Ethereal Paradigm: Arcadia of Darkness 6 Zeal With the Extramundane

"What is particularly disappointing is that the human mind has its own limits, whereas human stupidity is boundless."

-Alexandre Dumas

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As you probably had foreshadowed. After the tremendous spark of the insanity that night, my brother ultimately failed in killing me as his attempts were all made powerless by the intervention of a goddess's prowess.

Every bullet that he shot at me, stopped mid-air as if there was some unseen barrier present at that moment, protecting me from his heinous intents. However, the world, that night became so void and monochromatic. As if none around me gave a taint of color that would mean happiness or at least, a little ray of hope.

Lacrimosa, the Goddess of Disambiguation, as the allegiance that I agreed to formulate was made into succession by a piece of contract, my heart was unable to feel anything else... at least that's what I know.

While I was taken on by my thoughts, a confused voice then came bombarding my hearing sense...

"Why the hell is nothing working?, WhWhat? I-I can't seem to get anything at all!! This is a dream, right? A dream, and what I can't understand the most is how you're being too emotional just because you lost these hooligans that appeared to you like angels, but for me, they are nothing but wolves in sheep's clothing. SERPENTS OF THE DEVIL! They will train you, raise you up to be the best that you can be, only to kill you later with their parental ideals!"

He can runt as long as he wants, but his words to me are now nothing more but mere putrid statements of vileness. My brother, in all folly, lost all of his strength in his attempts. He broke down to the ground with nothing but an unloaded gun in the palms of his hand. He then let loose a piece of paper from his pocket that looked like a cheque and shifted his attention entirely as if he did not notice the supernatural happenings that are taking place. For short, his idealistic mind refused to believe what he's seeing that should have only occurred on some fantasy stories.

He handed it to me slowly with hands that are shaking, I looked at the paper and there, I saw a blood-stained hand-signed cheque with a large sum of money written at the top, a three billion Euro...Seriously? Did he kill them just for this piece of garbage? This is not even worth the pain that they have to go through.

At that point in time, it suddenly came back to me, as if the contract was nothing but null. The feeling of grudge and deep hatred that was supposed to be rescinded together with the contract I made with the goddess. I looked at her who was by the piano, with a demeanor that signified both disappointment and complexity as the contract failed to do what it was supposed to do just minutes after it was made to fruition. Yet, all I saw in her face was an expression that she wore in her first appearance, composed and noble as if she already presages that something like this is actually to happen.

That's right... I remember clearly. In haste to accomplish the primary endeavor for the night, I did not read a single line in the conditions inscribed on the contract. I, without hesitation, signed the paper without questions asked. There must be some kind of understatement that she did not tell me.

Then, a voice which gushed forth a charisma so evil snapped me out from my self-thoughts.

"MONEY IS EVERYTHING BROTHER! IN THE WORLD OF THE ELITES, LIFE IS NOTHING BUT A RUBBLE WITH THE ABSENCE OF THIS PAPER THAT BOTH EMBODIES THE TITLE OF AUTHORITY AND INFLUENCE!!!"

"You're gonna regret it now." In anger, I turned all of my attention towards him.

"Hooo?? And what are you gonna do? Kill me? With that frail juvenile body of yours?"

All of a sudden. The clock-like sign that was in my hand given by the scorching flames, of which the goddess asserted of it, to be a sign that I am under her provision moved one of its hands from 12 to two o'clock. Then from the scenery of black and white, my sight turned crimson. Everything around me seemed to be bright red. A color that dominantly signifies anger than love given the situation.

I am indignant. I hate him now more than anything else... I will be sure to kill him slowly given how gruesome my parent's death could have been.

There was none in my mind but complete grudge against my brother and a voice with unknown origins that kept telling me to kill and execute the deranged person before me.

"Your hunger for power disgusts me, brother. You weaklings only see power and authority coming from money. And what can you control in the end? When all of your trump cards are used up? Nothing. "

"HAHAHHAAHAHA!! WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE? A LEGIT FINANCIAL ADVISOR? AND HOW CAN YOU EXECUTE AUTHORITY WITHOUT FUNDS? THAT IS BY FAR THE MOST STUPID CLAIM I EVER HEARD. How dare you call it useless? You are more worthless than these pieces of paper here..." He backlashed.

"I, as agreed will make you beg for your life as you recently just did to our parents, I will not kill you easily. I will make you experience hell as a preparation for you, meeting your creator with that despicable look in your face." Thoughts coalesced with deep hatred came to me like this.

I faced one of the frozen bullets in the air and undid the time-bound spell set by the goddess by a snap of the finger. First, I made it hit his right knee, which is indeed arguably the most painful spot to be hit one, without directly killing the target.

"GGAHHHHHH!!! What, what did you do!!! You'll pay for making the heir of the family experience such!"

"Heir? Family? You? Look at you! You're nothing but cannon fodder. An evolved livestock deserving of humiliation. A disgrace to the name of the Cendrillon Aristocracy."

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT?- AHHHHHH SH*T, SH*T SHH****TTTTT" Whilst in the pangs of pain and agony, he tried to run from my presence with the help of a single leg which I, would be taking too, shortly.

Second bullet. I hit his second knee, making any vigor of escape totally daunted and faltered.

"G-GAHHHH!! YOU, HAVE YOU MADE CONTACT WITH A DEMOOONNN?!!!--AHHHHHHH CURSE YOUUU!" he hypothesized...

"It's not a demon. I...made creed with a goddess who was merely passing by, got bored and decided to help, in other words, this pain you are experiencing now was due to my zeal with the extramundane, a deity who calls herself as the goddess of disambiguation who bares an authority over time." I said it with hatred suppressed at both my heart and mind.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAA, SCREW YOU, AND YOUR FANTASTIC HALLUCINATIONS! GAHHHHH! I-it hurts so much GAHHHH! HAHAHAHAHAHA" He burst into laughter, covering his troubled-self with that of an unfunny circus clown.

In pain, he groveled to the ground. There was so much blood. He was bathing on his own, but how should I say this! It is such a beautiful visage!

Third bullet. I shot his shoulder, popping off one of his arms

"AHHHHHHH, S-STOP! STOP NOW!!!!"

"Hmmmmm?? And why should I? Did you stop when little sister begged for her life?"

"GHHH... and H-how did you know that? "

"I told you already, a goddess offered help and is here with us spectating the very last living moments of the most foolish person that have ever existed."

He then looked around with heavy grasping and blood gushing out from the wounds the bullets have inflicted, in search for the said-goddess. But it looks like he can't see her.

"SOME SH*T YOU ARE SPOUTING THERE! THERE'S NOTHING HERE BUT US AND THESE ROTTEN CORPSES!"

"What did you just say? I dare you to say that again you retard..."

I grabbed his wounded shoulder and cut the wounds more open using my finger's tight grip.

"GHAAAAAAAAAAAA!" There was nothing he could do but meliorate the pain by the means of desperate screaming.

The fourth bullet, as I was still not satisfied. I hit his other shoulder, cutting off another arm.

He then was losing consciousness, but I made sure that he would not. For every attempt of his eyes to close, I would gobble one of his wounds making him awake.

And then I was getting ready to serve the main dish of pain. And that is, for the final three bullets to pierce his bare heart.

"Pl- please... Kill me now. I- I want none of this no longer." He was hopeless. He was in deep pain that is incomparable for me to imagine. Yet, I know that he deserves more than this little chastening that I, his 'younger brother' am giving him.

"NOW THAT'S THE SPIRIT!, but before that, I would like to remind you of the sins you committed just this night."

"1st. You let your hunger for power take over your humanity."

"2nd. You killed 'our' family which you even called 'Hooligans'."

"3rd. You did not listen to our sister's pitiful voice when she begged for life."

"4th. You made me sign a contract with a deity, a contract of which I know nothing of (Well partially that was my fault, not to mention, I did not read the conditions prior approval)."

"And lastly, the most deranged sin was... your existence itself."

"Now brother... the heir not of this family, but of shame and the embodiment of foolishness, take your leave from this world with your legacy intact."

Having said that, at will, I let the three remaining bullets....purge down, with his heart as the final destination.

After a very loud shout, while wearing a pitiful and grotesque facade, he then breathed his last.

That makes it the fourth corpse on the mansion.

Then, from the crimson-colored environment, it returned to being monochromatic.

I looked at the moon by the window to take back which I said prior..." I wish, that the moon would not be as large as this. it will just remind me, the size of the empty hole in myself and this shrewd picture of derangement. "

Then later, I heard a gentle myriad of claps coming from behind me. I looked, and there she was, the goddess who forced allegiance with me and is, fortunately, hiding something I know nothing about.

"*Clap, clap, clap*"

"What a wonderful performance that was. Both you and your brother deserves Oscar's award if I were to be the panelist."

"Shut up. Could you tell me what happened? You promised that I will never feel anything again, yet what happened was the complete opposite."

"My my! What a vulgar mouth you have there, telling a goddess to shut up, and besides this is partly your fault as you were too lenient to read the conditions, but I, out of the kindness of my heart shall tell you this..."

"What?"

"Truly, the contract promised to make your emotions null. But it did not say 'right away'."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember, how the clock-like symbol on your hand moved just moments ago?"

"Yes it did, and what of it?"

"That showed that you conquered the first and second emotions, which are 'anger' and 'fear'. Tonight, was your last feel of those. As you can see, humans have 12 major emotions, each one assigned to the 12-hour threshold in that Insignia. Anger. Happiness. Sorrow. Disgust. Anticipation. Fear. Love and etcetera. To put it simply, there are 10 more emotions for you to encounter for the last time before your wish is wholly granted. There are no shortcuts, but to everything, there is a process, as the conditions which you did not read explicitly stated. That, young Jaiden, ends today's lesson which you solely named as your 'Zeal with the Extramundane', of which you were too lenient to inform yourself more."

"Well, does that make me a 'Pseudo-Sociopath' or some sort?"

"Pseudo... Hehehe. I guess."

Chapter end