Chapter 88: Forbidden.
"I'm sorry."
"I couldn't tell you while you were alive how sorry I am for everything I did, all the stupid shit I said was because I couldn't get you to notice me, because I've always loved you." Dina had her forehead in his palm, holding on to his hand and crying, while the others watched her unable to hear her inaudible whispers.
"I was such a coward... that I even asked Ikaris to close one eye and allow me to befriend you just so I wouldn't be left by myself, but... Ugh!" She shook her head unable to utter another word as she felt the urge to throw up.
Ikaris was still in shock, as if she found it impossible, which she in fact did, Sol was supposed to be the greatest; those declarations she had made of him were not based on infatuation, she had altered his every atom on their exit of Atla, his body was not supposed to break this easily, even against a blow like Dr'ul's when he was much weaker than his current self, he had only suffered fissures to the blood vessels in his hands.
He was supposed to be a being of pure and constant evolution, how could something as superficial as a hole in his chest kill him so easily when he had been blessed with an immortal body?
Because of this shock she had become numb; numb to touch, numb to words, even her vision was blurred and unfocused as if she too was dead, and Han had quickly taken advantage of her numbness and everyone else's grief.
The soldiers who remained were the ones who believed that Sol truly was strong, the ones that had seen him do impossible things constantly in the past, and poor Sara couldn't even stand, she spent more time with Sol than even Ikaris did, and aside from Ikaris Sara was the second person who knew him on a personal level enough to call him friend confidently, everyone had lost an acquaintance, but she had just lost her best friend.
The maid sat where Sol had been seated earlier with Ikaris, away from everyone else with her face buried in her legs and a piece of his armour that had torn off after he was attacked clutched in her grasp while she shook and sobbed.
"I'm sorry," Han held Ikaris's head to his chest combing his fingers through her hair and hugging her tightly onto himself, squishing her against him to 'comfort' her. "Nobody could have predicted that it would happen so suddenly, if I could have helped at all I'd have thrown my own life away to try and save his."
The bastard lied through his teeth, but Ikaris was still unresponsive, she just couldn't cope.
"Come on, I'll take you back to your tent to lie down, you can deal with this after you've closed your eyes for a bit," Han took her by her hand and started leading her away, and without any resistance Ikaris began following him while her eyes blurred further and her mind deteriorated into more numbing thoughts.
[Forbidden]
"Huh?" Han raised his brow when he saw the message before him, but he kept leading her regardless.
Not just him either, it was displayed before everyone.
"What? Forbidden?" Sara rubbed her eyes and stared at it.
[Absolutely forbidden, blasphemous, a complete disregard for the laws of nature; of life and death, for the foundational laws that build this universe, this action will lead to a collapse-]
"Then let the universe implode upon itself and take every living being with it."
Dina jolted in shock and sat up staring as a warm hand rested on her cheek, wiped her tears and then patted her head gently.
"How dare you, Han Young?"
Everyone watched appalled as he stood and began walking toward them, the hole in his chest shut with a thundersous thump as his heart began beating again, and magic like they had never seen or felt before spread across a massive expanse, shooting off like the second impact of a meteor, leaving the stars dim as the skies were filled with balls of white mana crashing back to the surface for miles upon miles in every direction, it harmed nothing, it didn't even push them, it simply encompassed everything within its range.
[Forbidden-]
"Silence!"
Sol raised his head, eyes brimming with life and a pissed expression on his face as he opened his mouth. "Ikaris." He called her in a solid monotone.
The Goddess's fading consciousness snapped back into full throttle, her blurred eyes refocused, her body stiffened, her hearing started working again, her sense of touch returned and she stopped walking causing Han who had been leading her by her shoulders at this point from behind to bump into her.
"A-are you okay?" He asked surprised. As the word [forbidden] began glitching from the system being temporarily suppressed.
"Master." Ikaris turned around as if the world before her had been on fire.
Pushing Han's hand out of her way she ran shakily and heaved as she crashed into Sol who was just about to call her name again.
"Mas-" She looked up, but Sol had honestly not even seen her yet, he could sense her turmoil, he could feel her pain the whole time, but when he stood after his sleep and sought her out to comfort her what he found was Han trying to sneak away with her, the darkness within him was brought to the surface.
Ikaris felt the bloodlust as these feelings of possession were returned, and her sigils that had gone dark ignited with mana throughout her body causing heat to spread across and beneath her skin as he held her onto himself and raised his right hand at Han, opening his palm as his hair turned white and the entire world seemed to stop breathing for his next word.
[Imaginary tier flame magic: Infernus]
"Burn."
"Hear me out-"
Hans eyes bulged after he looked at Sol, but that bulge became a *pop as he was literally boiled from the inside out and caught ablaze.
Ikaris held on to Sol when she finally realised what was happening, and Sol's grip on her shoulder tightened again when he felt her shaking against him.
Sol snapped his fingers.
[Reverse]
Han was suddenly fine again with the only evidence of the fire from a moment ago being the red steaming ground beneath him, screaming from the phantom pain of being scorched alive, he looked up at Sol and shrieked in terror turning with the intention of running away.
[Mana bullet]
Once again, Han experienced death as small projectiles flew through and around him faster than the speed of sound taking chunks of his entire body at a time and even a fraction of his head, but as his consciousness was about to fade he appeared before Sol a third time, completely fine.
"No Wait!!-"
*Snap*
Han's hands and feet exploded off his body sending him screaming and ragdolling onto his back as nothing more than a torso before several thin rods fell from the sky and pierced him full of holes.
*Snap*
He returned to normal again screaming and staring at his hands and legs.
"Please!!"
*Snap* large bugs appeared out of nowhere and regurgitated caustic bile on him, melting him to a partial skeleton.
*Snap*
*Snap*
*Snap*
*SNAP*
***
Nobody, not the captains, not the heroes, no soldier, and not even the gods dared to defy this wicked act of personal revenge against Han.
Sol was honest to a fault when it came to his goddess, and there had been one single rule he had laid out on the very first day. "Do not fuck with her." And yet it seemed like it was the one thing everyone kept doing. "Diablos, Han Young, Saat, princess Darla Vermon, that one hired swindler by the same princess who's name he (I the author) couldn't remember, the demigods, Kane Angelman...
and countless noblemen in Argom who had been rejected by her, It was frustrating he'd had enough.
"Whooooh~" Han was laying on the ground with his eyes barely focused and his limbs limply spread.
"How long has it been?" Arla asked, they had mostly all left, some out of horror, and others because they could not stomach what Sol was doing to the hero of the sword. Even Ikaris had fallen asleep to the sounds of Han's screams that night, but Arla remained behind Sol as did Dina and Idria who was on standby in case he left him for dead at the end of his wrath.
"Hours," Dina had Ikaris sleeping with her head rested in her lap while she slowly caressed her back. "It's about to be daytime." She gestured to the horizon and her mentor nodded. "His mind finally broke," Dina stared at Han unsympathetically and then looked at Sol who snapped once more.
"He has killed him hundreds of times already what more imaginative ways could he possibly have?" Idria asked disturbed down to the pits of her stomach and barely holding down her dinner after some of the things that she had seen.
"It won't be a problem for you all, right?" Sol turned to them.
"Problem?" Arla perked up after the hours of elapsed silence and screams led way to Sol's first words, Sol nodded and pointed to Han who was currently being swallowed by a portal of sorts.
"I'm keeping him, he'll rapidly grow in strength obviously, I'll turn him into an efficient demon-killing machine, I'll even restore his mind, but as far as his life goes... his very existence is forfeit to me now; I won't tolerate his schemes any further, I'm asking if anyone has a problem with that?" Sol's eyes held a very distinct kind of hostility as if he was daring someone to say 'yes'.
"...Of course not."
"Good." Sol started walking toward them being cast as a dark shadow with glowing white eyes as the sun peeked over the horizon behind him.
"I don't want any more enemies, Han is the last time I'll show mercy, I don't care who or what it is, as of this moment I'm shelving what's left of the goodwill within me." Sol declared and stopped before them, staring northward with blazing eyes and a grimace that caused Ikaris to wake after sensing his anger.
"Sitri, I know you're watching; stay put and don't you dare run away."
"I'm coming for your head."