Salvation of The Scum Fifth Prince

[87 - conclude; the end]

The experience of extreme despair, a pain worse than death is something one doesn't always have the luxury of experiencing. Ren thought to live was to feel this tearing anger and sorrow in his chest. To survive was to want to die.

And when he realized true despair, it came in a death that was more painful than life.

The events that occurred after Raphael's death in the apocalypse remained fresh in Soren's mind, given to him by Lydia's potion. A poison, or a medicine. Curse, or blessing. He wasn't sure which it was. But those memories, that rushed by his mind in a millisecond to anybody watching, were something embedded into his very bone.

The monster that killed Raphael tormented the city, ran rampant with nobody to stop it. Ren only watched quietly from the sides, wandering in buildings, killing and killing and killing. Time didn't pass the way it once did, now dragging and dull, as it once was.

As he'd forgotten.

Buildings were crushed to dust, mere piles of broken pieces of what they'd once been, and people died every day, murdered by the monster, and if not that abominable creature, killed by their own kind. Killed by greedy, hopeless humans.

Nobody talked to him, though many seemed to want to, watching him from afar with desperate pleas. Ren didn't see them, and even if he could, he would've ignored it.

The Undying Reaper.

The Misfortune.

The Hero who Abandoned Humanity.

There were many titles now tied to his name, curses from the weak who couldn't do anything but complain. He didn't care; he was used to this. And he'd wanted, for a moment, to not be used to this. To find salvation under the strange skies, with that bothersome person by his side.

He'd claw at his palms until they dripped with red, curling up in corners hoping to sleep the days away. Nightmares were all that followed.

Then, he watched that undefeatable monster collapse.

It seemed, even the unknown had a lifespan, and it was this thing's due time. It collapsed against the rubbles that it'd created, skin bubbling and melting until it seeped into the stone. Ren wondered if it was trying to continue living, as it struggled to stand over and over again.

He walked over slowly, dragging his sword on the ground. Sludge stuck to his shoes, but he trudged on. He made his way to the top of the hill made of destruction, to the center where a deep, amber gem laid. Was it the creature's core? It's heart?

All he knew was that if this thing was dying, then he would make sure it didn't rise again.

Sword raised high in the air, catching glimmers of light as his entire being was shadowed underneath, he drove it down. Snapping the gem right in half, and when he decided that wasn't enough, he slammed it again and again until the jewel was nothing more than dust.

And then he fell back.

His chest heaved, and tears ran down his cheeks. If Raphael had waited, if they hadn't urged. If he hadn't allowed himself to get injured. If only they had more time, then the creature would've died, and he wouldn't have died a senseless death.

"...worthless."

This entire world. Hatred echoed in his soul.

He swallowed a shaky gulp, and dragged his body up, head hanging between his legs and blade resting at his side threateningly, covered in amber dust that seemed like golden speckles. A delicate and powerful sword, far larger than he could wield. One that carried the same arrogant strut its owner once did.