A runic barrier.
That was what stood in front of White, the golden runes on the barrier reflecting deep within his ringed white eyes.
He couldn’t see what was beyond the barrier, but he could sense the dangerous aura lingering around it, one that held an intent that would have pushed anyone away from it, but not White.
One of his hands reached out from within the robe, landing softly against the glass barrier.
The golden runes all over the barrier quickly gathered at the point of contact, piercing golden light forming, as the sound of sizzling rang in the air, all to make the hand back off, but it was a futile endeavour.
CRAAACK!
The sound of cracking filled the air as he gradually exerted more strength, pushing the barrier closer to its limit.
CRAAACK!
SHATTTTER!
A louder crack followed by the sound of shattering rang out all of a sudden as all of it came falling to the ground.
The fragments never reached the Earth, for the moment they broke free from the barrier, darkness seeped into every crack running across them.
The once radiant golden runes flickering violently as they struggled to maintain their glow before they were swallowed whole, and one after another, the fragments dissolved into black ash until nothing remained.
Quietly, White took back his hand, and then,
VROOOOOOOOM!
A wave of air hit him next, sending his hair flying, followed by a sweet smell.
He looked forward and found that beyond the now shattered barrier lay a garden filled with almost every color on Earth, the countless flowers swaying gently beneath the breeze.
And at the center of it all was a simple hut-like building, its roof made of golden straw and its walls a gentle shade of blue.
White stepped into the garden, the flowers brushing against his dark robe, but the moment they touched it, they lost their beautiful colours, turning pitch black before fading away into ashes.
And the darkness never stopped, but continued through the rest of the flowers, all of them turning to ashes on after another.
It continued, reaching deep beneath the soil where the roots blackened and withered away, while the vibrant grass collapsed into dust beneath it.
The ancient trees surrounding the cottage shed every leaf they possessed before their trunks cracked apart from within, the life hidden inside them extinguished in complete silence.
Even the insects concealed amongst the flowers disappeared with there being neither a scream nor a struggle, only an overwhelming absence of life as though everything living had simply been denied the right to continue existing.
Birdsong that had quietly echoed throughout the garden moments ago had long since fallen silent.
Tiny creatures hidden within the branches vanished without leaving so much as a feather or a corpse behind, while the last traces of fragrance carried by the flowers dissolved into an empty scentless air.
Nothing remained untouched by the darkness, even as it spread without violence or haste, and by the time White was about ten meters away from the cottage, the beautiful garden was long gone, replaced by barren land where even the breeze refused to blow.
"Come out."
He spoke calmly, but his voice carried through even in the absence of the wind.
There was a moment of silence, before
CLINCK!
The sound of the door unlocking rang out and quietly, the door opened.
Porcelain, milky-white feet, hidden beneath a golden gown, were the first to be seen, followed by her:
Golden hair, golden eyes, slightly longer golden nails, and an unmistakable golden crown.
She seemed a golden incarnate, radiating an incredible, almost celestial aura, but White’s eyes bore no change, neither did his expression.
He had witnessed the memories of close to a thousand Umbrawyric Kings and laid his eyes upon the most beautiful sights from countless ancient eras.
Beauty was no longer something capable of stirring his heart, and the only realization he had upon seeing her was that she was the last Alphanomalous Creature he could still sense on Earth.
And as much as it seemed unusual, beneath all the celestial aura, what White could sense was a brutish aura.
One that was unique to a particular type of Supernatural: Werewolves.
"I’ve heard once that the Werewolves possess not one, but two Primordial Wolves."
White stated with slightly creased brows.
He could still remember, even if it had been almost 19 years now.
The talk of a Primordial Werewolf being born after the death of another, but then, a Primordial Werewolf appeared even while the old one was still alive, creating some sort of division between the Werewolves.
[A/N: This is at Chapter 138, Into an Alpha Lair.]
"You must be the Old Primordial Wolf."
He said, but upon recognizing what the being before him was, his confusion faded, replaced by conviction.
A ripple of darkness surged from beneath his feet, and his image glitched.
When it reappeared next, it was right before her, his hand seemingly carrying enough force to tear through her chest and rip through her heart, but...that never happened.
White paused, his hand stopping inches away from her chest.
He had expected her to react, perhaps he had simply moved too fast, yet there was no reaction at all.
Her heart did not spiral in the slightest, neither did her breathing change, all of it remaining beyond stable, like one who had long chosen to accept their own death.
Yet even those who had accepted their deaths still felt fear when it finally stood before them, but from her, he sensed nothing.
"I’m going to kill you."
He stated simply, looking down at those golden eyes of hers.
"Go ahead."
She replied, continuing.
"I can’t resist your power."
"Did watching the rest of the others die made you cower in fear too?"
White said, to which she smiled.
"The only reason why I’m still alive is because you sense no fear from me."
"So you’re hiding your fear?"
He deduced.
"No. I just don’t feel any fear at all."
"Why? Tired of living?"
"In your eyes, beneath the calm..."
She replied.
"I see rage. One akin to that of a child betrayed. And...I can’t deny that rage."
She stated, her eyes falling from his and onto the ground.
"Humanity has indeed suffered unjustly, and all of it can be blamed only on us, the Supernaturals’ descent."
"If all Supernaturals die, then...they all deserve their death, including me."
Silence settled between them as neither of them moved, the barren land surrounding the cottage remaining utterly still, as though even the world understood that there was nothing left to interrupt between the executioner and the one who had already accepted her sentence.
White continued staring into her eyes, searching for hesitation, for hypocrisy, for even the smallest instinct to survive, yet he found none.
"Your realization won’t help you..."
White said, pausing as she raised her head to him.
"...Neither will those tears of yours."
"Understanding your sins after they have already claimed countless innocent lives changes nothing. Regret is the easiest thing in this world to possess once there is no longer anything left to lose."
His voice remained calm, yet every word carried a weight that pressed down upon the quiet cottage.
"Every Human child torn apart because a Supernatural desired flesh. Every family erased because they happened to exist where one of you chose to feed. Every civilization forced beneath the ground, and city reduced to ruins."
"They’re still dead, and they won’t come back because you finally understand."
"You don’t deserve forgiveness simply because you regret it."
Eriga quietly lowered her eyes once more.
She did not argue, nor did she attempt to defend herself or her race, because every word he spoke was one she had repeated to herself countless times, only now was she finally hearing them spoken aloud.
For a brief moment, neither of them spoke, leaving only the faint sound of golden tears striking the dead earth remained between them.
The cottage stood quietly behind her, untouched by the darkness only because its owner still stood, while the lifeless garden stretched endlessly around them like the grave of an entire world.
White’s expression never changed.
To him, her sorrow was real, but it was also meaningless.
All of sudden, she grabbed at his hands, then yanked it forward with speed, directly towards her heart.
But of course, it failed to pierce through as White flashed backward, appearing 20 meters away in a flash.
"Kill me."
She begged, golden tears dripping out of her eyes.
"...Please."
A moment of hesitation and in the next moment.
GLITCH!
White glitched from where he stood, appearing right behind her.
"Gladly,"
He whispered, and in the next moment,
BAAANG!
The entire world went dark as Eriga collapsed onto the ground.
White looked at the body beneath him, a red line across the back of her neck.
A wave of darkness gushed out of him, encapsulating her figure, and in the next moment, he hovered into the sky, the darkness carrying her along as both of them disappeared into the distance.