The blood sphere fell silent for a moment.
Not true stillness, but the silence that comes before an internal collapse.
Ashen stepped out of it, blood dripping around him. His expression was covered in calm and indifference, as if the destruction around him meant nothing, or as if it was something that had always been natural in his life.
The voices inside the giant monster twisted around themselves, like a vortex of mouths without faces, waiting for something… or someone.
Then the monster slowly bent forward.
It was not a gesture of humility, but the movement of a massive animal approaching a fire, unsure whether it would burn it or warm it.
And it spoke.
This time, its voice was not screaming or laughing.
It was a request.
Monster:
"Teach us… that intent."
Some souls inside the monster screamed in refusal.
Some begged.
Some laughed with sick mockery.
But the dominant voice continued:
Monster:
"We want it.
We need it.
Without it… we are drowning.
The noise… is tearing us apart."
Ashen raised his gaze slowly.
His expression did not change.
No interest. No surprise. No disgust.
Ashen:
"Intent… cannot be taught."
The words fell like a stone into a bottomless well.
Ashen:
"It cannot be transferred.
It cannot be given.
It cannot be explained."
He stepped slightly closer, his body still carrying the marks of old cracks, as if his existence itself was a constant reminder of pain.
Ashen:
"Intent… is realized."
Silence.
Ashen:
"It is realized when pain is carved
into the body,
into the bone,
into the blood,
into the soul."
He looked directly at the monster.
Ashen:
"It is something carved into existence itself.
Whoever reaches it… reaches it alone.
Without a teacher."
A heavy silence spread.
The voices inside the monster began to slow down,
as if thinking… or trying.
Then the monster asked, its voice softer than before, less chaotic, yet still fractured:
Monster:
"…What is your name?"
Ashen looked into the void, as if the question did not fully concern him.
Ashen:
"What I remember… is that I am Ashen."
He paused.
Ashen:
"But whether this is truly my name,
or a name that remained after everything burned…
I do not know."
The monster showed no surprise.
In a world like this, names were nothing more than remnants.
Then… an unexpected question came.
Ashen:
"And you…
who do you want revenge on?"
The voices trembled all at once,
as if the question tore a thin membrane inside the giant being.
Screams.
Broken images.
Blood.
Cages.
Laboratories.
A child crying.
A plant growing inside his chest.
Then the voice emerged.
Monster:
"There is… hatred."
This time its voice was slower, heavier.
Monster:
"Deep hatred,
born with the old human part."
Its claws trembled.
Monster:
"A feeling… we do not know its name,
but it gnaws at the soul,
and drives us
toward revenge."
Silence.
Then, after a long moment, the monster asked Ashen, with less madness and more sharpness:
Monster:
"When you saved us…
you said there was something in us that resembled you."
The voices shrank.
Monster:
"Do you also…
seek revenge?"
Ashen answered without hesitation.
Ashen:
"Yes."
One word.
Cold.
Harsh.
Monster:
"On whom?"
Ashen looked at the blood around him,
at the city that no longer existed,
at the world that could not distinguish between prey and predator.
Ashen:
"I do not know."
Silence.
Then his voice emerged, deeper, more savage:
Ashen:
"But there is a desire…
violent…
mad…
that forces me."
He raised his head.
Ashen:
"To drown the world
in blood
and ash."
The monster trembled.
Not from fear… but from unspoken recognition.
After a moment, the monster asked:
Monster:
"Do you have…
any other desire?"
Ashen answered immediately.
Ashen:
"No."
Then, without changing his tone:
Ashen:
"And you?"
The voices inside the monster clashed,
but this time… they did not fight.
Monster:
"We are… not a single soul."
It raised its head high.
Monster:
"Every soul inside us
has remnants of desires."
Short laughter.
Groans.
Muffled screams.
Monster:
"But there is one desire
shared by
all souls."
The vertical eye gleamed.
Monster:
"Dominance."
The ground trembled.
Monster:
"Dominance over the world.
Over the sky.
Over all creation."
It stepped forward.
Monster:
"To become
the ultimate predator,
and the supreme terror."
Ashen looked at it without any change.
No admiration. No rejection. No mockery.
Then he asked:
Ashen:
"If you are a mass of chaos,
with no leading soul
and no ruling will…"
He paused.
Ashen:
"Then how do you answer?
How do you choose your words?"
The voices tensed.
Monster:
"Because of you."
It looked directly at Ashen.
Monster:
"Your aura
returns some clarity
to madness."
Ashen asked calmly, but lethally:
Ashen:
"And even so,
you still have no will to guide you.
So how do you decide?"
A long silence followed.
Then the answer came… hesitant… honest… terrifying:
Monster:
"We do not know."
Its voice lowered.
Monster:
"But there is…
something…"
The voices stopped suddenly.
Monster:
"Something… forming
between our chaos
and your aura."
It raised its head.
Monster:
"Something
that organizes
and chooses…"