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“There are no rules in the infinite Void. Impossible becomes possible and you never know when everything will change. A firestorm can become an icy blizzard in a matter of seconds. Creatures you thought long gone, can rise from the dead and attack you with a ferocity never seen before. Truly, the Void is a place where horrors become real, but even then, there is a certain beauty to it all.”

~ Into the Abyss by Lone Traveler

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Silence and almost complete darkness surrounded Leo from every side as his eyes snapped open. He gasped for air, reeling back even as his body burned with every move. Third time in a row, Leo groaned, resting his head against a kitchen cupboard.

Was it all real? The red light, the clone, maybe even the weird System. It just couldn’t be a dream. Not when, ever since his eyes opened, Leo felt like a completely different person, a different being.

The aches and bits of lingering pain may have remained, but Leo never felt better than at this exact moment. There was just something thrumming underneath his skin, pumping him with infinite energy, and as Leo tried to focus on this anomaly, he finally understood.

The power of the Soul. Essence.

It coursed through the entirety of Leo's body like a raging river. The feeling of weightlessness and unlimited power tried to reel him in, almost drowning Leo in his own energy. Only when his instincts — which Leo still wasn’t sure how he possessed — screamed, did he manage to wake up from the haze that threatened to consume his mind.

Shit, Leo growled, trying to wrestle the fiery inferno under control. The Essence fought back, lashing out and refusing to bend the knee. The clone evidently forgot to inform Leo that his own life force planned an assassination right after waking up.

It was only thanks to the emergence of Leo’s instinct that he somehow managed to shove his Essence a bit deeper inside his body. Sweat forming everywhere, Leo pushed one more time, the flow of Essence finally settling down.

The infinite energy his Essence provided, evaporated in a matter of a second, leaving Leo almost hollow. He slumped, his body once again spent, feeling like it was run over by a herd of charging bulls for the second time in a few hours.

Here goes my hope for a quick recovery…

A few quick breaths managed to slightly calm his still rampaging heart. Leo knew that this respite was only temporary, especially with new lines of text hanging in front of his vision and the weird phantom stinging in his left arm.

Tainted status assimilated and dormant. Congratulations, survivor, you managed to delay the taint from spreading any further. Be advised that to stop any future activation of this status, a constant supply of Pure Void Essence will be required.

Glad to know that this part is also real, Leo snarked as the notification faded away and once again left him in the company of darkness. The faint red light coming through the window that barely illuminated the opposite part of the kitchen didn’t count in Leo’s opinion.

The world must have really gone to hell. Neither the sun nor the moon shone with that kind of color. And why is the lamp turned off… He grumbled internally. Leo was pretty sure it worked before he got dragged into his soul.

“No matter,” he murmured, hands reaching towards the kitchen counter in hopes of providing enough support to stand up. I have to figure out what the hell is really going on. The clone warned…

Leo’s thought process stopped when his left hand gripped the counter. The grip was all wrong, almost crushing the wood in its grasp. Even worse was the soft crimson glow coming from underneath the sleeve. How did I not notice this...

Gulping, Leo rose to his feet and positioned himself right in front of the window, the only place providing a decent source of light. This is gonna suck.

Taking a deep breath, Leo’s left hand rose.

It was wrong, inhuman, demonic. Gray, jagged and uneven skin covered the entire deformed hand. It looked like someone painted thousands of scars upon the limb and then let dogs maul it for hours. There was no hair, no soft surface left. Even worse were the crimson veins that glowed from within and pierced his skin in a few places.

Slowly Leo’s gaze strayed to his fingers, and at this moment, he knew that this was one of those moments that would stick with him for a very long time.

Longer than humanly possible, pitch-black claws grew at the tips of Leo’s gray and bony fingers, ready to tear apart anything that stepped in their way. In addition, thin veins, three for each finger, connected the claws with the rest of the hand. Although this time they at least decided to stay underneath the skin.

Truly a horrendous image that might break a lesser man, but not Leo. This barely compared to the sight of his mother’s broken body...

Stop, Leo shook his head and grabbed the sleeve that covered the rest of the demonic limb. This was not the time to drown in the past long gone. A past that Leo had been fighting with for years now...

In and out.

Inch by inch, the sleeve came up, uncovering more disfigured skin and glowing veins. Even the elbow wasn’t saved from the taint, and for a moment, Leo thought that his entire arm was already consumed.

Only when the bicep came into view, where gray gave way to naturally slightly tanned skin, did Leo release a sigh of relief.

Could be worse, Leo grimaced and flexed the inhuman arm. It didn’t feel any different from his normal limb, only now he had claws instead of normal fingers. How nice…

The feeling of normality remained only for a moment... Upon touch, Leo almost instantly snapped his other — human — hand away from the gray mass.

Cold, as if he touched a corpse, not a living and breathing human. The texture of the skin wasn’t much better. Stone hard, possessing none of the softness normal skin should have.

Leo didn’t even dare to touch the crimson veins. He had enough surprises to last a lifetime. Or at least the next hour… Not that Leo thought it possible to avoid any further shocks, especially not after he took a peek through the window.

“Bloody hell…” Leo mumbled, taking notice of the red sun happily hanging high in the sky. It mocked him as it bathed the entire neighborhood in a shallow blood-red glow. It was as if someone decided to paint the entire world in shades of red with a few other colors added to the mix.

Honestly, if not for the Sun’s position, Leo would have thought that the day was either at its beginning or end. Hell, even the rest of the sky looked like a crimson carpet instead of the usual blue hidden behind an endless expanse of rain clouds.

Probably for the first time in his life, Leo missed England’s shitty weather. Even the grass — Which definitely wasn’t that long when I last looked — and trees in the distance lacked their usual sway. Instead, they stood completely rigid, as if someone froze the entire world.

Focu...

Whatever thoughts Leo had, instantly vanished when a loud crash echoed through the entire house. Similar to the grass, he stood there almost frozen as something his mind forgot in the face of the entire world changing, became quite obvious.

Edward!

With a strength his body lacked just a second ago, Leo dashed back into the living room. “Edward!” He almost shouted, voice piercing through the veil of silence but getting nothing in response.

No, no, no, no, no!

The darkness of the corridor, only illuminated by Leo’s deformed hand, didn’t stop him from sprinting towards the bathroom door. Nor did it stop him from furiously banging at the wooden barrier.

“Come on! Open the fucking door!”

No words came back. Instead, a bone-chilling screech answered Leo’s call. No. Fists clenched, they both flew at the wooden door. Only the demonic hand left any dent.

“I’m coming in, father!” A lone tear flowed down Leo’s cheek, “You hear me!”

Empty words. Deep inside he knew that only pain waited for him behind that door. It didn’t stop him though, not when a member of his family was on the line.

Claws grabbed the lock, twisting, almost ripping it out. Maybe if Leo wasn’t so drunk on emotions, he would be surprised by the strength of the deformed limb. But no, only the click registered in Leo’s mind as he grabbed the door handle.

Any decency that a normal human should have when barging into an occupied bathroom was left forgotten as Leo swung the door open with a bang. His eyes immediately widened at the sight in front of him.

A lone figure stood in front of a mirror, its ruby glare already pointed at the intruder. As dark as the room was, it didn’t stop Leo from seeing what he feared the most.

No… Father.

Nothing except the familiar face and scraps of clothes remained of Edward. The gray, almost black skin melded perfectly with what was left of his hair. Unlike Leo’s inhuman arm, his father’s only disfiguration was the hundreds of cracks spilling all over his body. Cracks that glowed from within with an infuriating scarlet light.

Leo backed off a step, “Father.”

Razor-sharp teeth barred for all of the world to see. Edward — Your father is gone — stalked forward, another high-pitched screech leaving his throat.

Almost touching the wall behind him, Leo shouted, “Father stop! Listen to me!”

The creature jumped.

Instinctively Leo sidestepped, wincing when the creature's fingernails tore through his shoulder like it was butter. Apparently, Leo wasn't the only one gifted with a perfect butcher's tool instead of fingers.

Clutching his throbbing shoulder, Leo bolted through the corridor, right into the living room without ever giving the fallen creature another glance.

He had to hide, wait out the monster or maybe trap it. What else could he do? Leo wasn’t afraid of fighting back, god knew he had the experience. He just didn’t know if he had the mental strength to do it. No matter how hard his mind tried to reason that this creature wasn’t Edward, Leo’s heart refused to listen.

Not even his strong bitterness towards Edward could stop Leo from acknowledging the man as family. And family helped each other no matter what happened. I just have to find a way.

Unfortunately, the monster never planned to give Leo a chance to strategize. It barged into the living room like a bloodhound seeking its prey. Leo barely had enough time to bring up his arms before Edward’s body crashed right into him.

They barreled on the floor, engaged in a wrestling match. Leo punched and scratched with his claws, trying to push the creature off him, but his opponent did everything in its strength to remain on top.

As the creature’s jaw neared his throat, Leo’s instincts punched through whatever blockade his heart created and let the mind take over.

Get off! Holding nothing back, Leo pushed as every vein in his body, even the ones outside his taint, burned with a crimson glow.

The monster sailed through the room and crashed into the opposite wall. It howled, in anger or pain, Leo didn’t care which as he stalked forward, a familiar ability activating as he gazed at the creature.

Cursed Human (Voidling) | Rank: F- | LVL: 1

You’re not my father. You are just a monster parading in his skin. I won’t let you.

Leo’s human hand shot to the monster’s neck, pushing the Voidling against the wall as he dragged it to eye level The creature wailed like a banshee, flinging its arms at the offending limb.

Blood dripped, and skin burned as more and more scratches appeared on Leo’s arm. Once again, he didn’t care, he only had eyes for the creature that stole his last biological parent.

“You’re not my father,” Leo whispered as a bloody tear fell down his cheek. “You’re not him.”

Pitch-black claws sailed forward, burying deep inside the monster’s chest.

The screech the Voidling released was like none other. Loud and primal.

Even when its volume threatened to burst Leo’s eardrums, he still stood there, squeezing the life out of the monster with each hand. Not even the increased glow of his demonic arm and the sudden darkening of the creature’s skin brought Leo out of his trance.

Only when the monster slid to the floor, no longer able to support its weight, did Leo notice the changes. Gone was the soft glow of the monster’s cracked skin and its ruby-eyed glare... Now in his hand, Leo held a pitch-black husk of a man, drained of life.

Cursed Human (LVL: 1) slain | Experience awarded | 1 Ether gained

Reinforcement learned.

Your taint is now satiated. Benefits gained for the next 8 hours. Passive Limit Break is now active.

Fully aware of the notifications, Leo left them unanswered, gasping for breath as his father's body disintegrated before his eyes. From the stab wounds left by Leo’s claws, a steady river of dust seeped out, leaving a bigger and bigger hole. In a matter of seconds, only a handful of dust remained in Leo’s grasp.

“I’m so sorry,” he sobbed, falling to his knees right in front of the pile of dust. Whatever additional strength Leo gained, disappeared along with the glow in the not-tainted part of his body.

Tears fell freely, and Leo did nothing to stop them. He couldn’t, not after the reality of the last few minutes fully caught up to him.

He just sat there, eyes fixed on the remains of his father as he wept for another member of his family lost. First, the mother who meant everything to him, taken away by the idiocy of humanity. And now Edward, who, despite all of his faults, did almost everything to repair their relationship.

If only…

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Leo gritted out, fist clenching as blood spilled down his shoulder.

Leo wasn’t even sure who was the recipient of his question. They were both at fault, be it his stubbornness or Edward’s cowardice. Even then, deep inside, Leo knew that he could have been the bigger man and put an end to their dispute. But now…

… Now, none of it mattered anymore.

They were never going to get another chance to talk, to finally bury the hatchet between them. Edward died thinking that his only son resented him, while Leo had to forever live with the guilt of not forgiving his father.

And this was only the beginning.

No.

Leo stood up, wiping the tears with his bloody sleeve. “No more.”

Mother, father, and who else of his family. They all might be gone, but Leo couldn’t give up now. He had to find them all, dead or alive. He had to keep his promise and find out if anyone survived.

And if they did?

Then Leo would fight for them, move mountains if he had to. No matter what, he would protect them from this new twisted reality even until his last dying breath. They were all he had left…

After all, what was the sense of living without a purpose?