There were many ways to boost a witch, but few ways that the witch survived. The research was agonizingly slow. Every passing second brought you closer to the battles you had to face.
Kid was trying his best to be of help but in reality, he was barely any help.
"I don't know if there's anything useful here." You sighed, closing another book.
"I need to attend the General summit y.n . Will you be okay in here by yourself?" Kid stretched before looking at you with worried eyes.
"Yeah, I'll be okay. Go on you don't wanna be late."
You waved as Kid shut the door behind him. It was just you and the endless library now.
Who knew how long Kid would be gone for?

You decided to give your brain a rest from reading and explore the library. You'd only seen a little bit of it after all and wanted to familiarize yourself with all the ancient books.
The wooden shelves stretched to the ceiling, storing all sorts of books and ancient scripts. Even though it was such a ginormous library with millions of books, there was no speck of dust to be seen. You listened to your footsteps echo on the black stone floors as you wandered through isles and isles of books. Reality seemed shifted and twisted in there. Time felt inside out, destiny moving backward.

Come to me

A deep voice echoed through the empty halls.
"Hello?" You called out.

Come to me

The voice repeated.
"I don't know where you are!!"
And suddenly every torch and chandelier went out. You panicked and summoned an orb of light, frantically looking around.

One needn't light whilst on the path of darkness...

You hesitated for a moment before making the magical orb of light disappear and squinted to see. As your eyes adjusted to the darkness that swallowed the whole library, a black void of emptiness caught your attention. You walked over and saw a book so dark it was as if a black hole had formed.

You've found me.

The voice echoed. You reached and grabbed the book, hesitating to open it.

Fear nothing but yourself, godhunter.

You opened the book and ancient scripts poured out, crawling up your arms and into your heart and mind. The inky texts on the book vanishing one by one.
"What have you done to me?" You choked.

Given back what's rightfully yours, godhunter, the last of the First.

"What does that even mean???" You panted. The air felt thick and heavy, your lungs crushed under the pressure.
The voice didn't answer and the lights suddenly came back on. The pressure was suddenly lifted as you fell on the ground, coughing and wheezing for air.
The book you held turned into a pile of ink, going up your arm and taking the form of the book as a tattoo.
You were confused, your body and head hurt and your brain was fogged, so you dragged yourself to the closest chair and passed out on it.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

I'm scared of what's inside my head
What's inside my soul
I feel like I'm running
But getting nowhere
Fear is suffocating me
I can't breathe
I feel like I'm drowning
I'm sinking deeper

You looked around, you were back at your old house. The sound of your parent's chattering came from the living room.
"Mom? Dad?" You grinned, running over. They were sitting on the couch like they always did. Your heart beat faster as you reached out but jumped back when they turned their half-burned, skeleton heads.
"This is your fault!" Your father's distorted voice echoed as the house was suddenly engulfed in flames.
"I didn't mean to!" You sobbed. It was the same old nightmare.
"Then die to prove it!" Your mother threw a dagger at you. You shut your eyes waiting for it to hit, like it always did. Every time you'd die in your dream then wake up.
But this time it didn't. You opened your eyes and saw the dagger floating in front of you. Looking around you noticed that everything is slowed, time almost at a complete stop.

White light fades to red
As I enter the City of the Dead

A trail of black smoke made a path through the blazing fire, leading upstairs. You mindlessly followed it upstairs. It was going through a wall that should have lead outside.
"There's nothing behind this!" You gritted your teeth and touched the wall, letting out a surprised gasp as you fell through into an old hidden room.
The walls were full of maps, weapons, magical herbs, and old texts.
You wondered if this was always in the mansion as you examined the old room.
You wiped the dust off the paper the black smoke was pointing to and read it out loud

Rex tremendae majestatis
Qui salvandos salvas gratis
Salve me, Fons Pietatis
Salve me, Fons Pietatis
Rex tremendae majestatis
Qui salvandos salvas gratis
Salve me, Fons Pietatis
Salve me, Fons Pietatis

The ground disappeared and the room shifted as you fell into the abyss.
You hit a body of liquid and struggled to stay on the surface. It felt thicker than water and smelled like iron, but you couldn't see anything.
You let out a cry as skeletal hands grabbed at your feet, pulling you under.

I feel it burning through my veins
It's driving me insane
The fever is rising
I'm going under
Memories flash before my eyes
I'm losing time
The poison is killing me, taking over

You knew exactly what the mysterious liquid was now as some went down your throat. You were in a sea of blood. The hands pulled you further down the more you struggled to go up.

Let them take you home

You heard the familiar voice and closed your eyes, letting go as they dragged you to the bottom.

Rex tremendae majestatis
Qui salvandos salvas gratis
Salve me, Fons Pietatis
Salve me, Fons Pietatis
Rex tremendae majestatis
Qui salvandos salvas gratis
Salve me, Fons Pietatis
Salve me, Fons Pietatis

Suddenly you could breathe again. You opened your eyes and saw the blood-red sky above. The red sky was the bloody ocean you were in just now. Looking at your feet you saw piles and piles of charred skeletons under your feet.

Welcome home

"What do you mean? This isn't home!"

Oh but it is. Sit upon your throne of bones, godhunter. Absorb the power of the gods you've slain.

You looked ahead, seeing a grand throne made of skulls at the end of the bone path. A black crown resting upon it. You carefully walked over and picked up the crown. It had your name carved into its inner side.
"What is the meaning of this?" You questioned.

The last surviving godhunter, forged in hellfire, born of Death. Claim your throne and claim your rightful powers.

You sighed and plopped down on the throne, examining the crown before putting it on.

Quantus tremor est futurus
Quando Judex est venturus
Quantus tremor est futurus
Quando Judex est venturus
Damnata, invisus, ubique
Ab omnibus, ad infinitum

You could feel unknown power bubbling up in your blood as you permanently changed. The thorny crown digging into your flesh as crimson blood poured down your face.
Suddenly everything made sense to you. The last piece of the puzzle was in place.

Rex tremendae majestatis
Qui salvandos salvas gratis
Salve me, Fons Pietatis
Salve me, Fons Pietatis
Rex tremendae majestatis
Qui salvandos salvas gratis
Salve me, Fons Pietatis
Salve me, Fons Pietatis
Rex tremendae majestatis
Qui salvandos salvas gratis
Salve me, Fons Pietatis
Salve me, Fons Pietatis

Do you understand now, godhunter?

Î̷̻̥͕̪̌͂̅͝ ̵̹̖͍̄̉̔͛ḍ̶̞̆͘o̵͕̫̘̹͈̐̑̾

◦◦,'°.✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽.°',◦◦

Hello my Smilies , I'm back with another chapter from the depths of hell.
I appreciate every read, vote, and comment.

Smiles,

Donquixote_Joker 🃏