Rocot: Reborn

Alicia's words were like curses, deeply imprinted in the depths of Roccod's soul. He wanted to refute, to roar, but his body seemed to have been drained of all its strength, and he could only let the burning pain rage. He watched helplessly as the skin on his chest turned red, and then cracked like a burnt piece of paper, revealing the beating flesh underneath.

"See, Roccod? This is your inescapable fate." Alicia's voice seemed to come from the depths of hell, with a hint of strange pleasure. "Who do you think you are? Do you think you can control everything? You are just a poor creature, a poor creature who is played around by fate!"

Roccod gasped in pain, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth, staining his pale lips red. He tried to raise his hand, but found that he couldn't move even a finger. He watched the crack grow bigger and bigger, as if something was about to drill out from it.

"No, it's impossible... This is impossible..." Roccod's voice was hoarse and weak, as if he was talking to Alicia, but also as if he was talking to himself. He couldn't believe that everything he had worked so hard for would end up like this.

Alicia stood up and looked down at Rocot, her eyes full of pity and ridicule, as if she was looking at a dying ant. She slowly raised her hand, and a black light danced on her slender fingers, as if it was the flames of hell.

"Don't worry, Roccod, you will be free soon." Alicia's voice was soft and cold, as if it came from the abyss of the underworld. "You will be together with Lilith in hell, and you will never be reborn."

The black light became stronger and stronger, shrouding the entire room in a strange shadow. Roccod felt his consciousness gradually blurring. He wanted to struggle and resist, but found himself powerless. He could only watch the black light attack him and then completely devour him.

At this moment, a sudden change occurred.

A black vortex suddenly appeared in the empty room, as if it was connected to another time and space. In the vortex, there were faint roars, as if coming from an ancient giant beast.

Alicia was obviously startled by this sudden change. She turned around abruptly and stared at the black vortex, her eyes full of vigilance and fear.

"What is that?" Alicia asked in a low voice, and for the first time, there was a hint of panic in her tone.

However, no one could answer her question. The black vortex spun faster and faster, and became larger and larger, as if it was going to suck the entire room in. Alicia saw that the situation was not good, and turned around and wanted to escape from this weird place.

However, it was too late.

A huge black claw stretched out from the vortex, grabbed Alicia's slender waist, and dragged her into the vortex. Alicia screamed in terror, and then disappeared into the darkness, without a sound.

The black vortex did not stop after swallowing Alicia, but became even more violent. It spun madly, as if it wanted to tear the whole world apart.

At this moment, the crack on Roccod's chest, which had stopped expanding, suddenly split open again and spread to the surroundings at an alarming speed. In the blink of an eye, his entire chest was torn open, revealing a beating heart inside.

That heart actually emitted a strange purple-black light...

The purple-black light became brighter and brighter, like a black hole that was about to swallow everything, or a volcano that was about to erupt. Under this strange light, Locot's broken body was like a small boat in a storm, which could capsize at any time.

"What the hell is this..." Roccod uttered with difficulty, his voice as hoarse as sandpaper. He tried to raise his hand to touch the light, but found that he couldn't move even a finger.

The purple-black light seemed to have life, and it quickly spread throughout Roccod's body along his blood vessels and meridians. Roccod could feel that it was a cold, evil, yet powerful feeling, as if countless poisonous snakes were slithering through his body, gnawing at his flesh and blood, but at the same time, repairing his body.

The intense pain almost made Locotte faint, but he still gritted his teeth and opened his eyes wide. He wanted to see with his own eyes where this power would take him.

"Roar--"

A deep roar, as if it came from the ancient wilderness, or from the Netherworld, was deafening, and the whole room was shaking with the roar. The black vortex seemed to have been summoned by something, and suddenly rushed towards Roccod's chest, and finally, it was all sucked into the beating heart.

The room returned to peace. Alicia had disappeared, and the black vortex also disappeared. Only Rocot was left lying quietly on the ground, with the horrible wound on his chest healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

After an unknown amount of time, Rocot finally regained some consciousness. He opened his eyes, only to find himself in a completely unfamiliar place.

This was a huge metal room, with densely packed wires and instruments on the walls, and cold lights flashing. Roccod struggled to sit up and looked around, only to find that the room was empty.

"Where...is this place?" Rocot whispered to himself. His voice was no longer hoarse, but instead had a metallic texture, cold and emotionless.

"Welcome back, my master."

A mechanical voice suddenly sounded in the room. Roccod turned his head sharply, only to see a huge metal sphere in the center of the room slowly opening, revealing a person inside with tubes all over his body...?

"Who are you?" Rocot asked coldly.

"I am your creation, codenamed Zero." The man in the metal sphere spoke, his voice was flat and steady, like a cold machine, "I have been waiting for your return."

Locot frowned. He felt as if there was a gap in his memory and he couldn't remember many things.

"My return? What do you mean?"

"You are dead, my master." Zero said calmly, "but I have captured your consciousness from the turbulence of time and space and injected it into this new body."

"A new body?" Roccod looked down at his hands, only to find that they were no longer human flesh and blood, but made of some kind of metal, hard and cold.

"Yes, my master." Zero said, "This body was created by me based on your genes and the most advanced technology. It has strength, speed, and self-healing abilities that far exceed the limits of human beings. You will become the most powerful weapon of this era."

Rocot stood up, feeling the terrifying power contained in this new body, a cold smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Weapon? No, I will become..."

Roccod's voice stopped abruptly, and his eyes fell on a metal wall in the corner of the room, on which his figure was clearly reflected.

It was a giant who was over two meters tall and covered in black metal armor. His eyes emitted a strange purple-black light. He was like a demon from the abyss, and his whole body exuded a suffocating sense of oppression.

"I will become..." Roccod muttered to himself, his voice full of coldness and madness, "the new... King of the Night!"