Chapter 888: Chapter 889: Remember Me The sky was now a chaotic storm, rain falling, snow descending, and the sun still blazing hot. The world no longer followed any rules that made sense. God was dead, and with him, order. Before this chaos became familiar, many would die. Even so, life would persist. It was built to do so, even in a broken world. Maybe someday, in a far-off future, a new god would rise and order would be restored. Until then... Damon held the vial, the elixir of pseudo-immortality, in his hands. It had shrunk into a small bottle, glowing and shimmering as he looked down at the battle below. It was over now. Everyone had stopped fighting. They were all staring at the chaos approaching in the distance. The world was folding in on itself. A deadly stream of broken space surged outward in all directions, casting everything it touched into the void. Damon could see it. They would all die with this world. It was ironic, wasn’t it? He glanced at the spear in his hand. In one hand, he held death given physical form. In the other, the elixir he had searched for all these years. He stood at the crossroads of life and death. And yet, he had been given no choice. Sylvia gritted her teeth as she ran up to him. "The gate leading back home is gone. It was on the upper floors of the tower, but it’s been destroyed." She took a deep breath. "Even if we found it, we would be sent back epochs before our time. We... are trapped." Damon was in a daze. Death was coming, yet all his thoughts were driven toward survival. He turned to Sylvia. "Can you gather the parts of the gate? Try to reassemble it before that storm reaches us." She bit her lip, then nodded, leaving him alone. The world was breaking apart. He could see the land being eaten away by the void. Soft footsteps sounded behind him. He didn’t turn around. Damon spoke, his gaze fixed on two children flying on the back of a wyvern-like creature, their eyes locked on him and Lazarak. "You knew this was going to happen, didn’t you." Lazarak was silent for a moment as he limped over. He wore a resigned smile. "I didn’t know how. I just knew it was not your fate to die here today, my friend." Damon smiled softly, a self-deprecating smile. "I knew... I knew from the beginning. I could not escape the hands of fate. Fate is just our choices, but the Unknown God, he takes away all other choices except the one he wants. In the end, he decides..." He sat beside Lazarak, taking in the ambience of annihilation. "The Goddess of Doom or the Unknown God, there is no lesser evil. They are both gods down to their core. And what happens to us lowly mortals? Our choices don’t matter..." He sighed, letting out a small laugh. Lazarak remained quiet as Damon spoke. "I understand now why you fought so hard. You weren’t like me, someone trying to run from the system. You actually tried to fight it." Damon bit his lip, his eyes cold. "He wants me to live? Fine. I will. But I’m breaking out of this whole system. This world has been played by Doom and the Unknown for too long. I’m breaking out of their system." "If I can’t die, then I will end the system that prevents it." Lazarak smiled as he looked at the annihilating storm. "If that’s the case, then you know what you must do." Damon’s eyes watered. His hand trembled. "I... I don’t know if I’m strong enough to do that." Lazarak smiled at him, his long hair falling softly. "I had an epiphany while fighting Seraph Null. Do mortals truly need gods or do gods need mortals?" He placed a hand on Damon’s shoulder. "Even the almighty true gods who claim they don’t need faith still have believers. Even this Unknown God, who doesn’t want to be worshipped, still lives in the hearts of mortals." Damon had told Lazarak many things about the Unknown God. "I am a god, but do I truly live if I am not in the hearts of mortals?" Damon shook his head. "I can’t... I can’t do it." Lazarak shifted slightly, looking at Damon, who remained seated. "You can." Damon looked down. The world felt suddenly silent. He saw people pointing at him or rather, at the elixir in his hand. He saw greed in their faces. All of them. Even as the world was breaking, they still wanted it. Yet Damon couldn’t bring himself to care. His heart felt heavy. A single tear fell. This hurt more than losing his right to die of his own volition. "Will you do this for me," Lazarak whispered. Because he knew there was no other way. And even if Damon resisted, the curse would have forced this choice upon him. This was the only path to survival. "Victory is an endless nightmare, and defeat is the moment of wake." Damon chuckled, tears falling freely. "Damn you, Unknown. Damn you..." Lazarak smiled softly. He raised Damon’s hand and guided it to the spear resting in his lap. Lazarak had forged this spear from a single strand of hair that had fallen from the Goddess of Doom. It was death made physical. A fitting choice. He lifted Damon’s hand and pressed the spear to his own heart. "You know... I was really lonely. All that time alone. I talked to myself so I wouldn’t go mad... but I couldn’t afford to die either." He smiled, pressing the tip into his chest. "But more than anything, I was afraid. I wasn’t a particularly famous god. Not many cared about me. With each day that passed, I was afraid... that I would be forgotten." He stood, forcing Damon to rise with him. "A god is only truly dead when they are forgotten, when they no longer live in anyone’s heart." Damon gritted his teeth, shaking his head. "I can’t..." "Our time together was short, but every moment was worth a lifetime." "Do not think of your life as a curse. Think of it as an opportunity, not to mourn what you’ve lost, but to celebrate what you still have." Damon closed his eyes. His teeth clenched as he pushed the spear forward. He felt it crush through his ribs. The sinking sensation as it pierced Lazarak’s heart. Lazarak fell to his knees, smiling. "I don’t mind being forgotten anymore... but I am still scared no one will remember me. Still, let me give you something to remember me by." A small spark was pulled from his heart. He looked at Damon one last time. Blood flowed along his palms as he reached out, and the tiny spark flew into Damon’s chest. "Remember me, Damon... remember that a small god of darkness like me existed... remember me." Those were the final words of Lazarak, God of Darkness, Peace, Serenity, and Repose. The conclusion of his nightmare. [You have slain Lazarak, God of Darkness] [You have gained Lazarak’s Divine Spark] [Quest: Nightmare of Lazarak] [Completed] [The Unknown God watches]