4 Trial of Pain

Orion was no longer in the throne room.

He found himself pinned to the grass.

His eyes focused on the beautiful shining star, who warmed the flat landscape filled with gigantic corpses — creating a river of... Essence?

Strange creatures resembling birds flew under the sky, acting as clouds that blocked all sunlight. However, they were still. The same as the other beings fighting each other far from him. They were quiet and unmoving.

It was as if time had stopped.

Suddenly, something bit his shoulder and pulled from it. The birds moved. The blood flowed. 

Battle reigned. 

Orion's eyes widened as he screamed — feeling a chunk of his arm stripped from him.

Next, he felt a tug in his left thigh. Then, in his waist. Then, his entire left hand was gone, and a bloody stump remained.

Essence and blood flew everywhere, splashing Orion's face.

The boy screamed even louder. His eyes frankly moved around as he thought,

'What? Am I going to die? Me?! Die?! No… I refuse!'

Feeling a burning rage building up in his chest, Orion pushed his remaining hand on the ground and sat up. 

Whatever was biting him backed away, not expecting him to get up.

Orion stood on his feet, his eyes locked on a curved blade inside a Wraith's body — a mix of a wolf and a serpent. 

A scimitar.

That worked for him. 

Orion grasped it with his hand and turned around. There, he found an army.

Or at least the remains of it. Made entirely of half-lings between a wolf's head and a snake body — the scales serve as durable armor. 

'At least five… no, six dozens.'

As Orion analyzed the Wraiths around him, they opted to slowly walk back — wary of the being in front of them. The boy looked at his body and chuckled.

Both sensation and view were nostalgic.

Hadn't he been in this exact state mere minutes before? How amusing.

But Orion was no foreigner to pain.

"Hahaha…" His voice sounded foreign. 

It was too deep to be his. He was shaken for an instant. But he gave no importance to it. 

Currently, his objective was to survive.

"Do you think this pain is unknown to me?" His mouth moved on his own. "You pathetic inferior beings."

The Wraiths took a step back after they realized their mistake.

"Spades do not know what pain is. You only think with your stomach, not your mind. How would you know how it feels to die," he stared at the sky and exhaled.

The serpents slid an inch back, clearly understanding Orion's words. The boy looked at the Wraiths and said,

"Let me teach you what you taught me all these years. Let me show you true pain."

Orion's body began heating up. More specifically, his heart began to pump faster. His muscles felt invigorated, his bones indestructible.

He felt as if he could tackle the world. The army in front of him couldn't shake his confidence. If he were to go against those Wraiths right now…

He'd win.

Orion regained control of his body, and without thinking twice, he dashed forward.

The Wraiths were taken aback by the speed at which Orion charged at them. Using the moment of shock, the boy brought the weapon down and cut a Wraith's head in half.

Essence poured to the ground.

And he locked eyes with the rest of Spades.

They lunged at Orion the next moment.

The first one leaped at him, jaws snapping, and Orion sidestepped smoothly. The scimitar sliced through the air, severing the wolf's neck.

As the other Wraiths closed in, Orion spun, using the momentum to parry a strike from another. 

The scimitar met with the armored scales, sparks flying as he defended himself from the relentless assault.

'Is this… me?'

For a moment, Orion's body and mind clashed. But he had no time for distractions.

A Wraith attacked, but Orion avoided it, responding with a swift counter. His eyes blazed with determination, his body moving as an extension of the weapon he wielded.

'My body feels so different.'

His body and mind clashed again.

Orion's strikes became a blur as he slashed through the Wraiths with precision and raw power. One by one, the Spades fell to the relentless assault. 

The battlefield became a painting of chaos and anguished hisses of the dying Wraiths.

'I feel different.'

They clashed once again. 

But this time, Orion's forehead ached, forcing him to clutch it in pain. The sting was far worse than any wound he had received in his entire life.

A large Spade adorned with ornate scales attempted a desperate strike from behind. 

Orion sensed the danger and turned, meeting the attack with a perfect parry. 

He struck again, slicing through the armored scales and ending the creature's existence with a swift, decisive blow.

'Is this my body? My movements? No, these are… weird. They are mine, but they are from others as well. Agh, get out of me!'

Orion clutched his head and screamed at the ground, not knowing what was happening. Two different bodies seemed to act as one.

Both bodies were clashing for control. And the mind couldn't comprehend what was happening inside of it.

But who was who?

Who was Orion?

The last of the Spades faced Orion, trembling in fear. 

The boy approached it with a pained expression; his wounds healed from the Essence collected. 

He raised the scimitar — its blade stained with Essence — and with a final swing, Orion ended the last Wraith.

His battle fell silent — others raging — while the river of blood reflected the star's glow. 

Orion stood amidst the carnage.

'Am I alright?'

Dropping the scimitar to the ground, he touched his body.

It felt normal.

There was no change whatsoever.

'I swore that… No, that body wasn't mine. But my body is right here. This is my body, right? I-I… what am I?'

However, Orion felt as if someone was tampering with it. Grabbing pieces of his body and using it.

For what reason? He didn't know and wished to have an answer.

His movements were new. He had never moved with such agility and precision at any time. But there was also a hint of brutality.

A drop of unchained viciousness in each attack.

'I felt… enraged? No. No, it was more like a cold-blooded clarity and an uncontrollable frenzy. One side tried to remain rational while the other tried to let go of the leash.'

Orion took a deep breath,

'I felt powerful as well. Invincible. Touching that sword gave me a confidence I'd never had before. I… always knew how to use it? It felt as if I grew with it.'

He simply couldn't understand the emotions he felt while fighting.

He felt himself drowning in an ocean of power. The current dragged him down and down, threatening to drown him.

But at the same time, something was acting as a lifeline.

Something prevented him from losing consciousness and remaining awake for as long as needed. 

Like a tamed beast.

'A… beast. That's right. A fully aware beast.'

Orion knew it better than anyone.

You had to be a beast to survive inside the Wraith realm.

…

"Agh!"

A pressure forced Orion to fall to his knees, and the moment they touched the ground, the environment changed.

He was no longer in the battle. He was no longer in the same landscape as before.

The rivers of Essence disappeared. The corpses disappeared. The intoxicating smell vanished.

Instead, he was inside the throne room. His left chest was now cracked and showed his beating heart. 

Heavily breathing, Orion looked up.

He found the red male taking a step back toward his previous position. His arms were restrained as well.

After some seconds of silence, the red male spoke.

"Good," Orion's eyes widened as he recognized the voice. The familiar deep one. "Your body is well-attuned to mine. It offered no resistance to integrating it. That is one less problem."

It was the voice of the Vow Wraith.

'What did he say? Well-attuned?'

Orion tried to talk, but he felt tired beyond belief. Even breathing felt like a chore. It was as if his energy was stripped from him.

Suddenly, a bow's string tensed. Orion lifted his eyes and found the yellow female pointing a marvelous-crafted arrow at him.

They locked eyes for an instant. And the female didn't hesitate.

She let go of the string.

The arrow flew.

And buried itself deep into Orion's head. 

A voice echoed,

"Trial of Diamonds."