Uriel floated in an infinite darkness, where his mind was one with all the darkness. He felt a peace like never before, he felt, after a long time, complete, yet he was also alone.
There was nothing in the darkness, only the darkness itself.
It was sad in a way, something apart from the world forever that only inhabited the deepest corners of existence.
While floating, Uriel felt the phantom pain of the sword that Jerom used to mutilate his soul.
"Is this death?" he thought to himself.
He was a creature of darkness, and also a creature of the void. He wasn't human and he knew that perfectly well for years.
He only used a stolen body infected by the nightmare spell to be anchored to the world and to destiny.
Destiny.
He had fought to change the destiny already written.
He managed to make hundreds of sleepers leave the Forgotten Shore, saving those who were supposed to be dead.
He avoided the fate of Changing Star by taking her place to stay behind.
He survived almost two whole years crossing death zones, conquered a second harrowing nightmare that almost completely annihilated his soul to achieve it.
He changed the course of an entire continent saving hundreds of millions of lives, even saved a civilization trapped in a time tomb made by a demon, and fought against The Wicked Thieving Bird, who stole anything shiny regardless of who it belonged to, emptying all its treasure and leaving it in absolute ruin.
And now he fought to prevent tens of thousands of awakened from dying in vain in a war dictated by two supremes who had no more reason than to kill each other.
Uriel had done many things.
Really many things and he was exhausted, really tired at this point.
He wondered why keep fighting. He already gave everything he had and still keeps giving more.
It didn't matter if he killed two sovereigns, there was still a third he would have to kill, then he would have to fight against nightmare creatures capable of annihilating humanity and even corrupted gods. Just for what?
Uriel felt like laughing.
"Why do I try so hard?" he whispered.
As if the darkness heard him, he felt a strange sensation, he felt like he was standing on a watery surface, looking around everything was enveloped in absolute darkness.
The voice of the spell resounded strongly throughout the vast darkness, remaining immutable.
[All power has a Price]
[You have received a Flaw: Dual Mind]
[Flaw Description: There is another version of yourself living inside you]
Uriel blinked.
"Is this..." he didn't finish that thought when he heard familiar footsteps.
From the depths of darkness emerged a figure he recognized instantly and thought he would never see again.
"Shade? What's happening outside after I passed out? Where is that bastard Jerom?" he asked quickly.
Uriel watched as Shade's arrogant smile faded, putting on a bewildered look.
"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked confused. "First of all, this is the first time we meet. I'm your Flaw. And as such I don't have a name, although Shade would suit me fine," he said raising a second finger. "Second, I don't understand absolutely anything you're saying. And third, who the hell is Jerom?"
"Don't you remember?"
"Remember what exactly?" he asked crossing his arms with a confused face. "I've only been born for a few minutes so I could use more context."
Uriel brought a hand to his head.
"I need to organize my thoughts," he murmured.
"Well, do whatever you want. Come back when your head is in order, meanwhile I'll make this place more welcoming."
Uriel left his sea of souls, regaining control of his body discovered he was tied to a familiar chair. He was under the police station. In front of him was a beautiful woman with short black hair, blue eyes and pale skin.
"Welcome back to the real world. Congratulations on becoming a sleeper," said Jet.
"Uh... thank you Master Jet," he said confused.
Jet blinked.
"How do you know my name?"
"It's on your badge. Can you untie me?" he asked.
Jet narrowed her eyes but nodded, releasing the bindings.
Moving his wrists he heard the crackling of his joints.
"First of all go take a shower, you reek of nightmare."
Uriel smiled.
Those were undoubtedly the same words he heard from her the first day his new life began.
Walking toward the police station showers, Uriel saw how a short boy was shouting at the wall.
As if it were a déjà vu, the same sequence of things he remembered happened.
His taunts toward Sunny, enjoying seeing that he had a superior gift of speech, then his conversation with Jet where he avoided being labeled crazy for talking to Shade.
His arrival at the awakened academy, the talk with Instructor Rock, his subsequent interview and finally.
"There you are..." Uriel murmured observing a blind girl with blonde hair sitting in the back area of the cafeteria.
Picking up his food, Uriel approached the table sitting in front of Cassie, who looked at him fixedly.
"Hello Cassie," he said casually. "It's been a while since I saw you like this," he expressed with a smile.
Cassie blinked bewildered that a stranger whose voice she had never heard knew her name.
"Oh, sorry if I surprised you, my name is Uriel."
"You don't have to apologize, I was just a bit surprised, that's all. Nice to meet you Uriel," she responded with a smile on her face.
Uriel gave a sad smile observing the purified water base in his hand observing his reflection with a melancholy smile.
"Cassie, what I'm about to tell you will sound strange but it's completely true. Do you believe in time travel?"
"Time travel? Do you mean those movies like 'Back to the Future'?" she asked.
"More or less, just that you go backwards instead of forwards but you keep your memories," he explained.
"Well. There are aspects of all kinds and types, so there might be one that sends memories to the past from the future," she expressed.
"She seems to believe me. With this I can accelerate many things and gain time."
"I see. Well, I have visions so I can believe you. I suppose we know each other in the future," said the girl.
"What am I like in the future? Am I beautiful? Did I overcome my flaw? Wait, do I have a partner?"
Cassie's eyes, though blind, seemed to shine with curiosity.
Uriel answered each of her questions.
"In the future, you are one of the most beautiful women in the world, as well as a transcendent. In a way you overcame your flaw since you can see through another's eyes. And regarding a partner, well, I don't know how to answer that since I don't know."
Cassie became discouraged at the last part before regaining her animated air.
"Cassie, before we continue talking about the future with you, I want you to help me with something."
"With what?" she asked.
"I want to destroy destiny."
"Alright," Cassie responded with a smile.
---
Uriel watched how he was back in the Dark City killing an awakened monster with the Eclipse Claws and his Dark Mantle.
Then he observed Caster's arrival at his location, where he formed an alliance with the legacy boy.
Using him, he obtained a sword that he used to obtain soul fragments, which he used to accelerate his awakening.
Already having great experience awakening without the natural means of passing nightmares, Uriel achieved it in just one week by completing his first dark core and becoming a monster.
Being an awakened, he could use essence and to become much more powerful.
After cornering Caster and giving him a one-sided beating, he managed to make him abandon his mission by demonstrating that he wouldn't achieve anything by following a supreme's orders to kill Nephis.
With Caster on his side, he began to gather all the inhabitants outside the castle under his command using his demonstration of strength, as well as teaching them how to manipulate their soul essence to awaken, which many achieved after about two weeks.
Likewise he met with Seishan, Kido and Genma, bringing them to his side to leave the Forgotten Shore.
This caused Gunlaug to become enraged and start a war.
A war which he quickly lost against an army of complete awakened.
Gunlaug, his hunters, Tessai and Harus died.
Uriel for Gunlaug's death obtained his echo.
Using his dark sorcery he began to create memories, which he fed to Gunlaug's Echo until turning it into a transcendent Echo, recommended his dragon form.
With his transcendent dragon back, he killed the Abandoned Knight obtaining his echo and turning it again into transcendent Devil.
With two transcendent creatures in his power, he traveled to the Hollow Mountains recovering the fragments to obtain the keys to overcome the Forgotten Shore. Likewise he passed by Sunny, Nephis and Cassie, who almost had a heart attack seeing him arrive riding an enormous black dragon.
After they returned, Uriel made them awaken by teaching them the natural awakening method.
With the entire cohort now awakened and reunited, and more than a thousand awakened, they made preparations to besiege the Crimson Spire.
Given the abysmal difference between both sides, the awakened massacred the nightmare creature. After sealing the Dark Sea, Uriel prevented the Crimson Terror from dying.
By letting it live they never obtained soul conduits, which allowed them to return to the waking world in just three months.
Uriel witnessed the immense chaos his actions generated. Because many told about the natural awakening method, it attracted enormous attention from the Song and Valor Clans who kept that information hidden; however, now that it was public they had no choice but to kill him.
Uriel, since he had no need to go through a second or third nightmare, continued awakening naturally. He killed the assassins from both clans and ascended to be an ascended alongside the court, avoiding freeing Mordret in the process.
After being an ascended, he became a transcendent, recovering in the process all his darkness creatures and obtaining some new ones.
After joining the government and telling about the events that would take place in a few years in the future and supported by Cassie, the government began to prepare for the evacuation of Antarctica.
Destiny intervened and accelerated events that would happen in the future, starting the chain of nightmares once again, which he overcame much more easily and with far fewer losses.
He watched how Sunny, Effie, Jet, Cassie, Kai and Nephis traveled to the Nightmare Desert after multiple category four gates opened.
Uriel during all that time remained distant from everyone and everything. A single question since all this began surfaced in his mind.
"Why do I do this once more?"
Even when destiny was broken again and Sunny was forgotten.
"Why?"
Even when he faked his own death.
"Why?"
Even when Anvil and Ki Song died by his sword.
"Why?"
Even when Asterion descended from the moon to devour humanity.
"Why do I keep striving for this world?" he asked the air, watching a man wearing a spacesuit in front of him.
Uriel ignored Asterion and instead delved into his sea of souls.
The familiar darkness enveloped him completely.
Even going much deeper than he had ever gone, even beyond until he felt nothing but darkness.
"I know that everything I lived was a false world that you created. Stop hiding in the darkness and show yourself once and for all," Uriel declared.
For a few seconds there was nothing but silence, however the silence was broken by the sound of footsteps that left an unsettling echo.
He watched how from the deepest darkness emerged a humanoid entity covered by a mantle of absolute darkness, a darkness so dark it would make shadows look like a bright sun in comparison.
On his face only three pairs of white, sharp eyes could be seen that stared at him fixedly without flinching.
"Who are you supposed to be?"