My Best Friend is an Eldritch Horror - Chapter 300 (Patreon)

Disbelief filled Second’s eyes. He took a step backward, his bandages coiling defensively around his feet. “You were able to contain the Faceless because you split half of your soul with the Voidling?”

“Evidently,” Damien replied. He took Sylph’s hand and gave it a small squeeze.

“Even so,” Second snarled, the fear fading from his voice, “you are still half mortal. The Faceless’ power is beyond your full control.”

His body bulged, white flesh ripping through the bandages covering him. Second screamed, doubling over as Corrupted energy burned around him, pouring into his body from the connections he had to the monsters on the Mortal Plane.

Henry summoned a black dome around all three of them just before a wave of green energy washed over the Void, melting through the snow and eating through stone. Second’s body warped and twisted even further, growing until he was several stories tall. Unlike the rest of the Corruption, his body’s proportions remained intact. The only part of his body that remained bandaged was the lower half of his face.

“Enough fighting,” Damien said. “There’s no point, Second. Stop trying to destroy the Cycle.”

“Back your words up with pow–”

A beam of black light leapt from Damien’s palm, carving through the middle of Second’s body in an instant. It slid forward, nearly falling to the ground before ropey muscle shot out and pulled it back together. A thin black line remained where Damien’s magic had cut him, smoldering with Void energy.

“How many Corrupted did you use to survive that attack?” Damien asked. “The Faceless’ energy is infinite. I can’t run out.”

Second let out a dry laugh that turned hysterical as he doubled over, acid welling up from beneath his skin and dripping to the ground with every heave. “Perhaps. But you can still die, and in contracting the Faceless, you have ensured that It Who Heralds the End of all Light will not help you. It will do nothing.”

Above them, the twinkling face of Herald looked down at them with its usual indifference.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sylph asked.

“Balance,” Henry replied grimly. “That’s what the Void was made for. The Faceless never put any requirements in about following it. We were simply made to ensure balance to protect the Mortal Plane. Damien has the powers of the Faceless and can use them without the Faceless’ limitations, which means he might be a greater threat than Second.”

“You can’t be serious,” Sylph said, staring up at Herald. “It’s the same situation that we had with the Queen?”

Second laughed even harder. “The war will never end as things are, Damien Vale. The Cycle is war. That is why it must be stopped. The Void will never know peace.”

“It is not the same situation,” Herald said. The twinkling stars blinked out, spiraling into a pillar of purple light beside Damien. It vanished, taking the form of a middle aged man with cold features. “I have not been doing nothing. I have been waiting.”

A black line carved through the air beside Herald. It split open into a portal, and Moon stepped out, leaning heavily on half of a broken staff with one hand and pressing the other to his stomach. Behind him came It Who Stills the Seas.

“Hello, Second,” Moon said with a pained laugh. “Pity I could only get one of them to come alive, but I think this should be enough.”

“And I have been watching,” Herald continued. He lowered to one knee. “I bore witness to the actions of the mortal Damien Vale, who has bonded with the Faceless. He serves the interests of the Mortal Plane.”

Damien’s eyes flicked to It Who Stills the Seas. The old man stared back at him, then slowly inclined his head.

“Herald is unwarped by emotion and knows your true self more than any other. I will fall in line.”

“That makes six of us, if I count correctly,” Damien said to Second.

Second’s gaze darted between them. He took another step backward, the flames in his eyes burning with fury.

“The Corruption will persist, even if I fall,” Second said. “As long as the Void exists, our suffering will never end. There will be another.”

“No,” Damien said, shaking his head. “There won’t be.”

The black sky above them flickered. Within the endless sea of stars, a sun bloomed, and the endless night was washed away. The snow melted away and vibrant grass sprouted to take its place. Warm light bore down on all of them.

“I possess the full powers of the Faceless. The Void is what I will it to be,” Damien said. “The Faceless could not act, but I can. There will not be another one of you because I will not permit any more Corruption to come into being.”

“And how do you propose that?” Second snarled. “How will you keep mortal souls from slipping into the cracks in the Void as they transition to reincarnation?”

“By escorting them myself.”

Second’s hands lowered slightly. “What?”

“I will escort every mortal soul that passes on,” Damien said. “I feel the Cycle. The Void interconnects everything. It is the stitching that holds the planes together, and it is the path in which all enter and leave the Mortal Plane. I can guide souls through the Cycle and ensure that they do not become lost within the Void.”

“Is such a thing possible?” Second asked. “If it were, why has it not been done?”

“Because the Faceless is not a living being. It could not act,” Damien said, pressing a hand to his chest. “It was simply the manifestation of Void magic, and I believe it was born in the similar to how the Corruption was – but it was pure magic mashed together rather than souls.”

“And you truly believe you possess the power to escort every single mortal soul?” Second demanded. “No Voidling has such strength.”

“I am not a Voidling. Through the Faceless, I am the Void. It will do as I will.”

Second’s eyes burned into Damien’s. “How do I know?”

“Because I will start with you.”

“I am not a single soul.”

“You were not,” Damien corrected. “Now you are, even if you are broken. I cannot fix that, but I can ensure it never happens again.”

“If you do not lie, then you will wander the Void for eternity. Alone. Can you even comprehend the meaning of that?”

A tiny smile passed over Damien’s lips. Sylph squeezed his hand and Henry walked up to stand beside him, his wings coiling to shrink into his back.

“I will not be alone.”

A warm breeze rustled past them. Second’s body rippled, shrinking back down to his human size. He slowly walked up to Damien, never breaking eye contact. Sylph stiffened, but nobody moved until he stood directly before them.

“Show me your proof.” Second’s voice cracked slightly. “Show me that you can end this.”

Damien raised his free hand and placed it on Second’s chest. Acid sizzled against his palm, but he felt no pain. The endless expanse of the Void swirled at the back of Damien’s mind. Every single pathway throughout the universe, all interconnected.

And, simultaneously above and dispersed throughout everything, was the Cycle. It was the Void, and it was more. Damien reached out to it, and warmth greeted him. Gentle relief passed through his body, traveling down his arm and out into Second’s chest.

Second stiffened. His eyes went wide. The bandages on the lower half of his face crumbled and blew away, carried by the gentle wind. Beneath them was the faintest sliver of a smile.

The flame in Second’s eyes sputtered and vanished. For an instant, Damien stared into two brown eyes, devoid of pain for the first time in countless eons. Then Second was gone, his body crumbling to white dust.

Silence reigned in the Void, broken only by the rustling grass. Moon approached Damien, leaning heavily on the broken staff. His arms trembled as he pushed himself to stand upright so he stood nose to nose with Damien.

“My turn,” Moon said. “If I’ve even got any soul left. I reckon you got most of it, all things considered.”

“I think there’s still a sliver,” Damien replied with a soft smile. “Thank you, Moon.”

Those two words felt far too insignificant for everything that Moon had done, but the knowing look in the other man’s eyes told Damien that he understood nonetheless.

Damien pressed his hand to Moon’s chest and let the Cycle take the exhausted man into its arms.

“I wonder if the Void enter the Cycle too,” Moon breathed, the light in eyes fading like a candle reaching the end of its wick after its vigil through the long night. “I hope I haven’t kept you waiting too long, Sun.”

Moon crumbled away. The broken staff that had been supporting him pitched forward, but it vanished before it hit the ground. All that remained were his ragged clothes.

“What about the Corruption on the Mortal Plane?” Sylph asked.

“They went with Second,” Damien replied. “Herald, Seas – we will speak in time. For now, seek out any others that remain in the Void and inform them of our new purpose.”

The two nodded and vanished, leaving Damien with Sylph and Henry on the sunny mountain.

“Henry, quick question,” Sylph said. “How long is the Corruption you fixed me with going to keep me alive?”

“It repairs any damage you take, and aging is just slow damage. If you want to die, I’d start looking for better ways.”

“Good,” Sylph said, tightening her grip around Damien’s hand. “Eternity is a pretty long time.”

“I think, between the three of us, it should be bearable,” Damien replied.

Henry started to nod, but froze when Damien pulled Sylph close and pressing his lips against hers. He buried his face in his hands with a groan.

“Come on,” Damien said, pulling back from Sylph and winking at Henry. “The Void needs a massive makeover if we’re going to be sticking around.”

“I suggest starting by finding me a very healthy supply of goats,” Henry said. “Eternity is sounding like a very long time.”

“We’ll see what we can do,” Damien said with a grin. A portal opened before them, and with it came the path to a promised future. They stepped through it as one.

THE END

*Please read the follow-up post!