CHAPTER 51: THE BEGINNING OF MADNESS
After walking for about five minutes, John arrived at the training yard.
It was different from the one back at the Obsidian Covenant, though he couldn't quite put his finger on why.
The ground was covered in sand. Weapon racks stood neatly along the perimeter, while training dummies and wooden posts were scattered throughout the yard. It had everything the Covenant's training grounds did.
Yet somehow...
It didn't feel as oppressive. Maybe it was the sunlight. Or maybe it was simply the absence of the people he'd left behind.
John pushed the thought aside. It didn't matter. He wanted somewhere to train.
Now he had it.
I should start with a light warm-up. Get used to this body first.
He slipped off his robes and began jogging around the yard.
One... Two... One... Two...
Three minutes later—
John collapsed face-first into the ground, sand filling his mouth as he struggled to breathe.
His lungs burned as though someone had poured molten metal down his throat. Every breath felt like a fight for his life.
His heart pounded so violently he thought it might burst straight through his chest.
He rolled onto his back, coughing.
"What..." he gasped.
"Huff..."
"...just..."
"Huff... happened?"
[Minion... I think you're in deep trouble.]
John stared blankly at the clear sky. He didn't need Echo to tell him that.
At this point, discovering something catastrophically wrong with his body barely registered anymore.
He had been shocked so many times that he'd become numb to it. If the sky suddenly turned blood red and an asteroid came crashing toward him...
He'd probably just sigh and move on.
"Huff..."
"...Alright..."
"Huff..."
"... Lay it on me."
[Minion... I don't know whether you're cursed or blessed... but it seems you possess a Physique.]
John was... confused to say the least.
"A... Physique?"
That wasn't what he'd been expecting.
Honestly, he'd been preparing himself to hear he had some terminal illness that would kill him before he turned twenty.
A Physique, on the other hand... that sounded almost exciting.
He frowned.
"Wait..."
"If it's a Physique..." He looked down at himself. "Then why did you say I was in deep trouble?"
"Isn't that supposed to be a good thing?"
Back on Earth, every webnovel he'd ever read treated Physiques like heaven-sent blessings.
[Normally... it is.]
Echo's voice was unusually serious.
[A Physique is a rare constitution that allows its owner to perform feats that defy the natural laws of the world.]
John's eyes lit up. "So I really hit the jackpot."
Echo didn't answer immediately.
That silence alone was enough to make John's smile begin to fade.
[Your Physique is called the Stellar Destruction Physique.]
John sat up despite the exhaustion weighing on every muscle.
"...That sounds ridiculously cool."
[It is.]
Echo didn't deny it.
[Physique holders are extraordinarily rare. Most will live their entire lives without meeting a single one.]
John nodded.
"How rare are we talking?"
[As far as I know... only ninety-nine Physiques have ever been recorded throughout history.]
John froze.
That... is absurd.
There had been billions… no… uhm… he didn't have a number in mind, but a mind-boggling number of people had existed throughout history...
Out of them all, only ninety-nine?
"So..." John swallowed.
"They must all be monsters."
[They are.]
Echo's answer came without hesitation.
[And now... so are you.]
For just a moment... John couldn't stop himself from smiling.
It wasn't every day someone discovered they belonged to one of the rarest groups in existence. But he knew better; he was pretty sure Echo's next words were…
[But—]
John's smile disappeared.
"...I knew it."
[The holders of the Stellar Destruction Physique have one thing in common.]
Echo's voice became noticeably quieter. [Every single one of them eventually went insane.]
[And after they lost their minds... they exploded.]
Echo's words were met with silence by John… and then he said something.
"...Exploded?"
[Yes. Every single one.]
[None escaped that fate.]
John slowly leaned back until he was lying flat on the sand again. He looked up at the sky.
"...So I'm basically a ticking time bomb."
Echo answered softly.
[Yes. And it would explain why Ethan's body was already in such terrible condition. Why he acted the way he did.]
John chuckled. He actually found it funny… the trial was not only about external danger. Now he had to worry about going insane and blowing up.
"And here I was..."
"...actually hyped to start training."
He let out a long breath before rubbing a hand over his face.
"Alright."
He forced himself to sit up again.
"So..."
"How do I fix it? There has to be a way, right?"
[I've never heard of anyone overcoming this Physique.]
John closed his eyes.
Of course.
Then Echo continued.
[...But I do have an idea.]
"I'm listening..."
Echo was silent for a moment, choosing his words carefully.
[The reason every holder of the Stellar Destruction Physique meets the same fate... is because the Physique itself is simply too powerful.]
[The Stellar Destruction Physique draws upon the power of the stars themselves.]
John's eyebrows rose.
[That power is endless.]
[But the vessel meant to contain it... is not.]
Echo's voice remained calm, almost emotionless. The words themselves were terrifying enough.
[A mortal body was never designed to withstand such energy.]
[Every moment of every day, that power tears at its owner from the inside. Even your mind begins to collapse under the burden.]
John slowly clenched his fist. Everything suddenly made sense.
Ethan hadn't been pathetic because of his laziness. He had simply been fighting a battle that no one else could see.
[Eventually... the body reaches its limit.]
[Once it can no longer contain the energy... it collapses. The accumulated power is released all at once.]
John already knew what came next.
"...And that's when they explode."
[Yes.]
"So..."
"If my body can't handle the energy..."
"...then I just need a stronger body."
Echo let out a sound of approval.
[That was my conclusion as well.]
Echo sighed.
[The obvious solution would be to obtain a Divine Body.]
John nodded.
"That doesn't sound too—"
Echo interrupted him.
[It is impossible. At least... for a mortal.]
John tilted his head.
"So the solution is to become something that's already beyond human."
[Yes.]
"...Great."
He scratched the back of his head.
"Any easier options?"
Echo remained silent. Which was as good as a no. John let out another long sigh.
"So..."
"I'm dying because I'm too powerful."
He shook his head. "I don't know whether to laugh or cry."
John lowered his head, thinking. There had to be another way.
There always was. He refused to believe the only answer was becoming a god.
Then... A thought crossed his mind.
It was absurd. So absurd that he almost dismissed it immediately.
"...Wait."
"If the problem is that I have too much energy..."
"...why don't I just use it?"
[You are not the first person to think of that.]
John's expression fell.
"Figures."
[Unfortunately... it is not that simple.]
Echo floated closer.
[If you attempted to release all of that energy at once...]
He didn't even hesitate.
[You would die.]
[And you could destroy this entire world along with you.]
John blinked while nodding like a chicken.
"...Right."
"So that's off the table."
[If you release it slowly instead... another problem appears.]
[The Physique replenishes its energy faster than you can expend it.]
John frowned.
"So no matter how much I burn... It keeps filling back up."
[Correct.]
John folded his arms.
"So what I actually need..."
He began thinking aloud.
"...is something that can continuously drain my energy."
Echo nodded.
[Not only drain it.]
[It must also be capable of enduring that power without being destroyed.]
[And it must consume that energy continuously.]
[Otherwise... you will eventually reach your limit.]
John stared at the ground. His mind raced through every possibility.
Finally... He exhaled slowly.
"...Then I'll find one."
John's expression had completely changed. The despair from moments ago was gone.
In its place... there was only determination.
"If I can't obtain a Divine Body... I'll find something else."
"And if nothing like that exists..."
His lips curled into a faint smile.
"...I'll make it exist."
Echo watched him quietly from the deepest part of John's domain.
After everything he'd just heard... Most people would have given up.
John... was already searching for solutions. A small smile appeared on Echo's face.
[That's more like it, Minion.]
John remained seated in the sand for another minute, his mind turning over everything Echo had told him.
"I should begin researching my Physique."
He pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the ache in every muscle. His legs still trembled from nothing more than a short jog.
Pathetic.
He brushed the sand from his clothes and turned to leave the training yard. Then he stopped.
Someone stood quietly near the entrance.
It was a servant.
His head was lowered, his hands clasped behind his back as though waiting for an order.
John frowned.
"I didn't call for anyone…"
"Did my mother send you?"
The servant slowly lifted his head.
John's brows knitted together.
The man was crying. His face was soaked, his eyes bloodshot, shoulders trembling as tears streamed uncontrollably down his cheeks.
John instinctively stepped toward him.
"Hey..."
"What happened? Is something wrong?"
The servant laughed. It was a hollow, broken sound.
"You..."
His voice cracked. "...you don't even remember me."
A chill crawled up John's spine. A bad feeling rose in his stomach.
"You ruined my life..."
"...and you don't even remember me."
Before John could respond—
The servant lunged forward without warning or hesitation.
He held a knife in one hand, the steel glinting in the light.
john reacted purely on instinct. He threw himself sideways.
The knife sliced through the space where his throat had been a moment earlier.
He crashed into the sand, the impact knocking the breath from his lungs. Before he could stand up— The servant jumped on him. And tried to stab him right through his face.
John caught the man's wrist with both hands. The knife stopped inches above his eye.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
The servant roared, tears still pouring down his face.
"You monster!"
John's arms got exhausted until he started to feel pain. They shook violently as the servant pushed him more and more.
The servant forced the blade downward.
Slowly, the tip crept closer.
John could already feel the cold steel against his eyelashes.
I'm going to die. He is going to fucking kill me.
His head was filled with panic.
"GUARDS!"
His voice echoed through the training yard.
"SOMEBODY HELP!"
But no one came to his aid. His vision blurred.
Without warning, in a moment of desperation, John spat directly into the servant's eyes.
The servant instinctively recoiled.
He closed his eyes, and his grip on the knife weakened.
It was only for an instant. But that was enough for john.
John twisted with everything he had.
The servant's arm slammed into the sand, the knife tearing free from his grasp.
Both scrambled to get it first. But the knife ended up in John's hands.
With every strength his body could muster, he stabbed towards the servant. The knife pierced straight through the servant's right eye.
The servant released a scream so shrill it barely sounded human.
Blood burst from the ruined socket, splashing across John's face and cloth. Covering him with it
The servant stumbled backward.
But John didn't let up.
Adrenaline drowned out every ounce of pain he felt from his weakened body.
He tackled the servant to the ground. The man reached desperately toward the knife buried in his own face.
John ripped it free. A spray of blood followed the blade.
Then—
He stabbed.
The knife punched into the man's cheek. John ripped it free.
He stabbed again. The blade split open the man's jaw.
Again.
Bone cracked beneath the impact.
Again.
The knife buried itself deep into the man's forehead.
Again.
Blood poured over John's hands until the knife nearly slipped from his grip.
Again.
His nose disappeared beneath repeated blows.
Again.
One eye burst from its socket and dangled by strands of flesh before dropping into the blood-soaked sand.
Again.
Fragments of shattered skull mixed with blood and brain matter across the ground.
Again. Again. Again.
The servant had stopped moving long ago. John kept stabbing.
The face beneath him no longer resembled a human being.
It was nothing more than crushed flesh, splintered bone, and mangled tissue.
Still— John stabbed again.
...
[J... John... JOHN!]
Echo's voice finally broke through.
John froze.
His arm remained raised, the knife dripping steadily onto what remained of the servant's head.
His entire body trembled violently. His breathing came in ragged gasps.
Only then did he truly look down. The servant didn't have a face anymore.
The skull had been split open in several places. Blood pooled beneath the corpse, carrying pieces of bone and grey matter through the sand.
One eye lay several feet away, staring blankly into the sky.
The body hadn't twitched for a long time. Yet John had continued stabbing. The knife slipped from his fingers.
His body felt like it was shutting down.
His lungs hurt.
His head hurt.
Everything hurt.
Why... Why did it hurt so much?
For a long time, he couldn't think. His mind was nothing but white noise.
Then, slowly... He remembered the servant. He remembered who he was.
He was one of the servants Ethan had used as an outlet. He beat him, abused him, humiliated him… he was cruel to him.
One memory stood out above the others.
The servant had spoken back once. Just once.
Ethan had forced him to kneel beneath the blazing sun from dawn until sunset.
He had given him no food, no water. Just because he could. And when his mother had come to beg for him… he had fired her on the spot.
John shut his eyes.
It wasn't me. But...
He opened them again.
I'm Ethan now.
Whether he liked it or not, he carried Ethan's name.
Ethan's body. Ethan's sins.
He couldn't pretend those memories belonged to someone else anymore.
And now...
He understood. Ethan hadn't simply been cruel.
He had already begun losing his mind.
The Physique had been eating away at him long before John arrived.
That explained it. But it didn't excuse it.
John looked down at his own blood-covered hands.
Then what about me?
I was in control... So why didn't I stop?
He remembered the moment the servant had died.
Yet he'd continued stabbing anyway. Something inside him had wanted to keep going.
When had that happened? Was it when Nico died? How long had he been smiling?
He couldn't remember.
At some point... His mother had appeared beside him.
She was holding him tightly. Her voice trembled as she stroked his hair.
"It's alright..."
"It's alright..."
"Everything will be alright..."
John barely heard her. His eyes never left the corpse.
After what felt like an eternity, he finally spoke.
"I should begin researching my Physique."
Echo remained silent.
[...John, if you—]
"It's alright, Echo."
John's voice was calm.
Too calm.
"I was just... out of it for a moment."
He took one last look at the servant.
"He wanted to kill me."
"So I killed him."
His fingers slowly tightened into a fist.
"I understood something during the previous trial. If someone comes to kill me..."
"...or someone I care about..."
"I won't hesitate. I'll kill them first."
Echo replied with silence. There was nothing he could say.
John wasn't wrong. If someone chose to take another person's life...
They also accepted the possibility of losing their own.
Echo simply left john alone with his thoughts.
For now... Silence was the only answer he could give.
Author's Note
I'd love to hear what you thought about this chapter and the story so far. Whether it's something you enjoyed, something that didn't work for you... anything really. It would mean a lot.
Thanks for reading!