1 Edric Averus [Prologue]

"What do you desire? How much would you give to have it? These very questions are what fuel intelligent life. In order to strive for something, there must be a want for it first. Nothing can claim to be alive if it has no goals or desires." - Edric Averus

**

"Edric, you don't- you don't have to do this, stop this madness," an older woman begged, her voice a near whisper as she sobbed in between sentences.

"You're right, I don't have to do this, I want to," an older gentleman replied. He was dressed in an expensive-looking suit, and though he was currently setting up a bomb on a nearby pillar he had an oddly peaceful look on his face.

"Edric, please, we-we're sorry," the older woman added, her voice louder this time.

For a moment, Edric's expression went sour, though he quickly went back to his peaceful demeanour. Nothing would ruin this important day, not even the wails of his cheating and lying ex-wife.

"If you were really sorry, you would've at least left some of the money in my offshore bank accounts. But you took even that, not even a penny left for something to eat," Edric replied, his tone casual as he walked to yet another pillar.

"Excuse me," he whispered, as he gently moved the body of one of the other victims he had tied up.

This one was his son, the ungrateful brat who had probably been happy to betray him.

~And you couldn't even do that right,~ Edric thought to himself in disappointment, before beginning to set up another c4-device on the pillar.

"Money? That's why you're doing this? We'll give you as much money as you want, just let us go," the older woman replied. Her crying had suddenly stopped, and her once-whispered voice was now an angered shout.

Edric stopped what he was doing for a moment, and fixed one of the black leather gloves he was wearing; Lalth Raurent, it felt good to wear this level of luxury again.

"So what, you're going to give me back all my money? You already lost 4 billion in the last quarter, and that's not counting all the shares you liquidated to fund your stupid shopping sprees," Edric replied, his voice not betraying much emotion.

He was past emotion now. If this was still the first year after their betrayal perhaps he would've been screaming at her right now. But no, to him this was now nothing more than a business transaction, a promise kept to deliver a service... and what may that service be?

Revenge.

"What's a measly 4 billion? Would you really wipe out your entire family for just 4 billion? If you won't stop this for me, do it for Clara, what did she do to deserve this?" the older woman asked, her tone now spiteful.

One would think that in this situation captives would be a little more careful with the way they spoke. However, this was the reality of the type of life Edric's wife had lived until this point—a spoiled brat who had never grown up. 

~I wonder what I ever saw in her?~ Edric thought to himself before turning to the girl named Clara... his daughter.

Despite how innocent she looked, she was the mastermind behind all this. Unlike her older brother, she had inherited Edric's intelligence, though sadly that was tainted by everything else she had inherited from her mother.

"I took out your gag so you could say your peace, Barbra. Pray to your god so that he can forgive you for your sins. I'm giving you that much at least," Edric replied, before going back to his work.

He never was the religious type, though he had spent much of the past year praying. Praying that this day might come to pass... praying that god, or whoever was up there might serve him his enemies on a silver platter. 

As expected though, god didn't reply, and much like everything else he got in this world, he had to grab it for himself.

"Edric... listen, I-I didn't want to do this. They made me... he made me, I loved you. I told them to stop, they wouldn't listen. They threatened to kill me if I didn't go along," the older woman said, her tone suddenly shifting once again.

At this point, Edric had already set up the last c4-device on this floor. He took a moment to look out the window, though from this height there wasn't much he could see on the surface.

"And who exactly is this... he, you're talking about," Edric asked, not sparing even a moment to look at who she was blaming.

It could've been any one of the tied-up men in the room. Was it business partner, Luis, who he had grown up with? His brother, Andre, who always wanted more than he deserved? Or maybe it was the several other board members Edric had tied up.

It didn't matter really, all of them had played a part in his downfall, one way or the other.

"Don't answer that Barbra, it's time," Edric sighed, before moving to remove the mouth restraints from everyone else in the room.

As he ungagged them, they began a chorus of despair; some begging for their lives, some throwing insults at Edric, and others praying to their gods.

"You filthy greedy bastard, why couldn't you just stay dead? The world would've been a better place without you," Barbra shouted, before spitting on Edric's shoes.

"Ladies and Gentle, today we are gathered here to witness history," Edric recited, like he had done for many nights before.

"We are gathered here to witness my greatest creation... torn to the ground. We are here to witness the fall of Averus Industries, and the end of an era," he continued.

Though it seemed over the top to give a speech right before killing so many people, he felt that his life's work deserved at least this much. The five long decades of slaving deserved at least a little speech before he could lay it to rest.

"If there ever was a peak to be reached by humanity, this building would've been the one to facilitate it," Edric continued. The screams of everyone around him only got worse the more he spoke, however, it was easy to shut them out. 

"Luiz remember when I asked for the tower to be built," Edric asked, a smile on his face as his eyes stared into nothing.

"I asked them if we could make it touch the heavens. I told them I wanted to speak with god when I was on the top floor," Edric laughed, before fishing into his pockets for a remote.

"They couldn't do it, but 400 floors was still pretty impressive don't you think?" he asked, now looking at Luiz.

"To my greatest love, the tower of Babel, I give you rest," Edric whispered, before clicking the button.

"See you all in hell," he added, right as the building was engulfed by flames.

The last thing he remembered was a sense of achievement washing over him, even as glass and other particles tore through his body.

His family had taken everything from him, and left him for dead, however in doing so they had granted him a gift. They had granted the greatest gift they could've possibly given to the man who had everything.

They gave him a reason to continue living.

*