?1488  A Mortal''s Defiance.


    Meanwhile, Duke Humphrey enveloped by the crimson shadows of the forbidden array, lifted his hand in silentmand.


    He knew that time wasn''t his ally, so he straightaway began the second phase of the n after ensuring that enough fallen specters were created.


    "By the authority vested in me by The Godfather," Duke Humphrey''s voice resonated like distant thunder, echoing through the empty void of the spectral realm, "I herebymand all fallen specters across this realm to heed my call. It is time to cleanse this ce of your wretched existence!"


    As ifpelled by an irresistible force, the fallen specters across the entire realm stopped whatever they were doing and lifted their heads to the sky.


    Then, their bodies began to twist and writhe in anguish, their ghostly forms contorting as if struggling against an invisible tide.


    "What the hell is wrong with you? Stop messing around!"


    "What''s happening?!"


    "vey? Are you good?"


    The masters near their fallen servants were left utterly stunned and somewhat freaked out at the sight of dark tendrils of energy surging from their servants'' ethereal bodies, coalescing into massive, swirling negative energy clouds that hung ominously in the air!


    Before they could react, Duke Humphrey''s eyes glowed with an intensity that seemed to pierce the very souls of those gathered.


    "Let the fallen embrace their fate," he dered, his voice resolute. "Implode and release the darkness that clings to you, and in doing so, taint those nearby with your malevolence!"


    BOOOOOOOOOOM BOOOOOOM BOOOOOM!!...


    The fallen specters obeyed and unleashed their pent-up negative energies through a massive implosion, causing the clouds of darkness to billow outward, sweeping across the spectral realm like a storm!!


    The masters were the first to get hit by the dark clouds, causing them to transform into fallen specters almost instantly before they could even utter a single scream!


    Just like a gue had been activated, they imploded on the spot as well and released simr dark clouds, enhancing the spread even further!


    Screams, shouts, and cries resounded in every city around the realm as the dark clouds kept engulfing other wandering spirits in their malevolent grasp.


    One by one, these hapless souls sumbed to the darkness, their forms twisted and contorted until they too became fallen specters.


    This macabre cycle continued relentlessly, spiraling into a never-ending cascade of implosions and transformations!


    ''This can''t be happening...''


    Ravager was witnessing this horrific chain of implosions happening right in front of him in the capital city while he was flying in the direction of his house.


    His heart was thrown into the depth of despair as he watched the fallen specters get erased from existence, not leaving even the spirit me behind...


    Each implosion implied a confirmed death and he refused to believe this for a simple reason...His little sister was still a fallen.


    ''Massia...Massia...Please be safe, please be safe...''


    He kept begging, wishing, and hoping as he rushed at his top speed across the city, not caring about his telekinesis barrier getting eaten rapidly.


    The moment he arrived at his house, he burst through the door and rushed to his little sister''s room, where hest left her.


    s, the entire room was filled to the brim with dark energy, making it close to impossible to see one''s own fingers.


    "It can''t be...Not like this..."


    Ravager mumbled with a petrified expression as he walked through the dark fog, step by step until he reached the bed.


    With a single stare, the wind picked up its pace and pushed the dark fog away from the bed, clearing his vision atst.


    What he found shattered his heart to pieces...


    A silver elegant ring was sitting on top of the sheets all by itself.


    This was thest piece of jewelry given to her by his parents and she cherished it from a young age, not leaving her finger even when she turned into a fallen.


    He also had a simr one as they were purchased as two items for the price of one when their family was poor...


    Overwhelmed by grief, Ravager floated to the bed and reached out to sp the ring in his hand. As he held it, his tears flowed freely atst, shimmering like spectral dewdrops.


    He could feel the echoes of their past, theughter, and the warmth of their childhood.


    ''Why? Why? What did she ever do wrong to deserve this? Why?'' He sniffled silently as he hugged the ring, ''What did we do wrong to deserve this...''


    All he had ever wanted was to live peacefully with his family, nothing more, nothing less...But the cutthroat rules in the heavenly ne shattered his dreams.


    Now, even when his parents were already kicked out and he could finally afford to live in peace with his little sister after working his ass off, she ended up dead anyways.


    A fate that shouldn''t have happened in the spirit realm...


    As Ravager wept, a sinister force seemed to sense his vulnerability. The dark energy of his little sister surged forth, battering against the telekic barrier he had erected around himself.


    The barrier crackled and wavered as the malevolence wed at it, hungry to consume him as it had his sister.


    Despite the danger, Ravager clung to the ring, his sobs echoing through the room. The tears he shed were not just for Massia but for the countless souls who had met the same tragic unfair fate.


    As the dark energy continued to assail his barrier, Ravager''s resolve to live seemed to have shattered...


    His heart was filled with pain and hatred towards no one but Lord Hades even when he knew that all of this was rted to the fallen specters organization.


    He lifted his head, his hazy eyes reddened akin to a demon, staring into the ceiling, seemingly wanting to stare directly into Lord Hades'' eyes.


    "Lord Hades!" Ravager''s voice echoed like thunder, reverberating through the eerie expanse of the fallen city. "You, who are entrusted with the souls of the departed, have failed us all!"


    His words were a searing usation, a condemnation that cut through the oppressive silence.


    The screams of the terrified surviving spirits and the constant implosions happening around the city seemed to agree in response to his rage.


    "You swore to protect us, to safeguard our souls from the darkness," Ravager continued, his voice quivering with a mix of sorrow and fury. "Yet, under your rule, we were put in absolute misery and now my little sister and countless others have been consumed by the very darkness you were meant to keep at bay!"


    The dark fog around Ravager picked up, swirling around him as if amplifying his words. But in reality, it was taking advantage of his emotional instability to enhance its devouring process.


    But Ravager didn''t seem to care that his telekinesis barrier was about to shatter and expose him to a simr fate.


    "You sit upon your throne, your chains a symbol of your power, while we suffer and wither away!" His voice cracked with unprocessed emotion. "You are a betrayer of trust and a blight upon this realm! If you weren''t going to protect and care for us, you should have left us as mindless wandering spirits!"


    "Why bother giving us poor spirits a taste of an afterlife, and then forcing us to fight for our stay every single day?!"


    "Why bother to free us from the shackles of eternal peacefulness just to put us into a torturous life?!"


    Crackk!!


    As his voice got louder and more powerful, he didn''t seem to notice that his telekinesis barrier had shattered and his skin was in full contact with the dark energy!


    Without an ounce of mercy, the dark energy infested his body and began absorbing his illumination.


    Yet, Ravager wasn''t even close to finishing his rant.


    "What''s the point?! If you had any good faith, you should have created an actual heaven where spirits live in it without evil in their hearts, loving and caring for each other until eternity! Yet, you created a capitalistic hell-like society and called it a heavenly ne, not caring that more than 90% of spirits were barely living on a day-to-


    day basis!"


    Ravager''s chest heaved with anger and sorrow, but he knew that his words alone would not bring about the change he so desperately sought.


    He had uttered his defiance, his challenge to the ruler of the spectral realm, knowing that his words fell on deaf ears.


    In his eyes, Lord Hades didn''t even know of his existence and his entire rant was nothing but a mosquito buzz in the ears of a god.


    ''I am dying...''


    As Ravager broke out of his tirade atst, he noticed that his entire body was on the verge of being consumed by the negative energy.


    He didn''t know why, but he could sense his damnation fast approaching. Still, his grief-fueled rage burned hotter than the fear of death.


    In his final moments, he clung to his defiance and raised his darkened hand, fingers contorting into an unmistakable gesture...A middle finger.


    With a voice that seemed to shake the very foundations of the spectral realm, he bellowed, "F*CK YOU, HADES!"


    His words reverberated through the haunting stillness, a burning deration of his resistance against the ruler of the underworld!


    His spectral eyes zed with spite even as they faded into the abyss...As thest ignite disappeared from his heart, his soul exploded inward with a fiery burst of energy.


    BOOOOOOOOOM!!


    The ring he was holding so dearly, flew into the ceiling and fell back on the bed, sitting right next to his own silver ring...


    In such moments, one would say, ''I hope they reunite in the afterlife and live a blissful life.''


    s...Sigh.