Dantega:Volume 1 Chapter 4

Chapter 4: First Contact

(PART3)

“Princess!” shouts an in pained Niomyo.

“She passed out Rage.” says Napoleon as he tries to keep a calm demeanor even though he himself is shaken deeply by what he is seeing.

“She’s fine, this is a common effect to an innocent person experiencing an overload of evil like this. You two can stay awake probably because you have both killed somebody in the past.”

Rage’s eyes are set on Ubica, he didn’t bother to see if Trojia was actually alright or not.

“Napoleon, carry her and get away from here, I have to stay behind.”

“Understood.”

Napoleon uses the last of his strength to lift Trojia off the ground and onto his back.

“Let’s go!” he shouts to a downed Niomyo.

“I-I can’t move…”

BOOOOOOOOM!!!!

A massive shock wave rips through the buildings surrounding the center where Ubica and Nero are. Windows are exploding from all around and shards of glass are slicing through the air in a tornado like gale. The framing of the buildings are now falling apart and flying into the night sky with intense speed; the large two towers are taking the full brunt of the force and are swaying awkwardly back and forth while breaking into pieces.

And then....

CRAAAAAAAAASHHH!!

The two towers fall to the ground, pieces of the buildings litter the area. Jagged pieces of metal, stone and glass point dangerously in thousands of different directions. Lung ripping debris is dropping down on the center and through the alleyways of the other half downed buildings.

Napoleon is covering Niomyo and Trojia with his body as a natural reaction to the sound of the blast. He then opens his eyes and wonders how in the world they are all still alive. The two towers that fell were less than a hundred yards from the alleyway that they are in, it's only natural that he would think they should be dead.

Napoleon looks to where he last saw Rage and sees black clouds surround him as he is standing as if nothing had happened. After glancing in other directions he realizes that all of them are completely surrounded by black clouds as well.

“What the hell just happened!?” shouts Napoleon.

Rage’s voice is unwavering when he says, “See for yourself…”

The clouds disperse and disappear. The sight that Napoleon witnesses is that of absolute destruction, the scene is like the aftermath of an atomic explosion. Only rubble remains of the tall buildings that once surrounded them. Through the debris one can only see the dark silhouettes of the jagged broken mess of the former structures.

“You have just witnessed a small extent of Ubica’s power.”

" What!? There’s more!?” Napoleon says in shock.

Looking carefully enough one can see a man standing amidst the chaos, it’s Ubica. Ubica raises is hand and with a swift move of his arm, the debris that pollutes the air gathers rapidly into a tornado like ball and disperses into the sky.

“My city! No! My beautiful city!” shouts Nero dryly.

The mass scale of the destruction is seen clearly under the light of the three moons. Ubica is looking downward with a cynical smile of his face. “It’s been so long since I have demolished someone’s pride like this.”

“HHRRAAAAAAAAAAGGGGH!!!”

The screams of agony belong to a downed Nero who has only now realized the pain that goes along with losing a limb. Where his right arm once was is now a bloody stub of flesh that reaches all the way to the joint of his shoulder blade.

“Ohhh? I see you can still feel pain huh Nero? Good, I would be quite bothered if I sent you away painlessly.”

“W-Wait Leader! I-If you are back to normal you should want to help me!”

“Help? Hahahaha do you know who you are talking to!? I am evil incarnate! I don’t fucking help anyone!”

"B-But what about those humans!? Aren’t you helping them?”

The grin on Ubica’s face turns sour, he clicks his tongue replies, “It’s just like it has always been.. for my own gain.”

“How!? How can doing this give you more than being our leader!?”

“SHUT UP!!”

“Graaaaccckkkkk!”

The bones in Nero’s right leg splinters and corrode through his skin. The muscles shred slowly and his whole leg is contorted into three different directions, it is truly a ghastly scene as he writhes in pain.

“Haha I had forgotten how much fun this is.” says a laughing Ubica.

“Amazing... Ubica isn’t even moving and he is causing so much damage.” Napoleon says in awe. He and Rage are standing with a barely conscious Niomyo leaning on his shoulder.

“Against someone weak like that, his mere presence alone is enough to kill.” replies Rage in his usual stern voice. “Now you see why I have been trying to send his putrid soul to Limbo ever since he escaped from the eternal lake.”

“Is he really that big of a threat?”

“That’s correct, if he loses himself completely to his evil, he alone is the the biggest threat to mankind and Heaven. I can’t risk that, he must be destroyed before he fully awakens. While he is still weak... I’ll have no choice but to end it here if this gets worse.”

The body language of Rage changes into that of absolute determination.

A shiver rolls down Napoleon's spine when he considers how powerful Rage must be if he can say in such confidence that he can defeat the monster that has completely obliterated numerous large buildings with one wave of a hand.

Now rocking like a sailboat in stormy waters, Nero is surrounded by a large puddle of his own blood on the marble ground. Ubica sees this and says in a mocking tone, “I wonder how much you can withstand before you bleed out?”

Nero has rolled on his stomach and is motionless.

“.....”

Ubica looks angered at the fact that on que Nero passes out from blood loss.

But then, a soft laugh is heard. “Kuffuuuuuhhahaaaahhahaa.” the laugh becomes loud until it turns into a roar, “HAHAHA DON’T THINK YOU HAVE WON!”

With a splash sound the blood puddle that is surrounding Nero shakes, and from it spew hundreds of knives hurling toward Ubica’s body and face. In an instant the red diamond sword that was on the ground a few yards away appears in Ubica’s hand, and with a simple wave the projectiles are scattered off into the distance.

Seemingly all were dispersed when Ubica clicks his tongue bitterly.

“Tch.”

There is a twelve inch knife protruding from his body just above the naval area. Nero’s face turns raw with excitement. Ubica is confused at this because he knows the wound isn’t fatal, it's just an annoyance.

“Heheh, it’s over Leader.”

“..?”

“NATURALLY, I CAN OXIDIZE THE FERRUM IN SOMEONE ELSE'S BLOOD AS WELL!!”

The knife in Ubica’s stomach melts away into a silver liquid and has entered into his bloodstream. The natural form of iron in its purest state is even softer than aluminum, so it takes little heat to melt it into a liquid. After it combines with carbon it begins to take its hardened form, and once it reacts to the air it will oxidize and solidify. Each one of these steps, though minuscule, can be found naturally in a human body, thus Nero is attempting to virtually turn the insides of Ubica into raw steel.

However...

Nothing is happening, Ubica is still standing with a large grin of his face.

“WHY ISN’T THIS WORKING!?” shouts a desperate Nero.

“Didn’t I tell you? I have no heart, I’m cold blooded.”

Nero instantly knows that his plan isn’t going to work, in order for Iron to flow through the bloodstream, the blood must be warm enough to keep it in liquid form. His plan was to carbonize Ubica’s iron once his own blood began flowing through Ubica's veins. But instead, the wound instantly clotted, thus making this an impossibility.

“On any other person that would be an instant death. I commend you Nero, you have gotten quite strong. But I'm tired of looking at you.”

Ubica swings his sword horizontally towards the ground. A slicing wave of wind rips through the marble ground and shoots rapidly into Nero’s upper left thigh and shoulder, a wind trail of broken ground and blood is seen accompanied by the sound of an ear shattering scream.

“GUUUAAAAAAHHHHHCCKKK!”

After the dust is cleared, Nero is laying prostrate on the ground no longer in the form of a human. Both of his arms and left leg are gone, the one remaining limb is a tattered and broken right leg, he is the definition of a vegetable.

“Uhhaaa Leader….Please.. S-Show mercy.” says Nero as he coughs out blood.

Ubica walks closer and is now standing just a few feet from his head.

“Mercy? HAHAHAHA! I couldn’t tell you what that word even means! I’m sure Damien told you what happens when you die here right??”

Ubica’s face is filled with pleasure when he says this, he is in complete satisfaction while seeing his old comrade writhing with pain in such a pathetic state begging for his life.

“PLEASE! I DON’T WANT TO GO TO LIMBO! PLEASE DON’T KILL ME!!!” shouts Nero with all of his strength.

Ubica, who is still wearing a smile quickly inserts his sword into the open mouth of Nero. “You would die either way, look on the bright side, at least I didn’t leave you here to rot, I just really want to see you die... Hahahaha, goodbye my little pawn.”

“NNNOOOOOOO!!!----- GLLLEEEEEHHCKKKK!”

Ubica slams the tip of his sword through Nero’s mouth and out the back of his head into the marble ground. The sound is truly disturbing as it goes through his throat, brain and skull, much to the akin of a large cockroach being stepped on.

The battle is over, Nero is beyond dead. Ubica is standing over his body, the smile that he once wore so proudly is gone, he shifts his gaze toward the night sky and remains that way.

“This is the moment of truth. If he doesn’t control himself and come back quickly, I’ll have no choice but to eliminate him.” says an onlooking Rage postured in a battle stance.

Napoleon and Niomyo can only stare in shock at what they had just witnessed. “Such brutality… And against his own comrade.” Napoleon says as he thinks about what would happen if he turns on them. A cold sweat falls down his temple.

Niomyo, who might as well be paralyzed by Ubica’s presence is somewhat thinking the same thing, but she added, ‘I can’t let princess Trojia get involved with someone like this!’

It has been a few minutes and they are still watching in angst as Ubica stares blankly at the stars. Then suddenly, Niomyo regains the feeling in her body and can now move. “Huh? I’m back to normal”

The migraine that plagued Napoleon is gone as well.

Rage returns to a regular stance and says, “Good, he’s back.”

Niomyo breathes a sigh of relief when the thought of Trojia pops into mind, she turns her head toward the direction where she once lay and sees her princess looking at Ubica with widened fear filled eyes.

“W-What? What in the world happened here?” Trojia asks as she awakens to the sight of utter destruction, nothing but rubble, pillars, broken glass and blood fill her view.

“U-Ubica…”

“Princess don’t look!”

Niomyo tightly hugs Trojia, trying to shift her attention elsewhere but Trojia’s eyes are fixated on the bloodied Ubica who is staring aimlessly at the sky, surrounded by rubble and standing over a brutally massacred body in which Ubica’s sword is still protruding out of its mouth.

Rage sees this and speaks, “Napoleon, escort these two back to the hostel. We can’t have Ubica ever find out that they have seen this.”

Napoleon regains his calm demeanor and replies, “Understood. You have my word.”

He and Niomyo have to drag a reluctant Trojia from the scene, her eyes are still stuck in the direction of Ubica.

Rage walks to Ubica’s side and asks, “How are you feeling?”

“Perhaps guilt? No... I don’t know.” replies Ubica with a blank look on his face.

“Don’t come back to the hostel looking like that, you’ll worry that little girl.”

“I’ll be back in the morning.”

“Will your wounds heal by then?”

“Heh, of course they will, I am a monster after all.”

Rage faintly smiles as he walks away through the rubble and disappears in the distance. Ubica is sitting alone on a piece of the broken building, his glance happens to hit something in the rubble and finds that there is a tattered arm hanging out of it. He double takes and looks closer and makes direct eye contact with the eyes of an unfamiliar head that has been severed and pressed between two large pieces of building.

He hangs his head low as he puts his hand over the hole where his heart should be, he then murmurs to himself, “That’s right… I am the worst kind of monster there is… There were people in these buildings.... And I knew it..”

---

Dawn has arrived, the sun has barely peaked over the horizon. Shops in the town are beginning to open for business and people are roaming the cobblestone streets trying to find the best early deals on fresh bread, fish and other goods. It’s as if they don’t even notice that in the center of their town lies a mountain of rubble where numerous and large buildings once stood. One can only assume that they either don’t care, or they were expecting this to happen eventually. In Purgatory, deities come and go quite often and claim land, villages and cities, so it is not all that rare to see something one day, and have be gone the next.

In the empty lobby of the hostel, sits an exhausted Trojia, she has been up all night since the incident waiting for Ubica’s safe return. Trying not to panic she takes deep breaths, but not a second goes by where she doesn’t think about how hurt he was, and how he was covered in blood.

With her eyes stuck on the front entrance she sees a shadow of a man appear, and with it Ubica walks through the front door with his head hung down. He is cleaned up and is wearing a different set of clothing, a black hoody with a fur laced hood covers a long sleeved white v-necked shirt. Tightly worn gray pants are atop of white slip-on style shoes.

The change in apparel is the least of Trojia’s worries, much to her surprise Ubica seems like he is completely unharmed.

“Ubica!” she shouts.

Ubica’s head jolts upwards, he shows her a happy expression and then looks away quickly.

“Trojia… You should still be asleep.”

“Nonsense! I couldn’t possibly sleep when you have been gone all night! I was worried!”

“I’m sorry…”

Trojia is flushed red, in her relief she walks to Ubica and rests her head on his chest. She thinks to herself, ‘I can’t let him find out that I was watching him last night… But I wonder if he’ll lie about it if I ask?’

Ubica feels troubled by her and says, “Listen Trojia, you really should go to back to---“

“Why did you run off last night? Where did you go?” she interrupts.

".....”

After a few moments of silence Trojia says, “You won’t tell me…”

“I’m sorry.. I can’t.” replies Ubica, his eyes shifted blankly toward the wall.

Trojia again becomes silent, if one fell, a pin drop could be heard in the empty lobby. In the silence she remembers a conversation that Ubica and Nero had earlier in which Ubica said that he doesn't have a heart. She wonders if it is true or not and she presses her ear in the middle of his chest.

‘Nothing!?’ she thinks to herself in surprise, there is no sound of a heartbeat coming from Ubica. ‘There’s no way… I have heard it before! I know it!’ she thinks to herself.

Ubica is growing increasingly uncomfortable and gently pushes her away. “Please… I can’t be touched right now. Not by you... Not by anybody.”

He moves her to the side and tries to walk away, but his back is embraced tightly.

“You don’t have to shoulder your burden alone you know… You have me.” says Trojia with a cracked voice.

Ubica replies in an emotionless tone, “This is my curse. I must bear it alone… Forever. Now let go..Please let go.“

Trojia slides off his back and collapses on the wooden floor with a loud thud, Ubica quickly turns around and sees Trojia lying motionlessly on the ground.

“Eh? Trojia!? Hey!”

Ubica shakes her a little, when she doesn’t move he begins to panic.

'What’s wrong? Why is she not waking up?' he thinks to himself.

Ubica looks at his shaking hands that are holding Trojia, his body is becoming increasingly hot with anxiety.

'What do I do!?’

The guilt from last night’s happenings compiled and combined with this helpless feeling has brought Ubica to the verge a nervous breakdown. He tightly shuts his eyes and his mind begins to go blank, when suddenly he feels the touch of a small hand on his chest. With it, comes a light voice.

“I knew it, I can feel your heartbeat…”

This soft, angel like voice comes from a smiling Trojia, with her eyes still shut, her hand drops from his chest and back into her lap.

Ubica pauses in confusion as to why she said this, but those thoughts are overrun with happiness at the fact that she is alright.

“She is just tired…. Haha thank goodness.”

Ubica shows a strained smile of relief as he gently strokes Trojia’s fringe. He lifts her into his arms and walks toward the large couch in the middle of the lobby, after laying her down softly, he takes the new hoody with a fur hood off of his back and places in onto Trojia’s lightly dressed body.

After watching her sleep for a few minutes, he presses his hand on his own chest and with a light smile says, “It seems as though this heart of mine will only appear when I am with you…”

He looks up at the ceiling blankly, with a sigh he shuts his eyes and begins to sleep.

First Contact: (END)

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