Chop
Chop
Chop
Chop
Crunch
The youth's inexpensive, worn-out knife sliced through the onions' fleshy leaves. Each of his clumsy cuts was worse than the prior.
Narrowing his eyes the youth attempted to limit the passage of the onion liquid from irritating his eyes.
Obviously, this proved to be futile.
The bastardous liquids had laid their claim on his eyes which in response caused an exceptionally annoying experience.
This slight nuance proved ineffective towards the youths' unwavering cutting.
With a continuous rhythmic motion of his wrist, the knife moved front and back, quivering seemingly annoyed by the youths' lack of experience.
Eventually, this grueling task was completed. The youth now in a stupor elevated his gaze towards his apartment's low ceiling.
The ceiling's monotone tapestry was tinted a dull yellow with the occasional water stain making its presence known.
Alexander had lived in this refurbished apartment for several years now.
The constant hum of silence always allayed within the apartment, its vague tone annoyed him.
Whenever he fell asleep
Whenever he ate
Even when he worked, Alexander would constantly hear that same pitch within his head.
Even when it was absent from his perception.
He hated it.
Countless times Alex had protested his complaints in the form of emails to the complex owners.
Each attempt was in vain.
Unfortunately, Alexander lacked the courage to speak face-to-face with the complex owners. They were an elderly couple, both of which enjoyed reprimanding tenants.
He hadn't wanted to take such a risk and make a fool of himself.
His life had reached its harshest chapter, and honestly, he had contemplated if it should be his conclusion, but he was too cowardly to commit such an act.
His life was neither good nor poor.
Mundane and bland, would be the best suited words to describe his meaningless existence.
Alexander felt apathetic towards everything.
He was in a twilight of sorts,
Reaching for the knife Alexander gingerly threw it into the sink.
Clank!
Giving the loud sound no heed, Alexander opened the cheap laminated wooden cabinets before reaching into their contents grasping what he desired.
Placing the small plastic topware on the solid surface of the contourtop Alexander gripped one side of the cutting board tiling its rectangular shape to one of its corners, where he pushed the pile of 'uniquely' diced onion into its empty space.
Grasping the small rectangular topware, Alexander turned his body until he was met with his fridge.
It was nearly his height 188cm, a pale white color with a curved accent around the edges.
Tracing his fingers along the fridge's long plastic handle, Alexander grappled his fingers and aggressively opened the fridge.
Pop!
Faced with a breeze of cold frigid air Alexander placed the small container onto one of the insides many plastic shelves.
"Phew,"
"Finally finished that…"
The onion was for his dinner the following day.
"How the hell did my life fall to such a point" Alexander mumbled as he walked into the living room.
His life was once filled with childish hope and aspirations.
During his formative years, Alexander was once revered as a talented hacker and programmer.
He toiled for days in front of that rectangular monitor perched on his gaming chair.
His vision had deteriorated from the constant view of blue light, and his social life was basically absent.
Alexander's only form of social interaction centered around online forums dedicated to computers and software.
Reddit was his domain.
His mother would constantly nag him for his consecutive absences from the family.
Alexander would always promise his mother that he would be present, but these were always airy words. He never attended the yearly family gatherings.
Alexander paid little attention to such meaningless events, he was always preoccupied.
Hacking.
A lucrative form of sadistic entertainment for the youth
But that was the catalyst for his current predicament.
Plopping onto the old gray sofa, Alexander extended his arm reaching toward his end table.
After some struggle, Alexander took hold of a book, or more specifically a novel.
Staring at the novel's cover for several seconds, he examined the detailed illustration featured on it.
The character wore a loose-fitting jacket adorned with bright yellow patterns, paired with a black turtleneck that highlighted his slim yet muscular build. He had black, loose-fitting trousers. The youth's hair was a distinctive ashen gray, complemented by piercing crimson eyes. In his hand, he held an awesome Ōdachi, which he rested on his shoulder.
As is typical for protagonists, Lux was exceptionally handsome.
"The Twilight Sword sovereign" Alexander mumbled aloud as he read the cover.
It was the fourteenth volume within the series and one of Alexander's few mediums of entertainment.
The novel was nothing special, merely a guilty pleasure which he liked to indulge in.
It was like junk food, we know it's not good for us, and yet we still stuff our gorge ourselves in it.
That was this novel.
It was an utterly cliche form of fiction, with a repetitive and honestly meaningless story. The novel is unfortunately a Harem power fantasy.
The characters were more two-dimensional than a piece of printer paper and equally as bland.
The main character's name is 'Lux'.
He's the closest thing you can get to a harem protagonist.
"I fucking hate this bastard" Alexander fumed as he stared towards the printed copy in his hands.
It was meaningless to vent rage, But Alex needed to find an excuse to not start the novel.
It was the narrative's resolution.
"4,059 chapters of this brain-numbing story… "
Alexander weary with this prospect soothed his mind with several deep breaths.
"I feel like I should put off reading it for another several days,"
But against his own judgment he continued to his desire.
Adjusting his body into a comfortable position Alexander gingerly opened the book to view its contents.
Hours passed as he read the words sprawled out on each page.
He laughed
He cried
He grinded his teeth as he gaped towards the pages trying to make out what nonsense was going on.
But soon like all good things the novel ended, And he was quite 'satisfied' with the resolution.
"They all died," Alexander spoke in a tone that almost sounded like he was asking a question.
"But how?" Alex mused as he reread the final fight sequence
***
Posturing his gate into a firm stance, Lux reached towards his chest cavity forcing his heart to beat at rapidly irregular intervals.
Gritting his teeth, Lux was enthralled as he felt his every vein burst forth with the powers of several magical forces.
Prana
Qi
Mana
Aura
Spiritual energy
These energies were sourced from his many lovers and comrades who guided their powers into his own.
Alas Lus Readied himself further
"Forte die tue" Bellied Lux
Finalizing the array of motion, a great beam of concentrated light and darkness simultaneously spiraled forward tethering to each of the hero party foes.
From this moment forward the battle seemed to shift tides.
The vast army of fallen angels monsters and deities seemed to be at a disadvantage.
Unfortunately, this hope was soon eclipsed by writhes of laughter coming from the enemy epicenter.
An unaccounted variable
"Impounded fools" Bellowed a loud cynical and glitched voice.
Rising from the center of the enemy forces rose a great figure spanning thousands of miles in high radiating an impossible flow of the primordial forces.
From Lux and his party's viewpoint, it seemed as if they were facing the physical incarnation of the cosmos.
Lux felt nothing but helplessness.
His system which had guided him for years barraged him with nothing but warnings.
[Host is advised to evacuate the battle region!!]
[Host is advised to evacuate the battle region!!]
[Host is advised to evacuate the battle region!!]
[Host is advised to evacuate the battle region!!]
…
His tool to power was now telling him to give up?
"I can't … No I WILL SLAY YOU VILE FIEND!" yelled Lux with a voice filled with newfound conviction
Why would he let his comrades down, especially after the countless tribulations they had endured together!
Was all of that meaningless…
No!
Of course, it wasn't!
Scoffing from a distance the entity swiped his index and middle finger in a lazy motion eradicating the planet.
This was the last thing anyone saw before being faced with the perpetual darkness of death.
____________________
Final serialized Chapter of the Twilight Sword Sovereign. I hope you enjoyed this journey as much as I did writing it.
***
"???"
"What a lazy ending," "but I've seen worse I guess"
Alexander said stifling a yawn
Placing the book on the coffee table Alexander fixed his slouched back and just stared at the novel.
He didn't know what to feel,
Happy
Sad
Rage
Annoyance
Or just total nonchalance
Alexander just acknowledged the pit of emptiness growing within him.
"Huuuu…"
"What now…"
Alexander had to go to work in a few hours and he had yet to get ready.
And to be frank he didn't care, he just wanted to Raleigh in the fact he finished reading the novel.
He had spent the last four years reading Lux's adventure, he picked up the novel when he was 18 at the time he had graduated from high school and was a freshman in college.
His friend had complained about the novel which piqued Alexander's own curiosity hence he started reading the novel.
And Now now he was 22
"How time flies" Alexander spoke bitterly staring at the coffee table with forlorn eyes.
He wasn't a kind or altruistic person,
Alexander was like everyone else.
selfish,
He just wanted to live rather than pass his every day with aimless ambition.
But Alexander didn't want to receive a scolding from his superior
So whether or not to go, he was still forced to go to the office.
There was no ultimatum, he had to pay his bills.
***
Click
Locking his apartment door Alexander made his way to the complex stair shaft.
"15 flights of fucking stairs in this fucking suit" Alexander spoke with a wince.
The constant action of walking down the long flight of stairs was beginning to take a toll on his feet.
And it did not help that said feet were encased in a set of dress shoes.
After several minutes of enduring such pain
Alexander was eventually faced with the first floor.
Walking through the entry made by the automatic door he was met with the natural aroma of smog.
"The fresh City air"
The surroundings were as expected within a city.
Narrow streets
Traffic
Spires of moderately sized buildings dotted the city with the occasional skyscraper.
But worst of all was the pollution.
Trash loitered along the pavement, and the ground was essentially covered with company labels with a variety of unhealthy brands.
The world was gray,
War had broken everyone and everything, this once majestic city amounted to nothing more than a shell of its former self.
Work was as per usual,
People were the same.
But…
Our fear of our lives unknown took refuge within the hearts of the population.
Yet Alexander paid it no attention.
He had grown long accustomed to this repetitive cycle of life.
Why fret over spilled milk?
Work was soon
And a day of bland activity awaited him.
He hated it.
***
As Alexander walked along the hard trail of pavement, he witnessed several petty crimes within the alleys.
Daylight burglary
An assault
A few common graffiti artists
The City didn't care so why should he?
Alexander just continued his common venture along the sidewalk,
Until it went black
…
SPLAT!
Flesh bone and soft tissue scattered across the sidewalk.
Thud
Brain matter slowly edged itself out of the open cavity of the skull.
His body started to spasm his appendages flailed in all diction before inevitably stopping.
Alexander had died today.
His death was unexpected.
"What!" yelled a common construction worker in a fright
Due to his incompetence and negligence, one of the many instruments used during his work, housed within the containing units, flung a ladder out of the truck's bed and toward Alexander's head.
His head was decapitated from the nose upward.
Simply the life of Alexander's soul vanished and he was met with the perpetual darkness of death.
The life of that simple construction worker was ruined.