Mãi bên cạnh Người (Always by your side)

4. Endgame

Summary:
To the islanders, he is a spiritual support, a special friend and irreplaceable person.
However, to the demons from the Abyssal Zone, he IS their demon.

Notes:
A little note, that this chapter is written from the PoV of Sea Beasts legion's leader in the previous chapter.

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They were born from the darkest crevices of the great ocean, where neither the Holy Light of the Gods, nor the blue sky of Athanor, can had a chance to reach and bring the warmth of life.

For thousands of years, since the days when the Lokheim Invasion was still a far-fetched nightmare, they have always been alone, engulfed in darkness, pressure, and cold. Silently suffering, they sharpened their claws day by day, waited for an opportunity to ride the vanguard of the greatest conquests, and manually drown out the light of happiness that will never belong to them.

Patient, endurant, deadly, endurant, are the most perfect adjectives to describe these oceanic rulers. The cold cut deep into the tempered flesh, making the scales impenetrable, unable to be penetrated easily by mere swords. The oppressive pressure of the ocean bed forced their skeletons to become the foundation of a mobile fortress that could blatantly withstand even the tremors of huge ocean waves. Scarce resources teach them about the harshness of this world, sent them on an endless hunt and an endless cycle of killing, so they can either adapt and become grand, or die and become nothing. Eternal darkness, seemed lasting endlessly, corrupted their pure wildness into something far worse.

They weren't creations of Black Magic, nor were they really demons born from Lokheim. Just sea creatures pushed to the edge of reason by the loneliness of death. And here, they looked directly at it.

They... are Sea Beasts from the Abyssal Zone. (1)

Born from where old death reigns.

Struggle in pain, fighting, hurting each other. Raise screams no one can hear, to deny death itself. To be able to exist.

Then, in the end, to return to become the , thorny, and dark creature that symbolizes it, to stretch out its fangs towards life, as a resentful challenge, and a rejection to be compatible.

Because no matter how pitiful, life and death are always at odds, as a law of creation. And whether they really wanted it or not, they made their own choices.

...However, even the bravest and most insane of them all, always carried with them an indelible emotion in the face of the corruption of darkness. Which is already part of the driving force, so that they can turn towards the light. Also embodies growth, so that they continue to evolve stronger, and continue the hunt and destroy all seeds of life:

Curious.

And, as if to satisfy the conquerors, wordless stories began to spread through the bubbles.

Of an existence deeper than their home. The land, which after the death, their left part will be brought back to it by the ocean, whether it is the lost soul or remain body. And, there, for the first time in their lives, life will be theirs, and the vicious cycle of killing will never be able to touch them again. It's still the same darkness that goes on forever, but not to hurt, just an eternal rest and stop hurting each other.

That place, called the Hadal Zone, (2) the world under the death.

But the story doesn't stop there, because unlike them, the inhabitants of that dead land are all monstrous existence.