Gods Can Fail (Book 1)

Chapter 34 - Metamorphosis

Lazrael was standing inside the secret laboratory room of the royal palace, observing Bakabali suspended within the green liquid of the tube.

"I see. The time has come," he said to himself as, in a peculiar manner, his body warped into a cascade of fallen skin.

All his bones and organs vanished, leaving behind a skin shell with blood oozing beneath, flowing down the discarded skin like a carpet layer that no one cared about.

"My son?" Igorus uttered in a reaction that conveyed everything and nothing at the same time. It was as if the world had crumbled just from these words. As if everything he believed in until now had no meaning anymore.

"If you want to stop this inevitable war, one way to avoid it is by considering extremely drastic measures. I understand very well from the way you've reacted. You've already lost a family member; you don't want to lose another," said Alfons.

"Wh- how do you kn-"

"I understand from the way others speak. I've lived for so long that these things seem very clear to me. The loss of someone hurts more than your own loss. A physical death causes an internal death. It would be better if there were no more deaths. Perhaps, the 12th Kindu is the Kindu of death..."

Igorus looked at him with a gaze that seemed like he didn't want to believe anything anymore.

"It's a hypothesis, of course. Only death begets evil, brings negativity, war. The 12th Kindu herself personifies evil. The purest form of evil that no one wants to see and experience," said Alfons.

"You told me I could kill my son, and now you fill me with stupid fucking nonsense?!" shouted angrily Igorus..

"It's an option; it doesn't mean you have to do it because you shouldn't," said Alfons.

"What?"

"The primary concern for you is the eradication of the angels. Focus solely on that. The possibility that you wouldn't normally consider, I said it assuming I am in the angels' perspective. You can be a general, Igorus, but from what I see, emotions are taking over faster than they should," said Alfons.

"As if I don't know something—"

"Exactly. To succeed in war, you must think like yourself and like the enemy. Otherwise, you are lost. You are not dealing with opponents who give you a fair fight, and that has made these things not make sense to you, Igorus. You are naive..."

Igorus didn't know how to react, struck by the blows that Alfons delivered through his words.

"The good news is that the plan of the 12th Kindu takes years to unfold. This time, she plans to erase all the gods on this island and perhaps the mortals as well. To be at the center of attention. As for the matter of the mortals, I'm not sure. As I mentioned earlier, she created angels and dominions. Demons were simply formed from the inertia of the death of angels. The question will arise for you: why do I exist? Why do the gods exist?"

Igorus listened attentively to Alfons, having shifted his mind from the reprimands he received just moments ago.

"She wants to feed," Alfons said.

"To feed?" Igorus asked, confused.

"To defeat Edinborghia and feed on the blood of the gods. With their flesh. She knew her plan would take hundreds of years, so she created food reserves for the apostates in case this delay occurred. I see you have many questions; it seems evident from the expression on your face. The 12th Kindu had to scatter her soul into hundreds of fragments across the world. You might have heard of the woman dressed in a red dress, yellow hair, and a face that shows no features, as if it's just a skin shell hiding an absurd negativity for this world," Alfons explained.