Tales of Undeath: The Von Virtus Chronicles

XXXIII. The Rending

Disembodied voice: Wake up.

Virno slowly opens his eyes. In front of him was a lake with the same mysterious ruins he had dreamt of before, facing him, tantalizingly beckoning him to enter.

Disembodied voice: Your time is running out.

Try as he did, Virno still could not speak. Black smoke covered his mouth and seemed to clog up his throat. However, he was at least capable of moving his body. He turns his back on the ruins, walking away, entirely unfazed by the curse's attempts to taunt him.

Disembodied voice: Your father is dead. Your family's fortune is gone. What little friends you made have either been injured, poisoned, or both. Who do you think is to blame...? Who do you think is at the centre of all this suffering?

He does his best to ignore it.

Disembodied voice: You are, von Virtus. Perhaps you should follow your father's footsteps and kill yourself. You might just be doing the world a favor...

Virno turns around, performing an obscene gesture towards the ruins.

Disembodied voice: Your mother, the only family you have left, will perish. All your friends will follow suit. The homes you are so desperate to protect will be destroyed. Is all that pain worth this pathetic little attempt to feed your ego...?

Virno looks up towards the skies.

Disembodied voice: You are nothing. Make no mistake... You are as worthless and powerless as anybody else.

With no hesitation, he opens his mouth and shoves his hand down his throat.

Disembodied voice: ... Just as utterly useless as any of them.

He tries to grasp it, but it is slick like an eel. As it dodges around trying to escape his clutches, its movements cause Virno to throw up. He expelled something that resembled tar.

Disembodied voice: Hahahah...

With tears streaming down his face, Virno slumps to his knees as a seemingly unending torrent of tar pours out of his mouth.

Disembodied voice: Tragedy will shape you. Whether you break or bend... That remains to be seen.

Finally, the vomiting stops. Angrily, Virno summons his silver sword. He grabs its hilt with both hands, pointing the tip towards his throat. In one swift, decisive motion, he pierces his neck from end to end. He feels something squirming around inside it, wailing in pain.

Disembodied voice: What are you-

Mustering all his might, he pushes the blade against his skin, slowly decapitating himself. As his neck separates from his body more and more, he catches a glimpse of the creature. Its body was shiny and slimy. It had tens of legs, and a hardened carapace. A giant black centipede seemed to have made its nest inside his throat, and was now dying as it bled out the same tar he was puking earlier.

Disembodied voice: You would sever your own head...?!

Virno finally cuts of the rest of his neck. As he holds his bloody sword in one hand and his decapitated head in another, the centipede crawls out of his throat and falls to the ground, thrashing around frantically. He manages to pierce it through, nailing it to the ground. The creature stops moving shortly after.

Disembodied voice: What a foul being you are...

Virno was now walking towards the ruins, still holding his decapitated head.