, and that will be your undoing."
Belial writhed in pain on the ground, coughing up blood. "I can't accept this... I won't accept this! I won't allow myself to lose once again, I already gave up once before!" But that time, he was malicious. This time, he desired peace. He desired love. "I cannot allow myself... To lose...!" He grabbed onto a nearby rock, forcing himself up. "I want..."
He wanted to see Shalor once more. "I want to look at him. I want to hug him, and feel his embrace again..." Belial thought to himself. "Because I know that he could never condemn me. Or hate me. I love him because I know..." Belial's body violently quaked as he coughed up blood, forming a broken fist in his hand.
"I know that... He.. Would n-never... abandon me..." Belial said out loud, walking forward slowly to Gigantomachia. "And so I can't abandon him..." He slowly punched Gigantomachia, his hands breaking with each attack.
"I can't abandon Rory... Or Kiara... Or Gabriel... Or Shalor... Or any of the people that I love. That I know would never leave me to die. That I know would never hate me... That I know love me dearly." Gigantomachia lowered himself, picking up Belial by the arm.
"And that is exactly what ties you down."
Belial coughed up blood, choking a bit. "I can't help but love them..." He said to Gigantomachia, "So call me a fake. Call me weak, or tied down. I can't keep a straight face or a steeled will when I know this is what I want..." Belial said, blood pouring from multiple orifices on his body.
"If that is it, then tell me. Have you ever actually considered what you want, boy?"
Belial answered immediately, "What kind of dumb question is that...? Of course, I've considered what I want. I always do." That was something that he knew, sure, he had some arguments from time to time with others about what he wanted, but he always considered it.
"If that is the case, why do you hesitate!? If you know what you want, then grasp for it with all your might! You are tied down by the opinions of those who should not get in the way of your true want! You are meant to be KING! NOT A CHILD! WHY DO YOU DEPEND ON SUCH FEELINGS? TELL ME!"
Gigantomachia threw Belial across the area, "Why do I depend on them...?" He thought to himself. "Because they're all that I have left..." He crashed into a mountain, regenerating at an extremely slow pace.
"YOU WILL GAIN SOMETHING NEW THROUGH FREEDOM! BECOME FREE!"
Belial slowly got up, using his telekinesis to forcefully move his body. "I wrote a note to Shalor a few years ago... In case I wouldn't be able to tell him how I felt." Machia dashed forward, delivering a punch to Belial which he barely dodged once more, pulverizing the mountain.
"
Dear Shalor... I'm sorry that I can't tell you this face to face. It's just too embarrassing." Machina let out a loud howl, creating shockwaves that tore away at Belial's skin and flesh.
"
I love you. I love you a lot. You've always been there for me." Belial slowly regenerated, falling back down to Machina as he summoned a large ax made of shadows, attempting to cut the giant in half to no avail.
"
All I can say is thank you for being there for me. For letting me know that you actually care." Machia reflected the attack back, causing the ax to fly into Belial's torso, cutting it open. "
I hope you never read this letter."
Belial's eyes rolled into the back of his head, "I always wanted to live in a world where I can be free..." He thought to himself. "I always wanted to live in a world where I didn't have to make this decision..." He could feel his body and mind slowly slipping away.
"Why do I always think about what others will think...?" He thought to himself. "If I try to save the many, I would be hated for killing the few. If I saved the few, I would be loved for killing the many because I saved the few..." He thought.
"Why do I have to be tied down by the suffering of others when I should be looking at the bigger picture?! 15 years... 15 years is all that it's going to take. 15 years of suffering... For an eternity of paradise. I'll be yelled at, persecuted, given hero speeches... But what does that matter...!?" Belial could feel his morale slowly returning to him.
"I can feel it. I can feel that my
DREAM is getting closer."
On the outside of Belial's mind, in the lab, Ashenheart was astonished. "
He isn't writhing in pain anymore...? Lisa, I want a status! Hurry up!" He yelled at his assistant, to which she nodded.
"Sir, we are at
40 Percent assimilation." Ashenheart spit out his coffee, "
THAT FAR! I thought it'd take one more day to get 40 Percent... He's growing at such an alarming rate, and his soul is glowing brighter than ever on the monitor." Ashenheart thought.
"Gigantomachia..." Belial said, flying as his wounds began to heal at an even faster pace. "You were right. The feelings and judgments of the others were tying me down to this body. To this weakness." Belial said.
"I love them. More than anything in this world, even. I love them more than my worthless self... But I don't need that." He said, Machia not even moving as Belial floated in the air. "This pain..."
"This regret, this confusion, this happiness, this disgust, and this love that I feel right now... It all culminates into my memories of the people I love and care about." It was as if a snowglobe that contained Belial's memories had formed within his hand. "All of these memories and feelings...!" And thus...
He crushed it.
"These memories are of no more use to me!"
"So let me get this straight... My son is somehow going to become evil again? No, not my son... OUR son, Kiara?" Rory asked, confused. "That doesn't make even a lick of sense, honey..."
