The Messenger of Death

Penny transformed into his beast form, covering thousands of meters with his ginormous body, his fur looking like it gold but yet, crystal-like, releasing the oppressive might of his abominated bloodline.

The pressure from his bloodline alone could destroy thousands of cities and to avoid that, Penny flew off to a place far away from the smithy, a place where innocent lives wouldn't be lost, be it Beasts or Humans.

He fought with the Empyreans, not killing any of them, he couldn't bring himself to take a life. He only fought with them because he didn't want them to look for the blacksmith. The Swordsmen that were Empyreans were the most threatening to him. They could cut through his skin and leave injuries on his body, but they cut through his bones.

The fight lasted for 2 days, before the Empyreans ran away, in fear of the Heavenly punishment that was about to befall Penny.

Penny felt as the day got darker due to the black, terrifying clouds that had been gathering in the sky. Divine lightning and thunder rumbled and tumbled in the dark clouds. He wished he could see the blacksmith's brutish face once more.

In his state, with all the injuries he had sustained, Penny knew that his end has come. His injuries from the Swordsmen either healed slowly or refused to heal. Penny lay on 5 huge mountains, his limbs resting on top one each, and his head on the last.

He began humming a tune that he had learned in the smithy from the blacksmith, and then he began to sing the song the blacksmith sang whenever he raised his hammer to forge.

Gustavo started to sing the song, just as his father had taught him to…

'How many iron heads are there in the world? How many of the iron heads are as iron-headed as me? If your iron head can smash my iron head then I shall surrender! But until then, be an iron head that bends to my Thunder!' Penny smiled as he sang this song, he closed his eyes and recalled what the blacksmith always did whenever he reached this part of the song.

The blacksmith named his hammer 'Thunder' and when he reached that part of the song, he would use his hammer to hit whatever he was making. Penny imitated this by using one of his claw-like fingers to hit a mountain, lightly. He was so gentle with his touch that the mountain did have a crack or a scratch. He then continued with song;

'I am an iron head so I know nothing but iron! And under the fire, I shall refine my desires! With every strike from Thunder, I hit away all your blunders! Oh iron head, let me forge you into an iron head that has no impurities!' Penny then struck the mountain again, gently, imitating the blacksmith.

Penny was unaware of how much time had passed, he kept on singing, repeating the song over and over again while the clouds over his head got thicker and more terrifying than ever, about to reach its climax.

'Take this Penny,' Penny thought he had started hearing things, he opened his eyes and saw the blacksmith, floating before him. Tears gushed out of his eyes and his heart almost jumped out of his chest. 'Merge it with your blood essence and core. While I failed to accomplish the impossible, I created something that has the potential to accomplish the impossible.' The blacksmith held a black orb in his hand.

The orb was as big as his head, he pushed his hand forward, waiting for Penny to accept it.

Penny looked at the orb, he could sense the irregularities in it and how powerful it was—and could be in the future. Nonetheless, he knew that at the moment, the orb would not be able to assist. It would be futile and also a waste to use such treasure on his dying body.

Perhaps if he wasn't so injured and had a few more days, with the help of the black orb, his chances of survival would have been 20%, but at this stage, it couldn't assist him.

'Why did you come here!? Do you not fear the Heavens!?' Penny cried out. 'Why do you want to die with me!?'

'Shut up and take it, the Heaven can go and fuck themselves!' The blacksmith raged.

As if the dark clouds above could understand what the blacksmith said, it recognized his disrespect and defiance.

-Boom!!

Divine lightning struck and the sky rumbled. It tore through the void, coming with might that could destroy the world. And it was heading for the blacksmith.

Penny quickly raised his hand and used it to shield the blacksmith from the ravaging lightning. 'Argh!!' Penny screamed. Not only was the lightning destroying his body, but it was also striking his soul too.

Penny's wail was so loud it shook the Heavens and the Earth almost destroying the mountains underneath him. Noticing this, he held back his cry and made silent wails in his mind. His tears now had a tinge of blood in them. He didn't want to see such beautiful nature get destroyed but his tribulation or his cry.

'Penny!!' The blacksmith cried out, feeling indescribable pain in his very soul, even though he was not the one that had been hit by the Divine lightning.

'Take it, Penny, take it!!' The blacksmith howled at him, forcing the orb into his mouth. Penny swallowed it, not with the intention of using it for himself but to turn it into something he could give back to the blacksmith.

'Yes! That's it, merge it with your blood essence, quickly!' The blacksmith urged desperately.

Suddenly the blacksmith felt a pressure he couldn't resist easily, it restricted his movements and made him slower. It was suppression from Penny's bloodline. Penny had merged the orb with his blood essence, turning the orb into a maroon-colored orb.

'No Penny, please no! Please! You are reducing your chances of survival by doing this.' The blacksmith shouted, knowing what Penny's intention was.

Penny was bestowing his essence, his bloodline to the blacksmith. He forced it into the blacksmith's heart and forced it to merge with the blacksmith alongside the orb that was made for him.

'I had no chance of survival in the first place. Forgive me, old friend, for this selfish act of mine. Merge with my bloodline and your creation while I sing for you. I just hope that after I'm, you'll never forget about me… at least pour some molten steel on my grave whenever you're free.' Penny joked as he placed the blacksmith underneath his huge body.

The blacksmith couldn't endure the process of merging that was forcefully taking place in his body, he lost his consciousness and fell into. The last thing he heard was Penny humming his song.

'How many iron heads are there in the world-' 

-BOOM!!!

As Penny began singing again, his Heavenly Punishment began. This time, it was more destructive than the first one that almost hit the blacksmith.

Despite this, Penny didn't scream out, he only cried blood and continued singing the blacksmith's song with a smile on his face. The Divine lightning ravaged Penny for 9 days, and on the 10th, it stopped after it had successfully destroyed Penny's soul.

Penny died with a smile, and tears of blood on his face. His humming resounded in the mountains he laid on as he died. His body turned to trillions of golden dust, that buried the blacksmith underneath it. It was as if Penny died in the blacksmith's embrace.

An unknown amount of time passed before the blacksmith woke up from his coma, as soon he did he screamed at the top of his lungs! Screaming at the Heavens!

Within the blood essence that he merged with, Penny's memories, feelings, and thoughts, from the moment he was born to the day he died, resounded and played in his mind. The blacksmith felt Penny's pain like it was his.

He gathered Penny's remains and poured it all in a huge pot, before burying it. The blacksmith, had one thing in mind, to overturn the Heavens for they did to Penny. For the life, they gave to Penny.

His first aim was to kill everyone that had a hand in hurting Penny a few days before the tribulation, the Empyreans. With his newfound bloodline ability to refine his mortal body with mineral resources and his Heaven-defying forging ability, the blacksmith was more than strong enough to kill Heaven's favorite, Empyreans." Gustavo paused.

Gustavo became enraged, and this wasn't something he could control, it was imbued in the core of essence, in his blood. He had natural hate for Heaven's favorites.

"That blacksmith… is my ancestor... My ancestor decided to go on a part of revenge and carnage, taking out his anger on people and things that Penny refused to harm. He almost destroyed the world he was born in." Gustavo finished.