Sempiternity (COMPLETED)

VI

The next day was one of a misty chill. The cold came in wordlessly and without considerable fanfare, but it was definitely notable. In the post-Collapse world, unending arid mid temperatures were the exclusive state of most of the planet’s climate, succeeded only by absolute cold with constant snowfall and extreme heat with little populated land. Every one of the bustling Cities that existed across the world were strategically placed in the mid-ranged, unchanging climate zones that gave consistent weather reports every year so as to easily create an agriculture system that would never be under risk of natural sabotage. With so long a time of temperature never changing, the Cities had grown accustomed to never having to change wardrobes or heat a living quarter.

The dropping temperatures were an unprecedented disaster that the city was not prepared for, and it was Arend’s first clue. The second was that the teacher and his Key’s corpse, along with all traces of blood and a struggle, had disappeared the next morning. The final clue was one of less concrete origins, but was a serious concern to him all the same. Ever since Klaytaza had slayed his teacher and deactivated his Key, a sickening sense of concern and pressure weighed down on Arend’s soul. His already dark demeanor continued to grow blacker, and he felt his mental power begin to wane. He knew that the ordeal had only just begun, and that whatever the two of them would have to endure would be a terrible war of colossal proportions.

Whoever would be following his teacher’s footsteps would definitely pose a greater challenge. Now that it was clear that a direct duel would end in Arend’s favor, the rest of his enemies had two logical choices in order to properly seek victory – come at him in a group that he cannot possibly surmount, or lead him into a trap that will hopefully kill him, but at worst distract him while the other pairs started the Thousand Eternal Salvation.

He knew not what this celestial ritual was exactly, nor how it would go about being performed, but there were a few things he could infer from what he had learned. Firstly, the point of the ritual was to cleanse the world of every living thing – a task mostly accomplished by the Collapse – and then to rebuild the world and rekindle all natural life. The part about eradicating humanity as the last living species on the planet were exactly what he wanted, so all he and Klaytaza had to do was sabotage the ritual before it could succeed to the point of rebirthing the world. That would no doubt be easier said than done.

Next, the ritual had been planned since creation began, and this was cemented by the very fact that the Keys – shinra beings, as Klaytaza called them, in stark contrast to the lesser human beings – existed in the world. Finally, the ritual was to happen very soon. This was proven by the very fact that shinra beings besides Klaytaza were beginning to awaken.

Arend didn’t know what exactly caused the shinra beings to awaken, nor how they went about picking their Masters, and Klaytaza was no help in these and other areas of inquiry. It wasn’t that she wasn’t being loyal to him, because he was rigidly sure that she wasn’t even capable of betraying him in any way, but rather that she simply didn’t have the knowledge of these things he asked of her. She spoke as if some knowledge were simple vague memories to her, lost in the endless abyss of time that she had endured. He wasn’t sure if this would have been actually possible, but then again, he was once sure that her existence and those besides her were completely impossible. He had been proven wrong.

Regardless of what he thought of Klaytaza, or just what their Thousand Eternal Annihilation would turn out to be, Arend knew that the immediate future was the one that deserved his attention. It was either that, or be ruthlessly destroyed by the other 997 remaining shinra beings. With Ramayan and his master defeated, it was unlikely that mercy would be given to Arend again.

“They won’t try the one-on-one duel format again. I wouldn’t, anyway, and I doubt that I’m the Master with the most strategic prowess in this whole mess.” His voice was low and muttered, a whisper stolen from his racing mind, but Klaytaza replied to it all the same.