《Death Incarnate》


 Prologue

    Prologue


    Taking a final lengthy drag of a Mild Seven cigarette, I glanced indifferently at the fanatical woman kneeling before me. As I exhaled, I thought about how these cigarettes had walked hand in hand with me in high risk jobs like these for 25 years. Flicking the butt to the side I calmly exhaled holding perhaps the thing most worthy of my trust in this world, my beloved Colt Python .357 Magnum to the fanatic''s forehead.


    "Do you realise that going against The Order is equivalent to resisting the will of the Gods?", the radical lady spoke calmly, a slight smirk tugging at her lips, as if everything was in the palm of her hand.


    ''I hate that smug fucking expression these zealots always have on their faces''.


    "We can do this the hard way, or the easy way. Where is the crystal?"


    Ignoring me, the zealot raised her head to the sky before saying a strange chant.


    "Tuum negotium dominus servi illius perficitur."


    Before I could say anything, the woman''s eyes seemed to glow, a golden light illuminating the gloomy bloodbath within the warehouse.


    Ignoring the strange happening I raised my voice, "What''s it gonna be? My patience is wearing- ", she withdrew the holy crystal from her strange cultist robes offering it towards me.


    Seeing the artefact, my trigger finger tightened, but I was too lax. From within her robes, she withdrew a sacrificial dagger in the final moment she skimmed my wrist causing my blood to spatter the artefact. Bits of the woman''s head rained down in the warehouse, the smell of tobacco and ammonia mixed with the curdling gore.


    I ignored the searing pain from my wrist, instead I watched in what seemed like slow motion as the blood covered crystal clinked on the ground. Before I could react a red ray of light shot out from the object surrounding me in a strange formation. In mere milliseconds the warehouse floor vanished, revealing an endless abyss which swallowed me whole.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    ''What the fuck is going on?'', my frigid heart raced as the terrifying sensation of free falling endlessly resulted in my skin crawling. A cold sweat ran down my back as I brainstormed ways out of this ridiculous situation. The jolting pain from my wrist was too real for it to be a dream, or rather a nightmare. As the wind screamed past my ears a strange blue dot, no bigger than a pinpoint came into view. Once I noticed it the pinpoint began to grow exponentially in size, I soon realised I was about to hit the ground.


    Not bothering to think about survival or whatever the fuck had just happened, I saw the faces of those I killed, I remembered those I once loved, those who once loved me. ''So, this is what they felt''. I thought glancing at the Colt Python in my hand. The blue light like the bullet which my victims saw, if they were unfortunate enough to see it. What was the point of it all¡­


    ''What a shit-show this life is.'' As I neared the end of my tunnel, I noticed it was a strange lake of neon blue liquid. Certain death.


    I smiled widely and giggled to myself, closing my eyes and embracing the cold kiss of death, the lover who I longed for. I had found my peace.


    *Bang*


    Strangely, the end did not come as I had expected. Somehow despite knowing my body had died, my mind lived on, something I found difficult to imagine while I was alive. I walked amongst my deepest memories, even ones I had buried for the sake of my own sanity.


    I just watched as the past me made the same decisions, the same mistakes. The memories left me wondering whether the me back then would make the same choices, knowing the end was so fruitless. To me, this is my repentance for my great sins, surely forgiveness will follow, right?


    Eventually I realised such hopes were in vein. Each time I closed my eyes before colliding with the blue lake, one of my final moments, my memories would start again. I died when I was forty-two. These forty-two years have now played what feels like a thousand times. Unable to stop observing, I now know every minute detail of each memory, even now new things become apparent to me, as if I am experiencing the memory for the first time.


    I finally understood, after an eon, what I lived was not life, I lived seeking death. Now that I have died, what I yearn for is¡­ life. This is the fickleness of reason. Craving that which one does not have.


    As I thought this, my soul began to stir, I felt a pair of eyes watching me. They seemed amused almost, the same eyes one would look at an ant doing a jig, or something peculiar like that.


    My soul trembled as a certain power, an understanding of this world, an enlightenment graced my mind and I fell into an eternal slumber.

 Chapter 1 - Transience

    Transience


    A flash of light and a tooth shattering earthquake cut my eternal slumber short.


    I tried to move my new body, the same way as I moved my human body, and it followed my commands- this new form whatever it was, was awfully familiar. I sat up, the sound of rocks and dust shuffling as I did so. I spun my head around gauging my surroundings in pure darkness.


    There was an object glowing faintly not far from me. I struggled to stand, like a child learning to walk, my new sluggish form was difficult to manipulate efficiently. After a few stumbles I managed to reach the object.


    ''This is¡­ Python?''


    Picking up my trusty magnum, I was speechless. I was standing in the remnants of the blue lake.


    ''How much time has passed¡­? My body¡­ must be around here somewhere.'', I quivered at the thought.


    ''Wrong. You are currently in the same body, Master.''


    A robotic voice resounded in my consciousness. I wanted to cry out,''who''s there'' but found that I had lost the ability to speak.


    ''I am in your hand, Master.'', the omnipresent voice directly entered my head.


    I looked at the glowing magnum in my hand with disbelief. Then I noticed it. My hand wasn''t a human hand. The blue glow illuminated the black contours of a bony construct. There was no skin covering my hand, no flesh, no fat, no fingernails. Just bone, as black as coal.


    I stood blankly staring at my hand. I suppose I was lucky, after dying and my consciousness living on I grew accustomed to things beyond my comprehension.


    My mind raced, ''What am I? What are you? Where are we?'', I crouched down in the dirt, my hand feeling out my bony face.


    ''You are my Master, a being of great power refined by the essence of the world itself. I am a Magic Construct which has gained consciousness through the absorption of magical essence. As for where we are¡­ the lowest floor of a Demon God''s labyrinth.''


    ''Fuck.'', three of my questions were answered, but countless more just sprang up.


    ''As far as my memory goes, my consciousness was born alongside you in the lake of magic essence.


    From the time I gained consciousness to the time the lake was entirely absorbed by you roughly ten


    thousand years passed. In that time, I learned many things about this world. The magic essence


    itself whispered many secrets, many truths of this world to my ever-eavesdropping ears.''


    ''Okay. Just give me a fucking minute here, alright?''


    I stood up from my crouched position, raising my skull to the sky and took a deep, metaphorical breath. Clearly, wherever I am, it isn''t Earth.


    ''Alright, first of all, tell me how to get out of this ''Demon God''s labyrinth''. In the meantime, I want to know everything you know about this world.''


    Using Python as a makeshift lantern to light the path ahead, I clawed my way out of the remnants of the magical essence lake. The constant droning of a robotic voice in my mind was hard to bear but allowed me to get a much better grasp on my situation.


    The world I was quite literally flung into is one of Angels and Demons, heroes and magic. And despite these differences, there was at least one similarity with Earth, the powerful dominated the powerless.


    The bluish light from Python painted the outlines of a rocky underground world. I strolled through this subterranean land, meandering around large mounds of perfectly smooth rocks, or what looked like rocks.


    *CRUNCH*, accidentally stepping on one of these rocks I look down, only to find it crushed to dust beneath my foot. It was then I realised, they weren''t rocks. Skulls. Human skulls. I glance back as far as I could see, mound after mound of skulls staring back at me. If I had skin, it would be crawling.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    I had seen massacres in my life, too many to count, but this is genocide. Thousands, no maybe hundreds of thousands of dead lay here.


    ''We are nearing the exit.''


    ''Good.''


    I had never considered myself a holy man, but perhaps death had changed me. I muttered a few words for the dead which lay here, ones I had remembered from my occasional visit to Christian churches.


    *Rumble*


    ''Master, that is the Demon I spoke of.''


    A flash of light resonated through the cavern as the mounds of bones clattered from an earthquake.


    I strode forth quickly towards the light, as if the souls of the dead were cheering for me, I felt like the champion of the dead. I knew they had died due to this ''Demon''.


    I soon arrived before a titanic doorway flooded with white light. I could finally make out my body.


    ''Hahaha, what a surprise.''


    My Armani three-piece suit had been perfectly preserved. I couldn''t stop myself from laughing, it was only now that I realised how much I cared about it. This suit, which was once a dime a dozen to me, is now the only sliver of Earth I have left. The only proof of my past life. Of course, there''s Python, but that''s different.


    ''What is a surprise, Master?''


    ''This suit. It''s comforting.''


    ''Ah, I thought you''d like it.''


    ''What do you mean by that?''


    ''It is an armour formed from magic which your body emits naturally, I merely changed it''s form to one that most suits you, after all, I have access to your memories.''


    ''Right, magic huh. Alright then, if I''m rocking Armani in this world, best not to do it half-heartedly.''


    The sensation from magic was strange but comforting. It was like billions of strands were attached to my mind and body, like a spider''s web and if something or someone tugged on these strands, I could sense it. I had also figured that manipulating these strands was called ''casting'', as Python had explained.


    There was this nagging feeling at the back of my mind ever since I had awoken. The feeling that I had forgotten something. Only now did I understand. It was my affinity with magic.


    I thought of my silk gloves and black fedora, the fibres formed hugging my hands and skull, slowly constructing them just the way I like.


    ''This is amazing.''


    This reminded me of when my sister dressed me up as a kid. It was nice having a family. But like all things, it was taken from me.


    ''Hey, Python. I can''t use my old name here. It brings up too many bad memories, you think of one for me.''


    ''I think Master is the best name for Master.''


    ''No, I mean an alias, something like- oh! I know, the fedora tipping bone-man- hahahaha!''


    ''¡­''


    ''Oh, come on... Don''t be such a bore.''


    ''Emotions are not something I have comprehended.''


    ''¡­''


    ''Perhaps another time then.''


    ''Indeed.''


    Running the tip of my bony finger around the rim of my fedora I clenched python in my other hand and swaggered into the light. If I could smile, then I would be doing so jubilantly.


    The light embraced my being. Through the affinity I had with magic, I could tell I had been teleported to a distant place, much deeper underground.


    My empty sockets adjusted to the light and a scene which would flabbergast any Earthling appeared before me.


    Hundreds of cloaked figures surrounded what looked like a flaming Minotaur with golden armour and a flaming axe.


    What shocked me was not the situation, but the insignia embroidered on the figures'' cloaks.


    An eye above the clouds, a tear of blood falling from it.


    It was The Order.


    It wasn''t a coincidence.


    I was sent to this planet by The Order and their mysterious artefact. But I''m glad, I have no regrets. In my past life, I was strong but not powerful. Now, however, my power is tangible, overwhelming almost, although I don''t know how powerful I really am. Deep down I knew, a great power lurked inside this undead body.


    Sensing my arrival, the Minotaur swivelled to face me. It had long curved horns, not of a bull but more like a buffalo, long and thick. I could sense a wave of heat brush past me with my magic, one capable of reducing a normal person to cinders.


    *ROAR*


    The hulking creature sent a wave of golden flames in my direction, any Order members hit by this wave of inferno were killed instantly. I felt the magic in the air ignite, these golden flames contained the secrets of magic.


    Facing something which even I could not survive, I felt something in my soul snap. My subconscious took over and my mind took a back seat. I watched as a black aura dyed the magic in the surrounding air. An aura of death. The black aura flooded from my bones causing them to gain a crystalline transparency. The strands of magic were manipulated on a vast scale, the entire area being sapped of these fibres, they wove around one another condensing more and more.


    "It''s the Black Saint! The Black Saint has come to our rescue!"


    Paying no attention to the joyous cries of relief from the cloaked figures, my subconscious popped out Python''s cylinder as the black aura of death was refined into a long 357. Calibre black bullet.


    Engraved on it read ''Death Incarnate''.


    From here, even I knew what to do.


    I slotted it into the chamber naturally and flicked Python to the side.


    Hearing the satisfying click I pulled the hammer back with my bony thumb and slowly pulled the trigger.


    *Pah*


    The expected bang never came.


    Like death itself it was silent, it whistled through the air into the golden blaze staining the air black.


    In less than a second the golden inferno''s momentum was extinguished. My body acted by itself once more, it launched itself into the dying flames which seemed to be losing their pigment, slowly blackening.


    My body flung itself through the pitiful flames only to find a puddle of black sludge. The Minotaur was nowhere to be seen and the people from The Order had backed off and begun prostrating towards me. I was very confused, but my instincts were screaming with delight, I got the same sensation from the black puddle as a brown envelope packed with cash in my past life.


    My suit trousers were submerged up to the knee in this sludge. As if sentient, the sludge began to shift and swirl, crawling up my body. It felt like a hot wax massage, covering me entirely, it wrapped


    me up like a cocoon.


    In the blackness of the cocoon I could still sense The Order members prostrating themselves outside. Feeling safe, an endless fatigue struck my mind, in an indescribable comfort I fell into a deep slumber¡­

 Chapter 2 - The Elders Council

    The Elders Council


    The clink of plate and mail created a rhythm with Richard of Turvea''s footfall. He stood easily over two meters tall with many jagged scars adorning his unkempt face. Grime and dirt stained his olive-green armour as did many deep scratches and claw marks, but the crest centred on Richard''s breastplate was untouched and seemingly polished regularly. The crest consisted of a large white flower with a blue hue under a crescent moon. Everything about the man screamed of danger, but a pair of kind eyes peered around the stone hallway resulting in a stark contrast. Light blue and filled with innocence, as if he knew nothing of the dark truths of life. This contradiction was so obvious it was almost comedic.


    Almost.


    He looked to his left and right, seeing no familiar faces he continued towards the giant mahogany doors of the Chapter Hall. Step after step between arch and pillar Richard''s thinning ginger hair was ignited by the autumn sun as was his unruly facial hair. The guards either side opened the hefty doors, beams of afternoon light igniting the intricate carvings on their surface. No salute. They had seemed to tighten up under his scrutinizing glance, as most do.


    Not bothering with the guards disrespect he marched into the Hall, his helmet underarm and sword at his waist. As the doors creaked shut, the pungent smell of ancient texts and aged wood assaulted Richard''s crooked nose. Before him sat a group of refined men of varying ages along a grand table. As he entered all heads turned to him. Some carried looks of surprise, some delight but most evident of all was repulsion. Richard motioned towards the final empty seat of the table, going to sit down before a jeering voice interrupted him.


    "That seat has been taken."


    Richard glared at the man who had spoken up. Once Richard''s eyes focused on him, the innocence vanished, what replaced it was a frigid look, a gaze so tangible it could steal one''s breath. The fellow was a short and pudgy man whose armour was shaped like an avocado. Mail was pushed out in the


    gaps of the plates by his ocean of fat. A pair of arrogant eyes met Richards.


    "Perhaps I''ll take yours then."


    "Audacious!"


    The hefty man''s fat jiggled as he shook with rage, his face turning a cherry red but if one looked closely, a glint of fear appeared in his eyes.


    "That''s enough Baron Ulmus. We are the protectors of this realm, not squabbling adolescents!"


    An elderly man sat at the end of the table. His long grey hair and trimmed beard gave him an elegant appearance but did not dim his iron-like aura. Once he had spoken no one dared to make a noise, indicating clearly his dominant position in the Chapter.


    "As I was saying," a middle-aged man seated closest to the elderly Grandmaster continued, "The Order are sending an emissary to stop the rise of the plagues and train both our Royal Academy of Magic and our Order of Knights to deal with such situations in the future."


    Richard''s face lit up, ignoring the plump man''s unrelenting glare he listened intently.


    The Grandmaster nodded, his voice boomed down the table, "I have been ordered directly by his Majesty to select our finest Knight to escort the emissary throughout the duration of his stay. In return for his service, this Knight will receive personal tutelage from the emissary and one of the nations great treasures, as well as the title of Guardian of the Eventide."


    The men seated at the table pinched themselves. There had never been such a hefty task nor substantial reward in the history of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of Eventide was one of the innumerable states created after the fragmentation of the superpower, the Hesiod Empire. The Hesiod Empire was a utopia which enjoyed many years of prosperity under the rule of the Gods. But as with all things, time was too heavy a burden for it.


    The unity provided by the Gods was destroyed by those who would appose them, known as the seven Demon Gods. Each planted a seed of imperfection in the hearts of humans and these seeds grew into plagues. Not physical afflictions, but those of the mind and soul, far more nefarious than the latter, human society as it was known came to an end. If not for an organisation much older and many times more profound than the Hesiod Empire humanity itself may have ceased to exist. The Order.


    The Order revealed themselves from within the shadows only in the most crucial moment, millions of their members appeared cleansing the plagues and slaughtering those who insight them, the Demons, minions of the seven Demon Gods. As such, a Holy war ensued and so came the end of the Dark Ages. But the plagues did not vanish nor the Demons, not even the Gods could banish the taint entirely. Instead the Gods willed for the creation of thousands of separate societies, and in this fragmentation, humans could vent the hateful urges plaguing their minds upon one another. This precarious balance prevented total destruction, but also peace and prosperity.


    "As there is no conclusive evidence as to who the strongest of our Chapter is," saying this the Grandmaster shot Richard a look of approval, "his Majesty has ordered a Grand Tournament be held, in which our Moonflower Chapter will participate."


    Richard wished to leap from the table and start one of the expressionist dances from his hometown of Turvea. Born a commoner, he had clawed his way tooth and nail from the mountainous village tribes into mercenary bands finally gaining enough renown to join the Moonflower Chapter. As the best Knight Chapter of the Eventide Kingdom they were both the sword and shield of the King.


    Richard was not the brightest fellow, but he was a genius in the art of combat. The most a commoner could achieve in the Chapter was the rank of Sergeant, the lowliest rank.


    Richard however, through his skills as a combatant and accolades achieved, had been personally designated the title of Baronet by his Majesty, given his own land and finally the rank of Constable within the Moonflower Chapter of the Eventide Knights, giving him the power to throw his weight around even at the Elder''s council.


    There was only one ''man'' Richard could not best.


    Richards remembrance of Turvea was cut short by the creak of the doors. ''Of course, it''s that brat.'' Richard muttered internally, rolling his eyes. Each of the members of the Elder''s council stood to attention, even the Grandmaster, but Richard remained seated.


    "We welcome his royal highness, the crown prince. Marcus de Lunae."


    A boy, no more than fourteen trotted his way up the steps to the table of Elders, a scowl entrenched on his youthful face. The prince nodded respectfully towards the Grandmaster who nodded back in response before scowling at Richard who sat staring into space mesmerised by the memories of his hometown.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    As Richard examined his peers faces, the schadenfreude-filled gazes he faced disturbed him greatly. Schadenfreude is considered the greatest evil invented by the Demon Gods and their vile minions.


    "That''s my chair."


    Their gazes only grew more ferocious as the young prince barked at Richard. These noblemen could never accept a commoner being put on a pedestal, no matter how much they feared Richard. Baron Ulmus'' fat filled face jiggled in delight, almost saying, still want my seat?


    Richard glanced at the petty nobles disdainfully before finally giving the prince a long and serious stare. The prince scowled back.


    "Ho, have you started to grow some hair I don''t know about boy?"


    "¡­"


    One could hear a pin drop in the Chapter Hall. Quivering lips surrounded the table unable to accept reality.


    "At least I''m not losing hair, you senile fuck." The prince''s scowl turned into a wide smile as did Richards stare.


    "Come then my pretty little prince, I''ll let you sit on my lap- for now."


    "Don''t think I won''t kick two shades of shit out of your decrepit arse. That ''you should respect your elders'' rant you gave me last time made me want to die."


    "Hahaha!" Richard cackled uproariously, "You''ve sharpened your tongue alright, I just hope you haven''t dulled your sword."


    "You''ll find out soon enough", the Prince smiled mischievously at Richard.


    *Bang*


    The Grandmaster angrily slammed his gauntlet onto the table waking the other Elders from their dumbfounded stupors.


    "Baronet Richard, no matter your relations with his Highness, you should address him as such", the wizened old fogey whipped his head to the prince who shrank back slightly. "Prince, what do you think your father would say about such conduct hmm?"


    The rambunctious Prince settled down like a trained pup groaning slightly while pulling over a chair at the opposite end of the table.


    Everyone took their seats once more with paled faces whilst the Grandmaster rubbed his temples silently.


    Meanwhile Richard stroked his bushy beard whilst eyeing the Prince and nodding approvingly. ''The Prince was growing into a fine lad'', he thought to himself.


    Before the Prince''s birth, Richard was long renowned as the greatest swordsman of this Kingdom, hence the King sought out Richard specifically to gain both a powerful aid and tutor for him and his heir, after all Richard was also known for his loyalty to friends and wrath for enemies.


    "Ahem," the Grandmaster cleared his hoarse throat, "Now then, his Royal Highness will be participating in the Grand Tournament and I believe it to be of benefit to the Eventide Kingdom for his Highness to be selected by The Order. I trust no one disagrees with this."


    The surrounding nobles nodded with blank looks in their eyes, still coming to terms with the recent happenings.


    "I object."


    "As do I."


    Both Richard and the Prince replied to the Grandmaster.


    "I thought you would", the old man replied smilingly, "which is why I have organised for each battle to be completely unbiased and fair, so that only if his Highness is truly the strongest in the Kingdom will he become our Guardian in the night, the Guardian of the Eventide."


    Both Richard and the Prince nodded in approval. They expected nothing less of the Grandmaster.


    "The tournament shall be held in four days in Arendale city, spread the word far and wide. This marks the end of the one-thousand-and-thirty-fifth biannual Elders council. Dismissed."


    The Prince was the first to hop from his chair energetically, he stood waiting next to Richard patiently. Richard instead stayed a moment after the Grandmaster finished his speech staring at Baron Ulmeus with a slight smirk. The Prince similarly followed Richard''s gaze to the chubby Baron, meeting his eyes with a hint of disgust. The Baron jolted back as if he had scene a ghost, his face as pale as a sheet, he rolled from his chair and marched down the steps to exit the Hall under their watchful gazes.


    "I don''t think I''ve seen such a heavy man move with such finesse before." The Prince jeered at the sight.


    "Careful boy, while joking around is fine, the plagues are present in our minds and actions. No need to reduce ourselves to such a level."


    Marcus nodded back seriously.


    Standing from the table Richard placed his helm underarm once more and stretched his legs, he waved at the Grandmaster who shook his head in defeat seeing the Jesting Knight influencing the prince.


    "Come, there is no time to be wasted, we have a tournament to win boy."


    Stepping out from the Chapter Hall the afternoon sun was beginning to dim. Marcus walked alongside Richard mimicking his actions subconsciously.


    Richard knew how much the boy looked up to him. He had enjoyed the years of training the lad, they had perhaps been his happiest. Richard knew though, that these happy days were coming to an end, like all things, his time with the boy would conclude one way or another.


    By the time Richard pulled himself back from his own thoughts they had arrived at the Prince''s private training grounds. In this secluded chamber where they had spent so many days and nights alike, each mark on the wall, chip in the swords, dent in the armour and shift in the sands carried its own memory.


    Richard thought of these as he stripped himself of his plate mail mandatory for the Elder''s council meetings and adorned a light training cuirass. The boy did the same.


    While the boy looked soft, only Richard and a select few knew that Marcus was in fact the strongest person in this Kingdom. When adorned with all four of the nations national treasures Marcus could go toe to toe with even low ranked Demons. This had been proven only in mock fights.


    One must know that Demons carried a level of strength just below that of the Gods, one on par with Angels, even The Order could not fully extinguish their existence despite their endless military might and the blessings of the Gods.


    For a fourteen-year-old he was considered a once-a-millennia genius.


    Richard was merely his combat and martial teacher.


    "Come on then boy, show me what you''ve learned."


    Brandishing a dulled claymore in his hands, Richard took a fighting stance roughly twenty meters away from the boy.


    Despite being middle-aged, Richard had always been a battle freak who considered sparring relaxing and battle exhilarating. As such, each centimetre of his body was built to fight. His muscles rippled under his training gear. Holding back against Marcus would be an insult to his honour as a fighter.


    Marcus held a short sword in each hand. The fourteen-year-old stood half a meter shorter than Richard barely coming up to his chest, but the explosive strength of the boy was on the border of superhuman. Launching off his left foot Marcus closed the twenty meters in a second, taking a long stride he used his opponents height against him going for a low jab at the core of the body, but it was not like Richard would stand idly by, jumping back a meter he used his monstrous reach of a meter and the hundred-and-seventy or so centimetre longsword to his advantage.


    His stance was immaculate, his reactions perfect and state of mind tranquil, the claymore collided with the outstretched short-sword knocking it from Marcus'' grasp. It flew to Richard''s left, but he knew that attack was just a set-up. He looked up instinctively to see his disciples left elbow. Richard launched his body into leaping boy knocking the wind out of him, the sword previously bound for Richard''s neck glanced off the cuirass unable to land effectively.


    *Pah*


    A crisp knee connected with Richards bearded chin dazing him slightly, in this daze he realised he had subconsciously been holding back all this time. The claymore in his grasp descended on the boy''s neck, sending him hurtling to the ground even faster. If the blade were sharpened, Marcus'' head would be rolling in the sand.


    Both fighters understood this. This was why Richard was the Tutor and Marcus the student. No matter how talented, experience made up for it.


    The boy wheezed for a moment but swiftly rolled to his feet, a spray of sand peppering Richards face.


    "Good!" he exclaimed seeing his own dirty tactics quite literally thrown back in his face. Marcus took advantage of this, but Richard was expecting it, however, he was expecting a blow from the right, maybe even the left but ignoring the stinging of his eyes Richard saw a sword coming from each side aiming for his legs, "Hup", in that split second he saw an opening in the boy''s lunge, curb stomping his head into the sand. The attacks lost their momentum and the dull swords flew from Marcus'' grasp.


    Marcus lifted himself from the ground in defeat. The boy wiped his eyes only to see an outstretched hand, one with leathery calluses peeling in places, growing tougher in others. He hesitated for a moment, his Tutor had never made a gesture like this. Finally, he grasped it wholeheartedly, a smile breaking out on his face coming to a realisation. He had landed a blow on his Master. While that knee was of no affect, he had jolted him.


    "You did good kid."


    "Nah, you''re just getting old."


    "Hahaha, again!"

 Chapter 3 - The Order

    The Order


    Unlike my purgatory-like slumber I had shortly after my death, this sleep was truly peaceful. I awakened only to find myself in a soft silk bed. There was an eerie silence, similar to those noise-cancelling rooms in mental asylums from Earth. Quiet enough that you''d go insane.


    There was a canopy curtain surrounding my bed, the kind of thing that sleeping beauty had. I sat up, my naked bones sinking further into the silk. I peered around at my surroundings unable to see past the fine black gauze draped from above. Brushing it aside I stuck my skull outside only to see a plethora of peculiarities. Firstly, there were no windows. The room was lit by strange lanterns with flickering white flames. Next to my bed there was a black cabinet, upon which rested a white gun case with golden etchings running along the body.


    ''Python.''


    ''Yes Master.''


    ''What happened?'', I lifted myself from the bed standing over the cabinet.


    ''Currently we are at the headquarters of an organization named The Order, after you slew the Lord Class Demon, they began calling you the Black Saint and then brought us here.''


    My memories began flooding back. It was then I remembered that peculiar black sludge. I looked up from my thought only to see a strange black skeleton with large horns protruding from its skull.


    ''That''s me,'' I said realizing I was looking at a mirror, ''Python, did I always have these horns?''


    ''No master, they developed after you consumed the Demon General and proceeded through an evolution.''


    ''When did I eat that Minotaur? And how did I evolve?''


    ''You consumed the remnants of the Minotaur In the form of a black sludge, something about the Minotaur triggered an evolution in your being.''


    Comprehending the happenings, albeit barely, the conversation was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. I reflexively flung open the gun case and drew Python from within.


    ''Who''s there. Ah shit!'', I remembered I had no voice.


    ''Master, you can communicate through the strands of magic. Allow me to show you.''


    As Python willed it thousands of magic strands knotted themselves into something resembling a voice box. It glided through the air latching onto my neck. The overwhelming sensation of wanting to clear my throat became apparent but I proceeded to speak.


    "Whooo''s theeeree?", a spooky voice similar to a child pretending to be a ghost sounded in the room. It was exceedingly difficult to control the makeshift voice-box.


    "Ah!", the shriek of a girl and the shrill shatter of porcelain rang out in the room.


    I did a militaristic dive from behind the bed pointing Python at the intruder only to see a young girl, no more than fifteen covering her mouth with her hands and shivering.


    "Whooooo aaareee youuuuu?"


    "O- Oh your holiness, this insignificant one is Helen Gracia." The girl stuttered out whilst getting to her knees prostrating in repentance, still quivering.


    I was so embarrassed by my voice I wanted the ground to just open up and swallow me, although when I thought about that phrase, I felt a dose of PTSD coming on. ''Even though it sounds weird, surely my voice is not that bad.''


    Of course, I couldn''t tell her that. As I lifted myself up from the red velvet carpet, I looked at what the girl had dropped. A blue liquid stained the girls white dress and shattered porcelain was scattered across the floor. I placed Python on the bed and went to pick up the pieces, carefully laying them on the tray at the side, but as my naked bone met the porcelain it disintegrated before my hollow sockets. The aura of death. Focusing my mind, magical strands wove around my skeletal body resulting in a fine Armani suit as well as a pair of fine black gloves.


    I tried to pick up the porcelain once more, placing it carefully of the serving tray. I observed for a moment, finally the whole piece of porcelain proved my speculations.


    ''Hmph so I have the Midas touch gone wrong. How tragic'' I muttered internally, turning my attention to the girl who was still quivering in silence.


    I began sheepishly patting her head in silence. I was too nervous to use my voice to comfort her. I patted her head like a dog, almost patronisingly so. At first, she tensed up and peeked at me with an expression of surprise. I felt bad for how terrified she must have been, seeing some dead guy jump out of nowhere with a spooky voice. After all, even if it were me it would send shivers down my spine, let alone a little girl.


    Mustering my courage, I tried to be as mellow as possible, "Theeeree theeeree, iitssss oook."


    She lifted her head and leaned back, allowing me to see her face, she was a very pretty girl, incredibly pure. As someone with an ocean of blood on their hands, I got the same feeling from her as I did from the white lilies I used to grow in my free time.


    A crystalline tear ran down her cheek, a small sniffle made my non-existent heart wrench. I reflexively pulled out my handkerchief and crouched down. She backed away slightly, but I continued, wiping her away her tears.


    "Heeeree, youuuu caaan keeeep itt."


    "T-thanks."


    She looked more confused than grateful, but I could tell she was calming down. As she did, the sound of running footsteps sounded from behind the door. Hearing this Helen jolted to her feet and visibly paled.


    *Bang*


    The door was flung open and Helen began quivering slightly once more. I reached out placing my gloved hand on her shoulder reassuringly, relaxing her.


    A blonde-haired middle-aged man who resembled the girl closely stepped through the doorway. The similarities were uncanny. The man had large blue eyes and a petite nose making him quite handsome, however deep wrinkles of worry were entrenched on his forehead. He stepped through the doorway, a sheen of sweat covering his face as his eyes darted from the stain in the carpet to the bed I slept in, finally landing on Helen and me.


    "Ah! Your holiness, you''re awake! Thank the Gods."


    He glanced at Helen and the floor again. His eyes widened in comprehension, shooting Helen an angry look she stood firm, but looked downtrodden. The man then bowed deeply.


    "Your holiness, I ask not for forgiveness of my own impudence, but please spare the girl, she is but a fool."


    ''Eh?'' Even though I was the one who scared her, I decided to play along, in an effort to ingratiate the enigmatic fellow.


    "Theree''s noo point crying over spiiilt miiilk." It seemed I was getting better at controlling my voice. "Now stop all this bowing and prostrating, it''s very inconvenient."


    "Y-yes your holiness." The man stood up tall once again, a befuddled look on his face. "Milord, forgive my foolishness, would you mind me asking, what is milk?"


    "Ah. Err-." I hadn''t considered the cultural disconnect between worlds.


    "The phrase means it is useless to worry over something that has happened and cannot be changed."


    "I expected nothing less of milord, such a profound meaning for a single word."


    "¡­" My palm never ached so much to feel my face.


    "Now, if it pleases milord, I can show you the different locations in our trifling facility." The man seemed to be buzzing with excitement.


    "What is your name?"


    "This servant is named Lionel Gracia. I am of the Crescent Moon rank in The Order."


    Despite not knowing the ranks, I nodded.Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    "That''s impressive, someone so highly ranked being assigned to someone like me is quite odd."


    "Hahaha! Your holiness, surely you jest."


    I didn''t feel the need to reply. My hollow sockets stared so intently at Lionel that he began to shiver. Lionel cleared his throat, the smirk on his face vanishing into a sudden wave of seriousness.


    "Your holiness, could it be, you are not aware of your position in The Order?"


    I felt the best thing to do was be upfront about it.


    "Indeed, that is the case."


    The frown on Lionel''s face deepened as he stroked his chin lightly.


    "Follow me then, I will take you to the Eye of the Gods."


    Once again, I didn''t know what he was talking about but opted to follow. I suppose I had a strained relationship with The Order which made me wary of my surroundings. In my past life I had slaughtered them in droves, finally I was killed by them, but also resurrected by them in an indirect way.


    My experience with The Order was a roller-coaster. I had many questions I wanted to ask those who pulled the strings behind this organisation. But I decided to cross that bridge when I come to it.


    I lifted my hand from Helen''s shoulder as Lionel exited the bedroom. I picked up Python, quickly casting an underarm holster for it to rest in. Sliding it in I noticed Helen peering at it inquisitively.


    "This is a souvenir from my world."


    The girl was even more confused as I flashed Python to her from the inside of my jacket. Smiling internally, I buttoned up my jacket to the second and followed Lionel from the room with Helen in tow.


    The corridor was very different from the room I was staying in, if you could call it a corridor. It was more like a grand hall. The cavernous corridor was built from endless grey bricks and the white magic lamps lined the walls. The peculiar thing was the doors in the corridor. My door was the most luxurious, a fine but strange wood lined with golden trims.


    My room was at the very end of the corridor, as Lionel, Helen and I trekked down this seemingly endless corridor we passed by a myriad of different doors. Rainbow coloured doors, sand doors, glass doors, even bone doors which I found quite amusing. I didn''t know if it was because I had become a skeleton, but there was a certain beauty which lay in a good bone, one I could never notice when I was alive.


    "Lionel."


    "Yes, your holiness." Lionel swivelled and stopped his march, but I continued on and he followed as did Helen.


    "What are these doors for?"


    "Please forgive my rudeness your holiness, but I am unable to disclose that information."


    ''It must be important then.'' I muttered to Python.


    Especially considering how they treated me as a deity-like figure. The fact that he is unwilling to disclose that information means it must be a great secret of The Order. My curiosity was peaked, but now was not the time.


    After walking for another short while the corridor came to an end. From here Lionel led the way taking many lefts and rights in this grey-scale labyrinth.


    Eventually we arrived before a set of golden gates, and I saw the first people other than Lionel and Helen since coming here. There were two people either side of the gates with powerful auras, which led me to believe they were guards, but their hilarious outfits made me think otherwise.


    They were the most stereotypical wizards I had ever seen. Both had flowing grey-beards and round spectacles, pointed hats and long robes. But that wasn''t all. Their robes and hats were an obnoxious azure colour and had the kind of pattern you''d see on a kid''s pyjamas. Golden stars and moons. Their oaken staves resembled random tree branches, if I didn''t know any better, I would think they were exactly that.


    I had to resist the urge to burst out laughing, unsuccessfully of course, oh woe was I who had no lips to bite.


    "Hahaha." I pointed a bony finger at them as I keeled over. What had set me off was their prideful faces, like lions with flowing manes in the savannah.


    "Pfft-" Helen couldn''t resist the urge either and contracted a giggle, peals of laughter rang out from behind as Lionel was dumbfounded by the situation. The aged Wizards furrowed their brows drawing their eyes back from thought to look upon our buffoonery.


    "Lionel, who is this- what is this creature?"


    Lionel''s face went a few shades whiter, I looked up wiping an imaginary tear from my socket. Upon closer inspection the two Wizards had released their true auras, flaunting their strength in an effort to suppress me. While they were the most powerful people I had met, they were merely rocks trying to move a mountain. Their purple auras flared around their bodies making their robes flutter and beards twirl.


    I felt Python itching in my pocket.


    ''Relax. They aren''t much.''


    ''Master, I don''t think you can handle them in your current state.''


    My evolutionary slumber was one of many revelations. I had completely grasped my powers in that time, their functions becoming engraved in my mind.


    ''Who''s the Master here?''


    ''¡­''


    "Big brothers, if you would please listen-" Raising my hand, I stopped him from interfering.


    "Relax Lionel, I wanted to test my powers in the first place."


    Not wanting to offend both parties, Lionel quietened. The wizened old men grew wary of me. Clearly, they noticed there was something off about me.


    This room was the largest I had encountered so far, spanning the perimeter of a football field and the ceiling was nowhere to be seen, an ideal arena for a spar. I thought about what I had learned in my slumber, I felt all those strands of magic connected to my body. Instead of urging these strands towards the men I controlled grabbed the ownerless strands in the air controlling these, and with these controlling more and more strands, like a domino effect my power multiplied infinitely as a vacuum resonated from my body attracting mana from outside the complex.


    Failing to notice this, the old men stood firm preparing to attack, they waved their staves entirely synchronized. Similarly, they froze in sync. Their eyes widened, and wrinkled lips quivered as they sensed something. The grey brick surrounding Lionel, Helen and I began to contort and crack, evaporating into dust.


    Like the eye of a storm, we were left unscathed as the rest of the stone floor crumbled to dust. It slowly expanded towards the old men who''s faces darkened abruptly and a cloud of purple expanded from their bodies. Their two clouds combined and formed a shield which began to push back against the storm-like mana. The Wizards faces eased as it began to push the mana back, but just as quickly soured as their purple shield was added to the storms unstoppable swirl. The storm slowly creeped towards the Wizards as they took step after step back in retreat towards the gates, the grey bricks they once stood on vanishing.


    At this stage I thought I had made my point. The black strands from my body grabbed the strands of magic once more, slowing them and finally stopping them. Seeing this, Lionel''s troubled expression eased.


    As the storm came to a rest the golden gates behind the old men squeaked. All eyes turned to the figure who stumbled from within. It was a decrepit man that resembled a beggar, with tattered brown robes and scabbed bare feet. The ancient man was clearly blind but deceivingly walked normally, as if he could see all. I knew this guy was no joke. The strands of magic in the air fled when he neared, as if he were their natural predator.


    "Thank you for sparing my guards, your holiness. Ever since they journeyed to the surface world, they have contracted the plague of Pride. Alas, this is a great stain on my name."


    I had no clue what this geezer was on about. I didn''t know whether he was actually the biological father of those senile wizards or if it was just a method of speech.


    "Come, please. So far my brothers and sisters and I have been appalling hosts."


    "Not at all, I found it all rather amusing in fact."


    I could hear a slurping sound in the back of my mind. I was so used to sucking up to people in my past life that it has become a norm for me.


    "Your holiness'' magnanimity is something us mortals can only admire."


    With a slight smirk the beggar-like man bowed his head, leaning on a stick for support.


    "Come, your holiness, we have much to talk about."


    I followed the old bedraggled man up the stairs into a strange room with clouds. It resembled the heavens but there was no sun, leading me to believe it was underground. The golden steps led to a floating cloud, upon which the old man sat. He gestured towards the cloud facing him and I followed. The cloud felt just like a normal sofa from Earth. The only difference was that it had no back support. Of course, I didn''t have much to support anyways, but that was beside the point.


    Lionel, Helen and the elderly Wizards stayed outside the beggar''s personal quarters.


    "My name is Bartimaeus, I am the Eye of the Gods."


    Bartimaeus'' eyelids fluttered open for the first time since I had met him, a golden light overwhelmed my senses. I felt that, if not for the deathly aura which coated my body I would''ve evaporated. The sensation was overwhelming, but also somewhat familiar. Something clicked.


    "You were there, I felt your gaze- when I was dead."


    Bartimaeus'' brows furrowed as I said this, while he had no pupils, nor iris'', I could tell he was deep in thought. He suddenly jolted as if he had thought of something.


    "Could it be? You felt my Lords gaze!"


    Bartimaeus leaped from the cloud, his face was euphoric. He shifted his weight from foot to foot awaiting my confirmation.


    "Well, its hard to say, but just before I lost consciousness, I felt the mocking eyes of someone above, as if I was merely a puppet on strings."


    "Hahaha! It was my Lord! My Lord sent you unto me, there is something she wants to happen. Yes, there is a reason she sent you to me. But you- you are very odd, my eyes cannot see your future, nor your destiny."


    "Who is your Lord?"


    "The Great Primeval Goddess, the omniscient Ananke, mother of the three fates."


    "A Goddess?"


    "Yes yes, The Order is the instrument of the Gods. The strings of The Order run into the heavens, when the Gods pluck on them, their melody runs through the mortal planes."


    "I see."


    "Hahaha, you see- you see hahaha! You have a funny way of speaking, your holiness."


    "Ahem."


    "Ah, yes then your holiness, what are your plans? Do as you please, your will is the will of the Gods."


    Thinking about it carefully I wanted to explore this world discreetly. With the power to protect myself, I would rather answer my own questions than be deceived by others. This new world was far too mysterious for me to sit idly in an underground bunker. I decided that I would be leaving soon enough, but first I would need a name.


    "I have put it off long enough. I want you, the Eye of the Gods, to name me."


    "Ah, your holiness does not have a name?"


    *Bang*


    As Bartimaeus said this thunder rang out and a sudden darkness shrouded his golden eyes, turning them black. The black light dyed the clouds and his face contorted. His body began to spasm and his face looked like he was having a stroke. I sat completely still, inexplicably calm, as if the darkness was a lover embracing me. Bartimaeus was panting heavily and sweating profusely as the blackness descended on his body.


    "Ah, ah! Goddess! Yes- he, he shall be- he is called¡­ Ere- no no, of course not. Then he is called Subere."


    After Bartimaeus'' soliloquy, the sudden darkness that overcame him suddenly left his being and speared into my chest, straight into Python.


    I couldn''t pay attention to this due to my new name ringing in my ears.


    "Erebus", I muttered to myself. An unknown sense of familiarity striking me. Erebus was my name in my last life. The Gods were truly omniscient. Subere. Fitting, as I shall live with morals opposite to those of my past life. I will live free and enjoy being a bony bastard.


    "Thank you Bartimaeus. My second wish is to delve into the mysteries of magic."


    The old man recovered swiftly and smiled when he heard my suggestion. His wrinkled cheeks pulled back to reveal a set of yellowed rotting teeth which seemed to be strewn across his gums lackadaisically.


    "Good. Good!" he repeated with enthusiasm, "let us begin right away."

 Chapter 4 - Escape

    Escape


    Bartimaeus stood weakly on the cloud. His hobbled knees quaking slightly. I was unable to tell whether it was due to anticipation or fear. Perhaps both? Soon after he had begun his lecture on magic, explaining the profundities which lay therein, he came to realise I held an affinity for magic with rivalled the Gods themselves. More specifically, mana containing dark essence was drawn to me like flies on shit.


    As Bartimaeus lectured I understood many things which I had previously questioned, such as, how a skeletal body animates itself, especially in a way that surpasses the flexibility of the human body. The answer was simple as always, magic. The explanation, however, was far more complex. To show me how my body operated, Bartimaeus moved within a foot of me and in doing so, my bones clattered to the floor in a heap. This was especially disconcerting considering there was no floor in a room filled with clouds.


    What this proved was that magical strands hugged my body, as when Bartimaeus approached they fled. He explained why the mana flees from him half-heartedly laughing and saying, "probably because I smell bad." There was something mysterious about the old man, he always had a tugging at the corner of his lips, that small smirk leading me to believe he always knew something I didn''t.


    Upon comprehending how my body moved, I started to notice the strands inside my bones, their construct being far more complex than ligaments and tendons. To compare my body to a human''s is like comparing children''s finger-paintings to the Mona Lisa. By combining my prior knowledge of controlling mana and the subconscious manipulation of my body, I could utilise strength which would cause the human body to disintegrate. I jumped from cloud to cloud with solely physical strength, the finesse to do so coming naturally to me.


    Once I had mastered the physical aspect of my magical body, I asked the sage-like Bartimaeus about ''casting''. The old man paused momentarily, exhaling deeply, a flicker of light shining from under his eyelids as he explained.


    "The human body is a vessel in an ocean. The ocean is the mana in the air. The vessel must keep the water out to prevent it from sinking. But the ship must still move, whether it''s through the sails, or the oars the vessel moves through the water to serve its purpose. A mage, however, is different. The mage''s purpose is to be submerged in this water, regardless of reasoning, they do so. By allowing the water into their bodies they can grasp the feel of it, understand how to move it and gain an affinity to it, their bodies are refined by it and become ''magical''."


    The old man paused and looked at me deeply, opening his eyes filled with golden light.


    "You, however, are another matter entirely. In the same analogy, you would be a shark. Born in the water, you control it subconsciously and with ease, as you grow feeding on other beings in the waters you will gain the strength to shift the tides themselves."


    ''Feed on other beings in the waters.''


    I repeated this internally before a sudden realisation.


    "Could you be referring to the ability to evolve?"


    Bartimaeus closed his eyes, grasping his walking stick as he nodded solemnly.


    "Indeed, as a magical being you seek perfection, your body will improve its functionality in any way possible. There are not many like you, Subere."


    It seemed like the best way to grow stronger was by killing the strong.


    "Any more questions?"


    "No, thank you for your time Bartimaeus."


    "My pleasure, but there is a matter which you may be interested in."


    My interest piqued, I listened intently.


    "In the coming days The Order will be sending emissaries out to the mortal world. This is to supress the seven deadly plagues. Perhaps your holiness would like to explore the world above?"


    Bartimaeus revealed a cunning smile. One which made me wary of the offer, but it was a proposition


    I couldn''t reject.


    "How long until we leave?"


    "How long would you like?"


    "I would like to leave as soon as possible."


    "As I thought, you must leave tonight. Lionel will be waiting for you, do not allow him to go to the surface. The emissary will be waiting for you. From there you will depart to the Eventide Kingdom."


    I nodded in thanks, a bit confused by the old beggars seriousness towards preventing Lionel from going to the surface, but there were many things I was confused by.


    Saying my goodbyes, Bartimaeus'' decrepit hand grasped my shoulder. He leaned in closer and closer until I could feel his ragged breath on my skull.


    "Subere, you must trust no one from The Order, things are not as they seem."


    The hushed whisper shook me internally. Was Bartimaeus not part of the Order? With my mind racing I exited the room without turning back, as if nothing was said.


    The two old Wizards apologized profusely to me as I passed, stating that they were unaware of my identity as the ''Black Saint''. I cared little for such matters of course, my task at hand was to prepare for the coming journey and find out more about this organization in the meantime.


    Outside of the large room I used to spar, Lionel waited patiently in complete silence. Helen was nowhere to be found.


    Approaching him I asked, "Where is Helen?"


    I found the girl''s presence enjoyable, it seemed everyone else in The Order was either crazed or fanatical, maybe they were one in the same.


    "Your holiness, the girl is currently repenting."


    Despite my suspicions, I decided against delving deeper into the matter, I may want to change my morals, but I was no saint.


    "May I ask, are you the girl''s father?"


    "Indeed, your holiness has insight only inferior to the Gods."


    "I have no time for flattery. And my name is Subere."


    "Ah, of course your holi- Subere."


    Wincing slightly the man tried to smile. He made me very uncomfortable.


    "That will be all then, Lionel. I wish to explore the complex by myself."


    "No!"


    Lionel barked at me. My impression of the man was declining swiftly. Bartimaeus'' gravelly voice reverberated around in my hollow skull. I knew something wasn''t right, even before he had told me.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    "I mean..." Lionel''s vicious expression receded under that wry smile once again, "there is nothing that could interest your holiness in our mundane facility."


    "That is for me to decide. And my name is Subere."


    I was growing more agitated by the second, and Lionel could tell. His curvaceous wrinkles deepened on his frowning face.


    "Actually, I would like you to guide me."


    Discovering this man was the girl''s father an overwhelming wave of pity struck me. I decided I would leave with the girl.


    His face brightened with relief hearing this.


    "It would be my plea-"


    "Show me where Helen is repenting."


    Cutting him off, his pupils shrank, panic clearly setting in.


    "I.. I think its best to leave her be."


    "Did I ask for your opinion?"


    Lionel was pale faced as he said slowly, "Then this way please."


    I was constantly aware of my surroundings. As a hitman I had been exposed to many situations similar to this. I took all that I had been told as lies, even Bartimaeus couldn''t be trusted. My mana was endlessly swirling around my body, like a crouching tiger, ready to strike at any given moment.


    Instead of going further down into the complex, if there was a further down, we went upwards in a cylindrical staircase arriving shortly after on the floor above. Lionel''s eyes darted around nervously.


    "Here it is Subere. The repentance chambers."


    He gestured sheepishly towards a large iron door. It was what you''d imagine a medieval dungeon to look like. I reached out, my gloved and bony hand creaking open the titanic door with relative ease.


    ''It has to be one to two tonnes heavy at the very least.''


    My skeletal body was nothing to be laughed at.


    Lionel swallowed hard as the shrill shriek of a man sounded out from within. I knew very well what was going on the moment I saw the door. Ignoring Lionel, I stepped into the dungeon, many familiar contraptions fell into view. Judas cradle, chair of torture, the rack, brazen bull. Even a Chinese Iron Maiden. Clearly whoever ran this place was a man of culture, although I try not to remember my days as an interrogator.


    As I headed deeper, many heinous scenes greeted me. This was The Order I knew. Now that the beast was staring me in the face, I felt far more at ease. There was nothing else more horrifying than people who hid maleficent intents.


    Lionel had long fled the place, but I cared little, I felt Helens weak presence further in.


    ''What a sadistic fuck.''


    Finding Helen, my anger reached its limit. Torturing a stranger for information was by no means justified, but pointlessly harming your own daughter was evil.


    She lay at the bottom of a grimy cell. Her white dress that was stained with the blue liquid she brought to me was now ridden with filth and fresh blood. It was torn in places, revealing ghastly lacerations and bruises on her arms and legs. Her long blonde hair covered her face as she slumped over, chained by her wrists.


    As I willed it, my mana ripped apart the bars of the cell, I stepped in flicking her shackles which instantly snapped. I created a long robe and ensured no part of my body would touch the girl, cradling her in my arms as I slogged out of the dungeon.


    Swiftly reaching the exit, I found the iron door locked shut. Voices and footsteps were muffled by the thickness of it, but I could tell they were all panicked.


    *Bang*


    Kicking the door, it flew off its hinges, crushing an unlucky passer-by. The large hallways were swarming with cloaked figures, who were formerly nowhere to be found. Lionel was unsurprisingly at the forefront, clearly shaken seeing me emerge so quickly with Helen in tow.


    The figures gathered themselves without need of command, a flurry of attacks forming in the air.


    With the mana being siphoned from the air I responded unhesitatingly. The attacks reached a crescendo in power, a power which caused the complex to tremble, no doubt alerting even more of The Order''s members. Hundreds of Magi cast their most powerful spells, the storm of lights causing the girl to awaken.


    She looked up at me from my arms, her swollen and bruised face displaying only sorrow. Those eyes, were like hers, my big sisters. In that moment deep in my empty sockets, a golden light flared. The horns protruding from my skull grew active, sparks flew from within them. These sparks igniting my anger and deep within my heart, the bloodlust I had locked away broke free.


    Swirling out from my soul, golden flames burnt like magma in my hollow sockets and my horns flared. Python in my holster was affected by my bloodlust craving the bittersweet taste of slaughter. I raised my head from looking at Helens disfigured face to glare at the crowd of Order members, in particular Lionel.


    As our eyes met, the mana in the air reacted, becoming erratic. My gaze itself turned into an attack and before Lionel could react his eyes imploded into a stream of blood down his cheeks. His cry of anguish rang out amongst the crowd of Order. The magical attacks were set into motion flying towards me.


    The attacks took on a vast array of forms. Hammers, swords, halberds, flames, tornados, arcs of lightning, even vicious and snarling beasts were sent forth. Once again, sensing the danger my mind took a backseat and my body acted by itself responding to the force, my arms launched Helen into the air above. In the same second, my bony hand unholstered Python and a limitless flow of death, darkness and shadow flowed from my soul into the six cylinders of the magnum.


    Pulling back the hammer and taking aim my body waited until the attacks were centimetres away.


    *Pah*


    Five bullets.


    The bullet flew through the wall of attacks disintegrating them on an atomic scale. Like masticated food the remnant energy flew to my left hand without resistance. A spark flew from my horns igniting this energy and similar to a gas explosion it rippled back to the casters leaving only Helen and I unscathed.


    I jumped up to catch Helen breaking her fall and creating a barrier to protect her from the flames. The familiar sensation from the flames led me to believe that I had undoubtedly inherited them from the Minotaur. The inferno dissipated as my feet hit the ground. Slinging the unconscious girl over my shoulder I surveyed the smouldering remains of the crowd.


    None had survived. The black bullet had destroyed both the magi''s attacks and defences before coming to a stop, the blaze finishing the job not giving them even a breath to retaliate. No matter how rigorous the training, nothing could drown out overwhelming power.


    Not stopping even for a moment, my foot blurred into motion, grey bricks shattering as I shot upwards, pulling back the hammer on Python once more.


    *Pah*


    Four bullets.


    The ceiling above melted and I burst through the shower of rubble and debris onto the next floor. From even a quick glance this floor was universally different from the floors below. Flora and fauna ran free in open aired walls. There was a sun, a blue sky and clouds, but I could tell it was just an illusion.


    The flow of mana on this floor was strange, rather than it being in the form of strands, it was gaseous. The strands had been dispersed evenly into the air making it much more difficult to manipulate and cast spells.


    Ignoring this I tried to break through the sky once again. Cocking Python I lunged into the air. I sensed movement below me as I was mid-air, not looking down I sent mana through my feet into the creature below.


    *Crunch*


    "Ack-"


    The sound of crumpling metal and the whimper of a man rang out from below.


    *Pah*


    Three bullets.


    The illusion dissipated revealing a cracked ceiling and a shower of dust. As the illusion was broken I spared a glance down to the situation below. A legion of men in silver armour with ivy sprawling over its surface appeared out thin air. There lay, directly below me, a knight with his helmet crumpled like a tin can which was embedded into his torso, blood and brain matter flowing like a runny egg.


    Unable to stop moving I flew up onto the next floor.


    *Pah*


    Two bullets.


    *Pah*


    One bullet.


    When I had climbed a total of five floors I came to a strange desolate metropolis. Giant stone buildings lay in ruins. The remnants of a great civilization scattered. I peered out of my robe up towards the sky. It wasn''t a ceiling, it was the night sky. A purple moon rested in the sky, peering back at me. This odd world was uncannily similar but also very much different.


    "Could you be, the Black Saint."


    The stern voice of a woman sounded from one of the ruined buildings. Sliding Python into its holster I covered my face with my robe. Only people who had met me knew of my body. I held the limp Helen in my arms. She was breathing, but barely. I crouched down, laying Helen in the overgrown grass.


    As I willed it, a long silver mask formed in my hands with two loops at the top for my horns. It was the only thing I could think of at the time, which was my hannya mask I used on Earth. Adapting it to my skull, it fit perfectly, hanging from my horns which seemed to be part of my mask. The flames on my horns and in my sockets extinguished.


    Finally, I looked up at the woman. She similarly had a mask covering her face. But it was a plain black plate, obviously it was standard issue for Order members. On the mask an eye above the clouds was engraved on the forehead, the tear of blood on the chin. The woman had violet hair poking out from behind the mask, or maybe it was just the moonlight? A long black cloak made her extremely difficult to spot in the darkness of the night, her long slender figure blending from shadow to shadow as she approached.


    Standing up, I noticed her eyes glint as she looked at me and the girl.


    "I am Subere, the Black Saint. This is Helen, where I go, she goes. You must be the emissary for the Eventide Kingdom?"


    "We cannot speak here Subere. The Order will arrive soon. Follow me."


    There was a feeling she gave me, this feeling that she was the first person who was genuine to me since arriving in this world.


    From inside the ruins, two large creatures which resembled panthers stalked out. They were over three metres long and one metre tall, entirely black in colour and would be invisible in the pitch-black night if it weren''t for their bulbous green eyes and saddles on their backs.


    The woman swung herself onto the back of the smaller panther-like creature, waving her hand for me to hurry.


    I hefted Helen onto the back of the remaining panther before mounting it myself.


    The two beasts spurred into motion, we faded into the darkness on our journey escaping from the ruins into a gloomy forest nearby.


    And so began my journey in this world.

 Chapter 5 - The Twilight Forest

    The Twilight Forest


    "It''s getting much colder these days."


    "Of course it fucking is, it''s winter."


    "That isn''t what I mean, it never used to be this cold in these parts."


    Two men rode side by side on horseback. Adorned in thick plate-mail, their breath lingering before their open helms. The orange sunrise was warring with the purple moon in the sky, the streaks of grey cloud merely bystanders.


    A long winding column of knights followed the two leading men. All were wearing similar olive-green armour with a large white flower under a crescent moon. The Moonflower chapter of the Eventide Kingdom.


    A layer of frost coated the rolling tundra, the normally wet mud road was frozen solid.


    Soft furs acted as capes for the knights, if it weren''t for these, some of them might''ve kicked the bucket at this stage.


    "What a shitty task. I hope this emissary is worth it."


    "Yeah, although it¡¯s not so bad. The cold reminds me of Turvea."


    "What? That sheep-shagging hometown of yours?"


    "Hahaha, at least we don''t have to deal with Muricean housewives."


    One of the men was Richard, the other was the middle-aged man seated next to the Grandmaster in the Elders Council, Brent of Muricea.


    While the men both came from very different places, they had both clawed their way up from the dribs and drabs of the Kingdom, going from commoners to noblemen. One man going from rags to riches in the Eventide Kingdom was unheard of, let alone two men in the same lifetime. The reason for this was their innate gifts, only a foolish ruler would ignore their Kingdom''s natural assets.


    Richard was a monstrous existence who was near invincible on the battlefield or in a duel, but Brent was far scarier. No matter how strong he was, Richard was one man, in the face of an army he stood no chance. But Brent was different. He was the General of the First Army and perhaps the greatest tactician the Kingdom has produced in the past millennia, capable of fighting outnumbered five-to-one with inferior soldiers and winning, but there are always different circumstances. The fact that these two were sent spoke a thousand words on the magnitude of the task, to escort the emissary through the Twilight Forest.


    The Forest was the only danger zone in the entirety of the Eventide Kingdom, but it spanned the entirety of the southern border. This had its good and bad sides, but mostly bad. While invading armies would have to detour, the atrocities which invaded from the forests were much more horrifying.


    Both Richard and Brent knew this very well. They were equally nervous and could tell this from each other''s body language, but they had to banter on lest the company''s spirits be affected. The company of knights they headed were the nation¡¯s finest, hand-picked by his majesty himself, they were the cr¨¨me de la cr¨¨me of the Eventide Kingdom.


    These men originated from the Moonflower chapter, the best knight chapter in the Kingdom. The chapter''s task of course, was not to fight the invading nations, nor protect the people. No, it was something far more nefarious. They were the guardians of the southern border, what they fought were not men, but beasts. Monsters of the night, Demons.


    The many jagged claw marks running on their olive armour were symbols of pride, the badges of honour they carried representing the horrors they faced. But they still shivered at the thought of the hellish forest, a place where men should not tread, and birds do not fly.


    The sun which crept up on the companies left was their only respite from what they faced. The frosted road made their mounts snort and whinny. They had travelled like this for almost a day and night without respite, once south of the Great Wall, stopping means dying.


    Richard and Brent had wry smiles on their faces. They quietened down now, allowing the men to concentrate, ready themselves, say their prayers to their chosen Gods and think of who or what they were fighting for. None of the men were new to this ritual of the order. Their fathers, even their fathers'' fathers were sent into this forest for similar reasons.


    Richards vision darkened as titanic blackwood trees blocked the rising sun. This was it. The beginning of his fourth visit to hell. No other man had come back from the Twilight Forest twice, but Richard was more monstrous than any other man that had come before. Still, a cold sweat drenched his vest. Richard thought of the boy as the shadowed canopy stared back at him, he wondered if he would see the tournament.


    Raising his gauntlet, the word was passed through the column. The knights dismounted, taking small pouches of food and waterskins to keep them from exhaustion. Taking their mounts by the reins, they lined up before the forest. Each knight raised their gauntlet and in the same moment slapped their mounts sending them galloping into the forest.


    Without a word, Richard charged behind the horses into the darkness of the forest. Behind him was Brent and the company of fifty charged forth. They couldn''t ride in the woodlands, so the horses acted as bait, luring the monsters'' gazes onto bigger meals.


    The companies'' thunder through the quiet forest seemed to stir no one, but as battle-hardened men they knew there were eyes in these woods.


    *Clack, tink, crunch, clack, tink, crunch*


    The armour was enchanted to the extent it felt weightless, as were their weapons. With performance enhancing enchantments they ran almost at the same speed as horses, agilely traversing the thorny and treacherous paths.


    Five minutes of running.


    The company had barely broken a sweat, the years of rigorous training not going to waste. They had now passed the first horse. Its head was severed from its body, or what was left of its body. Merely a taste of things to come. The men barely batted an eye.


    Ten minutes of running.


    They passed more and more horse corpses, each disfigured more than the last. The sound of fifty knights charging through the forest was surprisingly quiet. The soft moss muffling the snap of roots and crumbling stones. The canopy was so thick no light could enter. Instead the men''s armour glowed neon-green illuminating a radius of fifty meters, as if to say, ''come get me fuckers''.


    Fifteen minutes of running.


    What was left of the last horse came into view about five miles into the woods. The men stopped. They had arrived at their destination. The centre of the woods. A large clearing came into view, a very familiar place to Richard. A very dreaded place.


    "Formation!"


    Both Richard and Brent screamed at the top of their lungs. The first and fastest twenty-five men crouched down at the centre of the clearing, unstrapping equipment swiftly. The importance of this clearing was the single ray of light which pierces the canopy. One which would brighten for the next few hours as the sun passed overhead, the sun was the weakness of those who lurked in the forest. The remaining and slowest twenty-five men formed a circle around the knights readying equipment.


    They would meet the first wave.


    *Babum*


    "Weapons ready!"


    Brent''s orders were drowned out by the sound of creatures gathering.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Great hammers, battle axes, longswords, flails, scythes, guandaos and varying other weapons were held at the ready. The twenty-five men crouching within the circle unholstered their crossbows, the mithril tipped arrows glinting in the light of the sun.


    *Babum*


    "Hold!"


    The men''s ragged breaths, not from the run, the situation intensify tenfold. This same rhythm had played each time Richard had come to this place. He was too focused to notice the occasional skull resting in the clearing, perhaps someone he once knew.


    *Ba-*


    The trees shook and splintered before their footfall. Rocks crumbled to dust and the bravest knights'' hearts leapt.


    "Fire!"


    *Kathunk-*


    The crossbow bolts whizzed past the closed helmets of the frontlines. The green light of the armour illuminated the ghastly images of the Demons and monsters alike.


    The twenty-five bolts nailed into the ground.


    *Zoom*


    A magical formation created a dome over company.


    *Crash*


    The charging Demons collided with the barrier causing it to screech and shudder, but it held. The front line stepped out with the ferocity of the Moonflower chapter.


    "YAAGH!"


    The knights'' weapons barrelled through the barrier unhindered by the barrier, smashing, crushing, gnawing and shredding both Demon and monster, both flesh and bone. They burst into a one-sided mauling of the creatures who could do nothing but slam with might that rocked the earth and quaked the trees into the rapidly weakening barrier.


    "Reload!"


    Brent screamed, the men cocked the crossbows once more sliding in the fresh bolts.


    "I count three Leshies, nine Gutguzzlers, sixteen Shrillers and¡­."


    The man giving the report choked on his own words as he heard a ringing in his ears.


    "By the Gods- It''s a Gashadokuro!"


    Richard turned to the knight reporting the creatures. He shook in his armour as he did so. A gargantuan skeleton towered over the dome. It was easily the size of fifteen men, making the magical barrier insignificant in comparison.


    "Impossible."


    Richard realised their own tactics had been their downfall. In each expedition into the forest this clearing had been their battlefield, they left each time leaving behind the desecrated bodies of the fallen, but now it had quite literally come back to haunt them. The bones from those fallen warriors had formed this monstrosity.


    "High class Demon."


    These words passed the lips of each knight. These men who were readied for death paused sucking in the cold morning air. To put this in context, even the creme of the crop in the Moonflower order could barely handle these three low class demons, Leshies, nine high class monsters, Gutguzzlers, and sixteen middle class monsters, Shrillers. This was with the help of the sun light which weakened them significantly, not forgetting their enchantments, magical barrier and military tactics.


    In order to clarify the difference between monsters and Demons, there is one definitive disparity. Demons use magic and physical power, whilst monsters utilise solely physical strength. This makes a qualitative difference in power between the two.


    Seeing the Gashadokuro towering over the barrier, Richard knew it was his time. His fallen comrades had to be put to rest.


    "I''ll go.", Richard patted Brent on the shoulder.


    Brent met Richards eyes, respect and goodwill sweltering forth. The knights, hearing that calm and familiar voice in the midst of their fear, were dragged back to reality. Richard of Turvea. The man''s name was etched into their souls in that moment.


    More beast than man, he sauntered forth when no other man dared.


    "Tell the boy of my deeds when you get back."


    "Will do."


    Brent turned from Richard to look at the other knights.


    "Break formation! Charge! Create an opening!"


    Brent roared out commands as Richard stared death in the face, and death stared back.


    *Shing*


    Galadriel. A long silver great-sword and national treasure of the Eventide Kingdom shone under the green glow from Richard''s armour. Its silver body filled with runes, an icy aura spread from it creeping towards the bone giant. Slapping down the visor of his pig-faced bascinet he steeled his will. Thirty years of constant battle lead to this accursed moment.


    The two knights closest to the Gashadokuro had parted, heading for the nearest monsters. The Gashadokuro towered over the barrier, pulling back, it was about to slam down on the barrier when-


    *Clang*


    Richard swung down hard on the giant''s tibia, making the near indestructible material reverberate. A layer of ice spread onto the bone. Richard continued to pass through the barrier and between the giant''s open legs running into the forest behind it where he turned to face the monster.


    "This way fatty! Oh! What''s that? You''re just big boned?"


    As if spurred by Richard''s provocation the bone giant turned eerily, making no noise as it swivelled traversing towards him with long strides, unhindered by the ice as it shattered.


    Richard''s ears felt the sharp ring belonging to the creature. With his hearing gone he was greatly disorientated but managed to fend off the nearby Shrillers which had tried to drag him down. The creatures were a mix of fur and scale with jagged horns protruding from their scalp running down their spines. They had gotten their name from the shrill scream they released when they killed. Galadriel made quick work of the first beast jabbing straight through its open maw, rending the creatures throat and exiting its back in a spurt of blue blood and pus. Withdrawing the sword Richard sprinted into the forest, the Gashadokuro following closely.


    The knights battled on in the distance, their light fading from Richards peripheral vision as he ran, as far and as fast as he could. Glancing over his shoulder as he ran, ensuring the noiseless giant was still in pursuit. He soon noticed it was nearing. No matter how much adrenaline was running through his veins his aging body had reached its limit.


    "Ho- heh, come on heh- is that all you got? Ho."


    Richard jeered between breaths. A large bony hand swept towards him. In that split-second Richards kind eyes became serious. Digging his foot into the forest floor, Richard launched upwards, holding out a hand he grasped the creature''s thumb as it swept by.


    "Hah!"


    Using the momentum, he swung and landed on a neighbouring tree.


    *Bang*


    The tree he rested upon splintered to pieces, the skeleton''s giant leg splitting the tree like rotten wood. Richard flew and rolled onto the ground, Galadriel firmly in his grasp, his sweat was trickling down his face in the claustrophobic helmet, but it had protected him from shrapnel. Removing the helmet, Richard realised his hearing was being cancelled by the creature.


    The Gashadokuro made another fluid movement, the power of magic and force packed behind each strike it decimated the surrounding forest. Richard rolled, ducked and weaved going from tree to tree.


    *Crash*


    Another tree was reduced to sawdust.


    *Boom*


    And another. Richard was heaving the air into his body, constantly rolling and barrelling, unable to keep it up for much longer he finally stood his ground. Behind him was the largest and final tree in the area. His plan was falling into place.


    *Swoosh*


    The skeleton sent another kick hurtling towards him.


    "Stupid creature!"


    *Kacha*


    Just as Richard was dodging, the poor visibility provided by his armour failed him. Skimmed by the giant''s fibula, a dark and evil magic shattered Richard''s armour, luckily it absorbed most of the blow. The skeleton''s kick had crushed the giant tree at the base. It groaned and creaked as if it were dying, before the rustle of leaves neared Richard.


    He struggled to his feet, the iron taste of blood in his mouth, the chainmail protecting his body now heavy without enchants. With no light from his armour, it was pitch black, and the Demon had robbed him of hearing. Richard was the most focused he had ever been. He gripped Galadriel in both his hands as he stood, waiting.


    *Whoosh*


    A gentle breeze tickled his skin. His hairs stood on end.


    "HAH!"


    Launching himself in that millisecond, he flew through the air, striking at the source.


    The tree collapsed, making an opening in the canopy, causing a great stream of light to penetrate the undergrove. Richards eyes adjusted to it swiftly.


    The light hit the scene, Galadriel was entrenched deeply in the skeleton''s cheekbone, many cracks running along the smooth surface. Richards body however, was caught between the massive teeth of the creature, the titanic jaws frozen solid by ice, preventing him from being decapitated.


    *Crack*


    Jagged cracks formed in the ice as the Demon resisted fiercely.


    "HAAH!"


    Seeing his predicament Richard scraped his flesh in an attempt to wriggle out, leaving the sword embedded in the monster- but he was too late.


    *CRUNCH*


    "Grmph!"


    Richard landed on the forest floor, a spatter of blood following, he had untangled himself from the Demon''s maw in the last moment, leaving behind his left arm as payment. In the sunlight the creature was greatly weakened. It shrunk back searching for darkness, but Richard would not let it return to slaughter his companions.


    He thought of the Prince in that moment. The boy''s scruffy hair and noble features.


    "Alas, I won''t be able to watch over you any longer. Good night sweet prince. And flights of angels sing me to my rest! Hahaha!"


    Going berserk in his final moments, Richard of Turvea clawed his way up the body of the fleeing Gashadokuro.


    He channelled his qi as a warrior through his body, launching himself to the face of the creature, finally grasping the handle of Galadriel.


    The qi flowed into the sword, forming more and more ice, the joints of the indestructible Demon freezing solid. Richards body rapidly deteriorated, but his iron-will disallowed him from letting go. His severed arm stopped bleeding like a dried well, the bulging muscles of the boisterous man evaporated, feeding the hungry sword as it sealed the Demon in thick ice, preventing it from movement.


    Richard felt a wave of tiredness strike his gaunt body, he dropped to the ground, the crunch of his brittle bones sounding out. He lay amongst ice and blood and a bed of splinters with gaunt cheeks and broken bones. He gazed at the beautiful sky for one last time, the morning sun finally putting the moon to rest.


    But how could he rest in peace?


    Out of nowhere a silver masked demon had to stick its head in.


    "Subere, there is no hope for him."


    Richard realised he had gotten his hearing back, a stern voice, that of a woman fell into his ears.


    "I''ve got a bone to pick with you, mister. Did you do this to my big boned friend over here?"


    A comically stupid voice sounded out. It was from the peculiar masked demon which loomed over him pointing towards the Gashadokuro.


    "Just let me die in peace."


    The silver masked fellow squatted down closer to Richard. A black gloved hand pulled the mask back.


    "Don''t talk about death in front of me."


    As Richard gazed into those hollow sockets, he realised he was already dead.


    "The Grim Reaper-", he mumbled his final breath extinguishing.

 Chapter 6 - Confrontations

    Confrontations


    Several hours earlier¡­


    Helen lay before me, her small figure faded into the shifting wiry fur of the panther-like beast as we entered the gloomy forest. While I had no idea if the Order was pursuing us, I didn¡¯t want to wait around to find out. The surroundings grew darker and darker, but my vision was not affected, as I did not use eyes to see.


    The emissary rode ahead of Helen and I, scouting the path as her mount was nimbler, whilst ours burlier.


    ¡°Ergh.¡±


    Helen let out an anguished cry as the panther leapt over a fallen tree landing hard. I looked down at her swollen face, realising she had been suffering in vain. I released my grip on the beast¡¯s fur, pulling Helen closer to me, still carefully ensuring my body did not touch hers. I willed the black aura which coated my bones to gather at my fingertips, it coalesced slowly becoming whirlpools of darkness.


    Once these swirls had formed, I flipped a switch mentally, reversing them, sending the whirlpools churning in the opposite direction. As they changed their movements the blackness vanished, revealing a pure white. These white swirls then slowly ran from the tips of my fingers, passing through my black gloves and dripped onto Helen¡¯s face.


    Instantly the swollen cuts and bruises receded visibly, the open wounds closed, and her broken bones mended. Colour reappeared in her cheeks. I felt the girl shiver in my arms, in that moment, I understood my attachment to the girl.


    I remember it like it was yesterday. The pitter-patter of rain and dribble of water clogged our ears. I hugged her arm, goose-bumps running along it. We breathed underneath the blanket, thinking the world was hiding from us, but in truth we were hiding from it. It was dark. So dark, but I felt safe. Her breath on my skin, her warmth keeping me alive. She whispered.


    ¡°Run Erebus.¡±


    ¡°Erebus.¡±


    ¡°Subere!¡±


    The emissary had come to a stop. She hissed, the way one does when simultaneously shouting and whispering.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Something has been following us. There are never any elves or goblins in this neck of the woods. It has to be the-¡°


    Her whisper was cut off by the silhouette of a small creature passing from tree to tree at ridiculous speeds. The two panthers began to growl, crouching, ready to pounce. I readied my magic, but the emissaries¡¯ comforting hand landed on my shoulder as she dismounted from the panther.


    As she approached the silhouette, it stopped. The small creature poked it¡¯s head out from behind a tree. Suddenly it stepped out, with a hoarse voice it boomed,


    ¡°Ho ho ho ha ha, ho ho ho he ha. Hello there, old chums. I¡¯m gnot a gnelf. I¡¯m gnot a gnoblin. I¡¯m a gnome. And you¡¯ve been GNOMED!¡±


    ¡°Greetings, guardian of the forest.¡±


    The emissary bowed deeply. The gnome stroked his beard in approval before casting his gaze upon me. I was submerged in laughter of course, if I could have, I would have wet myself.


    ¡°You¡¯re telling me- hahaha. That¡¯s the guardian of the forest, hahaha! I love this fucking world.¡±


    The tiny creature¡¯s eyes flickered, glinting at me slightly. The emissary turned to me and shook her head, clearly panicked. But it was too late. The guardian vanished from sight, I felt a whistling sensation coming from behind. Leaping from my mount I twisted my body in the air as the small figure sent its tiny fist towards my chest.


    Channelling my full physical power, I didn¡¯t dare underestimate something that could travel at such speed, I punched out meeting fist with fist.


    *BOOM*


    Two figures shot out from the collision, both crashed through trees travelling hundreds of meters from the explosion. The blast shook the forest.


    I eventually came to a stop, picking myself up from a large crater, I dusted off my robes and soon arrived at the collision. The little fellow was a wolf in sheep¡¯s clothing. But that made him even more funny in my eyes- or sockets. In the midst of my flight I noticed one of the bones in my fist had shattered, the power required to do so was enormous.


    Thankfully it had taken just a moment to heal entirely. The emissary, Helen and the two panthers had retreated to a safe distance, the emissary was clearly gobsmacked at my level of power, thinking I would have died from a single blow.


    A small figure with ragged clothes and a smoking fist met me in the middle of it all, facing me he smiled.


    ¡°Ho ho ho, gnot bad.¡±


    ¡°I can say the same.¡±


    He raised a small hand up to me as he walked forth.


    Similarly, I held out a gloved hand to him.


    ¡°My gname is Gnoggin Clonfilth.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha a good name, mine is Subere.¡±


    ¡°Gnice to meetcha! Gnow, what has brought you to my woods?¡±


    At this point the emissaries¡¯ twitching face calmed slightly.


    ¡°We are travelling to the Eventide Kingdom in an effort to escape the Order.¡±


    ¡°Ho ho, that Gnorder is gno gnood.¡±


    It seemed Gnoggin also had his problems with the Order.


    ¡°The enemy of an enemy is a friend.¡±


    The emissary and the gnome had to think about it for a moment, upon deciphering the phrase, they both looked at me with a different light. The kind of gaze one has for a revered individual.


    ¡°Wise words, it is as he says Guardian, we all share a common enemy.¡±


    ¡°Ho ho, seems so. I gncan show you through the forest, but for gnow, there are some intruders I have to deal with.¡±


    ¡°The Order?¡±


    Gnoggin turned to me.


    ¡°Gno, gnot to my gknowledge. They seem to be gnormal gknights.¡±


    ¡°Alright you lead the way then.¡±


    I mounted the panther once more, ensuring Helen was fine. She was a heavy sleeper it seemed. Gnoggin shot off at a speed hard to follow with the eye, fortunately I didn¡¯t have eyes.


    We rode for three hours, Gnoggin leading the way, causing any creatures that did see us to flee in terror. The tiny gnome clearly carried a God-like status in this forest. We were riding normally until a terrifying shrieking cut off my hearing. I noticed the mana in the air grow violent and begin to emit a shrill noise.


    Waving my hand, the mana in the surroundings calmed. The gnome had come to a stop. I dismounted the panther drawing close to the gnome, the emissary following course. Then I saw it, an enormous skeleton thrashed at a tiny figure in comparison. The monster threw palm after kick at the man crushing nearby trees. The man had a strange neon-green armour which lit up the surroundings and carried an ice-blue longsword.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    *Bang*


    The man was caught out by the skeleton¡¯s kick, his armour shattering as he soared through the air. The tree behind the man began to collapse and Gnoggin beside me began to quiver.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Oh gno, the daylight will penetrate the canopy! You must help your fellow skeleton!¡±


    Without asking how Gnoggin knew I was undead, I tried to get my thoughts in order. This was my first encounter with a being similar to me in this life. A dead being, left to walk this world in repentance, or perhaps to exact vengeance. But the morals I wished to have in this life made me want to save the man.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just save both.¡±


    The fighting grew to its most intense state, as a sweeping blow came at the man, now unable to see with his armour destroyed, he launched himself ten metres into the air avoiding the lethal strike. He stabbed towards the giant bone-man but just before the sword collided with the skeleton, a ray of sunlight illuminated the side of it¡¯s skull. The man stabbed into that spot, driving the sword deep into the bone.


    The skeleton retaliated by swinging the man and catching his body with its teeth, but before it could crush down the jaw was sealed in ice.


    I broke into a sprint. This fight would be over soon. I needed to enter at such a time where both parties would be grateful.


    *Crack*


    The ice split but the man wriggled out, only losing an arm. Then in a split second, the man climbed the skeleton once more, grasping the sword and sealing the giant in ice, the knight fell to the floor. His body resembled a raisin as he wheezed out the ramblings of a dying man.


    I approached him, a godly sentence entering my mind.


    ¡°Subere, there is no hope for him.¡±


    I waved my hand at the emissary; my plan was coming together.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a bone to pick with you, mister. Did you do that to my big boned friend over there?¡±


    I felt like a detective, getting the man to confess his crimes against bone-kind. The dying warrior¡¯s eyes widened as he saw me.


    ¡°Just let me die in peace.¡±


    Die? I wasn¡¯t possibly going to let this guy die. That was way too easy¡­ He had to atone for his sins.


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk about death in front of me.¡±


    I crouched down, removing my mask to make things easier for myself.


    ¡°The Grim Reaper-¡°


    They have that myth here. That¡¯s odd. I suppose some things never change huh.


    I shrugged as I removed my glove before the knights terrified eyes.


    ¡°What is your name?¡±


    I tried to put on a spooky voice, not denying I was the Grim Reaper.


    ¡°Ri- Richard of Turvea.¡±


    That was all I needed for the spell. In my evolutionary slumber, I learned of the three schools of magic I controlled. Death, Shadow and finally Darkness. While Shadow and Darkness sound the same, Shadow is a magic used to blend in with the light, whereas Darkness drowns out the light. But Death was my most potent magic of all. It could be divided into two sub-categories, Mortality, with which I could end or extend mortal beings lives and finally, Necromancy.


    That is what I was going to use now. The best way to pay for your crimes against bone kind, was joining us. To start the spell, I needed life energy and death energy. Luckily, I was in a forest, and my body itself was constructed from death. I created a black vortex with Darkness magic, siphoning the life from the nearby trees and plants under the horrified gaze of Gnoggin, but I didn¡¯t care, it was merely a drop in an ocean.


    As the life energy gathered, I refined it into a pearl, then removing my glove I channelled my intention as I touched it with my black bone. At first the two elements conflicted, but by channelling my will, they began to co-exist, the pearl soon resembling a taijitu. In order for the spell to work, the recipient had to be fully dead. Laying a bony finger on the man, his heart stopped beating.


    Then I ripped open his chainmail and lay the pearl on his chest. It melted, spreading across his naked body. As it came into contact his body began a spasm attack.


    I stood up, under the bewildered gazes of the emissary and Gnoggin, I began to chant.


    ¡°You died Richard of Turvea,¡± a strange power swirled above as I mentioned his name, the soul which had yet to depart his body was sealed inside by the melted pearl.


    ¡°Rise Thanatos, servant of Subere.¡±


    Through the gap in the canopy, I could see the maelstrom forming overhead, black clouds and thunder cheered for my success.


    But in that moment I realised something had gone wrong, Richard¡¯s body had become a vortex, sucking in my death energy and siphoning life from miles around.


    His eyes glowed bright white and the clouds swirled down.


    *CRASH*


    An arc of lightning drilled into his metamorphosising body. It jolted, before stilling.


    There was now a crater, in which Richard rested his body, smoking.


    I stood there staring blankly. Just as I was about to call it a day-


    ¡°What- am I.¡±


    I shook slightly. How could he still be alive? The man stood from within the crater- no longer a man. He towered over me, muscle rippled on his red skinned body, he looked down with confused eyes. The creature was over two and a half meters tall, many jagged streaks of gold running through his skin.


    ¡°This- your name is Thanatos. You are my servant.¡±


    ¡°Master.¡±


    He kneeled down, still as tall as me when kneeling.


    ¡°Do you remember anything?¡±


    ¡°I- I was Richard. Richard of Turvea. The prince¡­ I have to protect-¡°


    The red skinned giant saw the Gashadokuro frozen there, instantly, the air buzzed with energy, lightning sparked from the giant¡¯s eyes.


    *Zoom*


    Richard- or Thanatos rather, vanished from that spot.


    *BANG*


    Bits of ice and bone flew through the forest. I protected the emissary, Gnoggin and myself by forming a barrier of darkness, catching the shrapnel from the explosion. The pieces of bone and ice melted, falling onto my bones. The shrapnel, unbeknownst to me, increased their hardness and durability.


    ¡°One- one blow.¡±


    The emissary mumbled out, seeing Thanatos destroy a nigh indestructible creature.


    Horrified at the sight of my bony brother¡¯s explosion, I grew truly angry.


    ¡°Thanatos. Kneel.¡±


    ¡°Argh!¡±


    The giant shot back before me, his own body following my commands.


    I reached out a bony finger scratching a formation into his forehead. Instantly his gargantuan body shrank to the size it used to be.


    He now looked exactly like he used to when he was human, the only difference was the pale red skin and large seal on his forehead. I had sealed his powers to better control him, but also not draw too much attention.


    *Pah*


    My slap sent him hurtling through the forest.


    ¡°Do not act without command, unless commanded to.¡±


    Then I shot beside him again, delivering a kick to his chest.


    ¡°I am your master, Subere. Do not forget it.¡±


    He rose from the ground, a defeated and blank look in his eyes.


    As I walked back to the group I waved my finger, a black cloak forming around Thanatos¡¯ body. A similar hannya mask formed on his face, but different to mine it was red in colour.


    He then followed close behind me.


    ¡°You are the first of your kind. Wear that with pride. I will name your species, Stantibus.¡±


    Thanatos looked at me from behind his mask. I knew he would need time to adjust to things, as I did when I first awoke in this body.


    First of all, I apologised to Gnoggin for wrecking a part of the forest. In the corner of my eye, I noticed Helen, who had awoken in the midst of things. Remounting, Thanatos ran alongside Gnoggin, matching his speed with ease. I explained everything that had happened whilst comforting Helen.


    ¡°Thank you, Subere. You are truly kind.¡±


    If only she knew how much blood I had on my hands. I focused on the road ahead. It was all behind me now; this world was what I sought. A new beginning.


    Gnoggin was leading us to the rest of the knight group under Thanatos¡¯ request. He wished to save his old comrades. It seemed he was a kind man, but I knew he was just like me. As his master I saw the Eventide Kingdom through his memories. It was a place where the strong preyed on the weak, and there was no room for anything else.


    In a short minute or two of speeding we arrived at a clearing in the forest. Many Demons and monsters lay scattered and dead as did. A group of men stood behind a magical barrier, outside roughly a hundred creatures had accumulated. Thanatos was the first to arrive, even under my seal a lower-class Demon was vaporised by his fist. Under the befuddled gazes of the knights we crushed the monsters. Thanatos, covered in at least nine different kinds of blood, approached the knights.


    He spotted a man at the centre who seemed to be the leader.


    ¡°Brent! It¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°Richard? What¡¯s with that get-up? What happened to the Gashadokuro?¡±


    ¡°I killed it, I can¡¯t explain what happened, but know these people are not our enemies, in fact the Order emissary is here.¡±


    Thanatos pointing at the emissary made the knights want to cry with tears of joy. They had completed their mission.


    ¡°Your eminence, may we ask your name as a precaution?¡±


    ¡°I am Alarielle, sent by the Order to your Eventide Kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Lady Alarielle and welcome.¡±


    The knights kneeled before her. I turned to Gnoggin in the meantime.


    ¡°We can go the rest of the way, thank you.¡±


    ¡°Gno problem, an enemy of the Gnorder is my friend!¡±


    The knights turned their heads to the gnome. Even Thanatos was confused. About to draw their weapons Brent¡¯s stern voice rang out.


    ¡°Stop, these are good people. We would not have been alive for much longer had they not helped us. And what makes you think we stand a chance against them in the first place.¡±


    The knights looked at each other, lowering their arms.


    ¡°You must have your reasons, your eminence.¡±


    ¡°Mhm, it seems like you are a good commander.¡±


    Interjecting I said, ¡°Lets be off then, before we run into any more trouble, thanks again Gnoggin.¡±


    The knights looked to Brent who looked at Thanatos who nodded before falling in line.


    I continued along, Helen stroking the Panther as we rode towards the Eventide Kingdom. It took no more than an hour before we exited the forest. No creature dared to even make a noise with my flaring aura in the woods.


    Coming from under the canopy, the sun was almost at its highest point in the sky. Through the power of magic, I could feel the heat, it was incredibly comfortable. We rode along a winding hilly path, but of course it wouldn¡¯t be that easy.


    A man in armour shaped like an avocado headed a battalion of mounted knights, they all wore the same olive armour as the knights which we rescued. I knew something wasn¡¯t right.


    ¡°Charge! Run down the Heretics!¡±


    The blubbery man¡¯s fat giggled as he roared commands. In that split second, I got a rough idea of what had happened. The Order sure acted fast, managing to send a message of our defection in mere hours.


    ¡°Form ranks!¡±


    The man named Bret commanded it, and the veteran knights followed. I could sense through our connection that Thanatos was truly aggrieved by the avocado-like man.


    ¡°Master, let me kill that man.¡±


    ¡°Mmm.¡±


    As I clicked my bony fingers, the seal faded. Thanatos¡¯ mask grew with his body, but his robes did not. They ripped to shreds revealing his red skin flared with gold streaks. His muscular physique like Hercules he charged forth, resembling a God of War.


    I whispered to Helen as we watched.


    ¡°This looks like it will be fun.¡±

 Chapter 7 - Passing The Great Wall

    Passing The Great Wall


    Helen shuddered as I spoke. The war horses whinnied as they charged, their riders lowering titanic lances, barding clinking throughout the gallop. The veteran knights formed a line, loading their crossbows calmly. In comparison to the horrors of the forest, a cavalry charge was nothing more than a joke. Thanatos faced the cavalry alone, giving the veterans time to prepare, but from the looks of it he had no intention of waiting around for anyone.


    Thanatos in his unsealed form stood at head height with the mounted knights. As I watched him, I noticed a strange magic permeated his body. I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger on what it was, but I knew those who opposed him weren¡¯t in for a good time.


    The distance between the two parties closed rapidly, Thanatos could not wait any longer, unsheathing the ice sword Galadriel he deflected the leading knights lance, punching out in retaliation.


    *Crrrrk*


    Metal screeched as the force of Thanatos¡¯ punch multiplied by the charge reduced the heavily armoured knight to minced meat. Bits of flesh and armour flew into the air, from my perspective time seemed to slow but Thanatos moved at a normal pace, in fact, rather than everything moving slowly, it was he who moved at a speed impossible to track with the human eye. Before the second knight had passed Thanatos, the red skinned giant had already grabbed the dead man¡¯s lance, throwing it like a spear, it impaled the second knight sending the man flying backwards.


    As the lance punctured the second man¡¯s chest the bits and pieces of the first began to land, splattering on the battalion¡¯s armour. Helen gagged, covering her eyes from the scene. I however, watched on, observing my creation as he wreaked havoc, like a wolf amongst sheep. I felt that killing was so much easier than saving.


    ¡°Fire!¡±


    A volley of mithril tipped bolts whizzed past Thanatos into the cavalry line removing almost half of the men from their horses, completely killing their momentum.


    Thanatos sprinted forth towards the chubby man who was now quaking in his boots, the knights who had been knocked from their mounts struggled to lift themselves from the mud road. It was too late for them, Thanatos reaped their heads like wheat as he passed. One knights head had barely frozen in the mud before the next one landed.


    ¡°D- Demon!¡±


    One knight, a young man, made Thanatos pause from his spree of death. The giant Stantibus peered down at his giant hands- as if to ask why.


    ¡°If you want to protect your prince, you must live on.¡±


    I whispered to him through our master-servant bond, his previous mumblings coming to me in a sudden inspiration.


    Like a whip to a horse, I had set him off once more.


    The young knights head rolled in the mud as Thanatos charged at the bulbous man like a rabid dog. It was an ¡®us or them¡¯ kind of world. Reasons for killing were merely the cherries on top.


    The knights who had passed by Thanatos continued their charge, no more than twenty of them, carried on towards the veteran knights. Lances couched, the group of veterans spurred into action, all brandishing their different weapons they expertly manuevered around the lances and horses, some men flung flails, hitting the mounted knights square in the chest, crumpling their armour like paper, others acted as bait while another man decapitated the cavalryman.


    Spews of blood shot across the open road. The cavalrymen were speared, eviscerated and wholly wiped out. No matter how talented these men were, they couldn¡¯t overcome experience.


    I looked once more on the titan-like Thanatos as he caught up to the fleeing man.


    ¡°Baron Ulmus! Die like the dog you are!¡±


    *Shiiing*


    Galadriel pierced the Baron¡¯s back Thanatos caught the barrel-like man in mid-air. Before the ice numbed his lower half, Thanatos cruelly bent the man¡¯s legs backwards unnaturally.


    *Snap*


    ¡°AAaaaaaaaaaaagh!¡±


    A heart-wrenching cry of agony sent shivers down the veteran¡¯s backs. They looked at the man who had once saved them. No longer was he a man. I noticed some nasty looks angled towards me but chose to ignore them. I covered Helen¡¯s ears as she winced from the gruesome noise.


    Ice crawled up Baron Ulmus¡¯ body, the terribly obese man gurgled as Thanatos gripped his throat, holding him in the air.


    ¡°You should never have provoked me that year.¡±


    As he whispered into the Baron¡¯s ear, his gripped tightened. The man¡¯s face turned purple and his eyes popped out on strings. Ulmus¡¯ body went limp, but Thanatos¡¯ grip didn¡¯t loosen.


    *Splat*


    Brain matter and skull coated Thanatos¡¯ red hannya mask. He kneeled next to the corpse, his rage appeased. Upon resealing him, reason entered the Stantibus¡¯ mind. Downtrodden, he sat there contradicting himself by mourning for his victims.


    ¡°Now is not the time for such things Richard.¡±


    Brent shouted down the road breaking the not-so-friendly giant¡¯s stupor. The veterans busied themselves, quickly reining in the horses and removing any armour or weapons which could be sold. Finally, there was the money situation. The Baron had carried a fat leather pouch of Veinaries, as I found out it was the currency of the Kingdom.


    The knights busied themselves, clearing away the massacre despite there not being many travellers in these parts, it didn¡¯t mean there were none.


    Brent approached me and Alarielle.


    ¡°Your eminence, and who might you be.¡±


    ¡°I am called Subere.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± coughing lightly Brent asked, ¡°what are your plans emissary, now that the Kingdom is aware of your defection from The Order.¡±


    Alarielle glanced back and forth between Brent and I.


    ¡°I have a friend in the Northmost part of the Kingdom. We would be safe there.¡±


    ¡°Getting to the north is easier said than done.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, but we¡¯ll manage. I¡¯m sure of it.¡±


    Alarielle looked at me, I noticed a pair of beautiful purple eyes behind the plain mask of the Order. I questioned the legitimacy of the woman¡¯s intentions, but for now I would go along with it.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid both Richard and I-¡°


    ¡°He is Thanatos now.¡±


    I interjected.


    ¡°Then, Thanatos and I cannot return to our positions without bringing you back with us. But our men have lives, families. Some cannot leave those lives behind.¡±


    ¡°Then we shall ask them, those who want to follow can, but the fewer of us, the better.¡±


    ¡°I, Brent of Muricea will follow you to the north emissary, after all, I owe you my life.¡±


    ¡°You owe me nothing,¡± Alarielle replied coldly before pointing at me, ¡°it¡¯s him who saved you and all your friends over there.¡±


    The way Brent looked at me changed in that moment.


    ¡°Then the first obstacle is the Great Wall.¡±


    I was confident in my own power, especially against inanimate objects.


    ¡°If you can guide us to a sparsely guarded area of the wall, then I can handle getting through.¡±


    ¡°With all due respect, are you some kind of wizard or something?¡±


    Both Alarielle and I stared at him. He knew we held deadpan expressions behind our masks.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Ah. I see, we¡¯ll be counting on you. It will be a day long ride from here if we do not rest.¡±


    ¡°Good, then we will set off immediately, but first we shall see who wishes to journey with us.¡±


    Nodding, Brent called over the veterans who had just finished clearing the slaughter and hiding the dead.


    After questioning, only five men of the thirty or so who had made it out of the forest alive wished to join us. Such elderly and experienced men were more likely to have families than not.


    The five who joined introduced themselves to Alarielle and I. Their names were Johnathan, Perseus, Ajax, Frederick and Alistair. After our introductions, Brent informed them of the plan, and told the rest of the men about our way of getting through the wall. Once through, the thirty men would head back to their families, while we would carry on north.


    We mounted up with our haul of loot in tow and set off northbound.


    After a day of laborious and very much uneventful riding a ginormous wall came into my vision. When comparing it to the tiny dotted men manning the battlements it was at the very least fifty feet tall. Far in the distance were gargantuan turrets dotting the wall. Clearly this area was the least guarded in the entire wall.


    Patiently awaiting a few hours, we encroached under the darkness of night, Alarielle and I scouting ahead on our panthers while the others, including Helen waited for the wall to open.


    Ensuring no guards were passing by, I dismounted the panther. Standing before the five-storey tall wall, I felt like insignificant, but also impressed by the ingenuity this world had despite their medieval technology.


    I faced the giant grey blocks forming the wall, willing it, my glove dispersed, and I placed my hand on the block. Within seconds it began to crumble to dust. Repeating the process twenty times, creating a gap large enough for a man and horse to fit through. I nervously headed into the hollow wall, finally creating a similar gap on the opposite side. I looked up at the precariously balanced blocks taking a deep metaphorical breath.


    It was like I was playing a giant game of Jenga Trump created on the Mexican border that upon winning you could pass through. I looked back through the gap seeing Alarielle waving piece of vibrant cloth. The rest of the party arrived upon seeing the signal. No time to converse, we hurried through, but of course it wouldn¡¯t be that easy. I cursed our carelessness as shouting resounded from the top of the wall. They had expected it all along, sending legions of men to lie in wait at our most probable points of passage.


    A blockade of spearmen surrounded the hole from which we emerged. Row after row of soldiers stared back at us.


    ¡°It¡¯s the first army.¡±


    ¡°By the Gods, we are doomed.¡±


    Everyone in the party swallowed hard. Archers lined the walls from above. Cavalry moved in and blocked the gap from behind. A man with an iron aura approached from within the ranks. He had a long grey beard and wore the armour of the Moonflower Chapter.


    ¡°Surrender now, and those from the Moonflower Chapter will be spared. We look after our own.¡±


    ¡°The Grandmaster!¡±


    Brent looked back at me, and I nodded.


    ¡°Come on lads, the Grandmaster gave his word. Let¡¯s get going.¡±


    Thanatos began to move, but I reminded him.


    ¡°There is no longer a place for you there. Don¡¯t make me remind you who you are now.¡±


    He fell back into place obediently understanding this. I knew it was my time.


    ¡°Alarielle, I am going to create a gap in the blockade, you pass through with Helen. Thanatos protect them both. It¡¯s what you¡¯re best at after all.¡±


    Finally, I turned to Helen who was on the panther.


    ¡°Let me show you what I really am, girl.¡±


    The wizened Grandmaster saw me walking forth. I walked, calmly, consistently, like the constant approach of death, except this time they could see me.


    ¡°Stay where you are!¡±


    I did not falter. The old man raised his hand signalling the archers above. A rain of arrows shot through the night sky. Removing my silver mask, my horns sparked, and flames appeared in my sockets. My aura broke free. The front line of spearmen instantly collapsed, the shockwave of mana knocking them out. The volley of arrows in the air were knocked away from the party and I, peppering the ground around us.


    I unholstered Python, without stopping and checked the cylinder.


    ¡°One in the chamber eh?¡±


    As I looked down the sights of the pistol everyone was bewildered, even Helen had not seen me use my magnum. I channelled Darkness, Shadow, Death and the Flame magic I grasped from the Minotaur into this bullet.


    *BAAAAANG*


    In the time the bullet left the barrel of Python and was hurtling towards the first army, it had transformed into a meteor, sucking mana from miles away growing larger and larger.


    *Swooooooooooosh*


    The meteor spread flames like wildfire, they melted armour and flesh alike as the first army was consumed by chaos. The thirty veterans used this chance to escape home, riding into the darkness under the command of Brent, not looking back. The elderly grandmaster stepped out from within the flames, slicing his flaming beard off unhesitatingly, the armour he wore was clearly heavily enchanted against magical attacks.


    I clicked my fingers creating a gap in the flames, Alarielle and Thanatos knew what to do, they sped past the dead and dying with Helen in tow. Cavalry charged at them from behind, but like Moses and the red sea, I allowed the flames to spread once more, consuming those that charged into it.


    Finally, I was alone. The open air provided an inexhaustible source of mana. This was true power. I waved my hand, forming more black bullets, in the meantime I sent a wave of Death magic to the burnt and desecrated corpses of the first army. I reloaded Python calmly still walking towards the Grandmaster.


    ¡°He is at the Archmage realm at least!¡±


    The old man screamed manically. I didn¡¯t know what he meant but by the response of the surviving soldiers they had grasped the extent of my strength.


    They had started to back away slowly.


    ¡°If you think you¡¯re leaving here alive, then you¡¯re sorely mistaken.¡±


    The reanimated corpses of the first army emerged from the flame, rising from the dead, they stumbled and trudged towards the survivors, only seeking to kill. The Grandmaster faced me, longsword in hands, a strange but familiar magic began to radiate from his body.


    It was the same as Thanatos¡¯ magic. I remembered something from my past life. That once someone reaches a certain realm of martial arts, they can use qi. This must be that energy, but on an entirely different level in comparison to the masters in my past life.


    I faced the old man, not daring to underestimate him. We both came to a stop when we were roughly twenty meters apart. The fleeing soldiers were caught and ripped limb from limb by the undead. The gap in the wall was not large enough for them to fit through, only a couple managing it. I swivelled firing Python at the wall resulting in its collapse. The archers tumbled from the battlements and the soldiers beneath fought to the last man. I wanted to laugh at the futility of their struggle, but the Grandmaster wouldn¡¯t give me a chance to.


    As I collapsed the wall, he lunged, I sidestepped the blade resonating with qi. Not allowing me to get distance, he sent a palm to my chest. He had underestimated my physical prowess. Not only my body¡¯s physical strength and endurance, but something far more lethal.


    I grew excited at the prospects my strength brought. In my excitement, the flames on my horns and in my sockets spread, painting a cruel smile on my emotionless face. I could see my horrifying reflection on the Grandmaster¡¯s armour, fresh out of hell.


    Bone and flesh collided, my fist fragmented, but was held together by magic, the old man¡¯s palm however was not looking so good. The flesh had already started to decay, revealing splintered bones beneath. The Grandmaster retreated in horror. The decay crawled up his arm. Upon noticing this he decisively sawed through his gauntlet, severing his arm at the elbow.


    The Grandmaster winced but took a battle-stance once more. I knew he was prepared to die, but this resolve was shocking. I admired him as a warrior, living a simple life and dying a simple death. I envied him.


    He closed the distance once more, not giving me time to fire Python. The ancient veteran jabbed at the centre of my body, a blow I couldn¡¯t dodge. But I didn¡¯t need to evade.


    The sword stabbed through my empty ribcage.


    ¡°Fool¡± I muttered. About to lay my hand on his face, decaying his brain.


    As I laid my hand on his wrinkled and coarse cheek, he smiled. The qi resonating from his body grew erratic. Something wasn¡¯t right.


    The sword in my chest began to vibrate, the qi was sucked into the man¡¯s body before-


    *BANG*


    My consciousness went black.


    An unknown amount of time passed¡­


    The sound of creaking wood roused my consciousness. I looked out seeing a small window with an array of wood and thatched buildings outside. A medieval town. I couldn¡¯t remember what had happened but a beautiful woman with violet hair and eyes sat watching me. She had long pointed ears and pure white skin.


    ¡°An elf.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a dark elf.¡±


    She furrowed her brows and pouted cutely, offended by my assumption.


    ¡°Where are we?¡±


    ¡°A village far west of the capital. Do you remember anything that happened?¡±


    ¡°I- I remember bits and pieces. The first army, I broke through the blockade, then I duelled the old man and he imploded¡­¡±


    ¡°Well that¡¯s not all¡­ We found you in your current form once the fires died down, I don¡¯t know what happened, but there were no bodies anywhere near you. It was as if they disappeared.¡±


    Hearing this, I jolted upwards checking my body. To my horror, disgusting pieces of black flesh covered my bones shoddily. The flesh seemed to have decayed, I had no skin, instead muscle and organs had covered my bones. I flung myself from the bed, going to the mirror lying in the corner of the room.


    A pair of pure red eyes gazed back at me. I looked like a half-melted terminator, the muscles covering my body bulged as I moved, the black fibres shifting as I willed them to.


    ¡®Python.¡¯


    ¡®Yes master.¡¯


    ¡®What happened to my body? Is it another evolution?¡¯


    ¡®Yes and no, your body entered a recovery state after being destroyed, subconsciously casting spells to gather energy from the nearby surroundings, it used Life, Death, Fire, Earth and Shadow energies to reconstruct your body. These energies have refined your body further, allowing you to wield greater strength.¡¯


    I was glad to be alive, that¡¯s all I could think at that moment. I felt soiled, my perfect bone form had been polluted by flesh but upon closer inspection, I thought I could grow into them. Flexing in the mirror reminded me of my adolescent days, where I would convince myself they were growing bigger.


    ¡°Where are Thanatos and Helen?¡±


    ¡°Helen is with the five knights who wanted to come with us, Thanatos has gone hunting with Brent to conserve our Veinaries.¡±


    ¡°They came back?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they said they had nothing to go back to, as for Brent, well, apparently ¡®he likes being the underdog¡¯¡­¡±


    ¡®Their company would be missed¡­ but they can act as fodder in any sticky situations I suppose.¡¯


    I formed a suit around my body. Checking myself in the mirror, the upside to muscles was a better fit on my Armani. I covered myself with a silver mask and black robe before exiting the bedroom. Alarielle followed as I went downstairs.


    The building was constructed from simple timber and thatch, interesting beams supported the place adding to the aesthetic. There was a homely feel as we entered the downstairs. Five burly men huddled around a large table with an assortment of tableware holding different foods and beverages. The men sat maintaining weapons and armour quietly.


    As my foot landed on the final stair, a loud creak turned heads towards me. A squirrel-like girl popped her head up hearing this. She turned running towards me. It was Helen.


    Hugging me hard, I stood there at a loss. The five men at the table bore witness to the worst case of hover-hand this world had ever seen. Developing gloves around my fleshy fingers, I patted the girls head. It was nice having someone worry over you.


    *Bang*


    The door to the tavern burst open. Thanatos¡¯ cloaked figure swept through with Brent in tow.


    ¡°I sensed your awakening master. We cannot stay here any longer, they¡¯re coming.¡±


    Alarielle spurred into motion, giving the near invisible tavern keep a few silver coins. The five veterans readied the horses as the villagers shot us wary looks. We had packed and were mounted within the minute, galloping northwards.


    The Order was hot on our tracks.

 Chapter 8 - Awakening

    Awakening


    In a dark and musty hall, a group of twelve men, women and creatures of all shapes and sizes sat around a black table. The sound of footsteps came from outside the hall. Heads turned as the heavy ebony doors creaked open. A lone figure hobbled through the doorway, leaning on a long staff, barely able to walk.


    The man seated at the end of the table stood from his seat. His firm brows and stout face gave off the aura of a leader.


    ¡°The League welcomes the new Eye of the Gods.¡±


    The other eleven members glanced at the figure lackadaisically. Such a minor figure was of little import to the League of Exorcists. But the Eye of the Gods was still very useful in their line of work, so they nodded towards him.


    The figure took over a minute to awkwardly manuever to the empty end of the table where he continued to stand. A trembling hand unveiled a horrific appearance from under his hood. A face burnt so horribly it was beyond recognition and made even the League members slightly more interested.


    The man¡¯s orifices had been sealed by his melting flesh, his ears and hair had vanished entirely, only his eyes remained unscathed. The smooth skin over his eyelids made a sharp contrast with the mangled flesh on the remainder of his face.


    This was the new oracle of the Order. The new Eye of the Gods.


    ¡°His name is Lionel Gracia, the only survivor of the Black Demon¡¯s incident. Now that Bartimaeus¡¯ usefulness has been exhausted, he was the most ideal candidate, especially when considering the escaped Demon had destroyed his eyes. Not only this, but the Demon kidnapped his daughter.¡±


    Taking his seat once more, the other League members were intrigued by the new oracle. A man with such deep grudges against the Demon they were hunting would surely be a great asset. Lionel opened his eyes, revealing a golden light which projected a divine aura in the hall. None of the League members were perturbed, clearly each member wielded unimaginable power.


    ¡°The Black Demon is headed to the Northmost region of the Eventide Kingdom. There are few accompanying him, however, none are worthy of mention before the league. The group consists of my daughter, a dark elf, a strange minion the Demon created and six human soldiers. It is believed they are heading to the Grand Magus in the North, Grent Everfrost, wanting to take refuge under his wing.¡±


    The League members glanced at each other greatly surprised, only the members towards the end of the table remained calm. It was well known that Grent Everfrost was an old monster, who had mysteriously appeared over five thousand years ago and killed several other mages of great power. A mere Grand Magus was not enough to shake the members of the League, but Grent Everfrost was a different matter.


    In truth, no one was sure of his true power as no one had faced him and lived. The strongest who had faced him was a peak Grand Magus, and this was five thousand years ago hence he was certainly much more powerful, being at least a powerful Saint realm Mage.


    While the League had dealt with many people far more powerful than Saint Mages, the uncertainty of his true strength was a deterring factor.


    A foxy woman with a voluptuous figure looked sweetly at the head of the table and spoke in a voice which would make men and women melt.


    ¡°Zacheus, allow me to go, I have some interest in this ¡®Black Demon¡¯ and I know the Northern parts of the Eventide kingdom rather well.¡±


    ¡°Mmm, I was planning on sending you. Then it is settled, third ranked Vulpes will intercept the Demon before it meets Grent Everfrost. Capture it, dead or alive. With you I shall send seventh rank Ventus and tenth rank Lux. If something happens and that old monster shows up, try to probe his strength, but if he is above the Saint realm, retreat immediately.¡±


    ¡°As you wish, Zacheus.¡± Smiling flirtatiously the woman named Vulpes took long strides, showing off her ¡®goods¡¯ as she exited the hall. An ethereal bodied being floated from the table, robes fluttering, and a quiet silver haired man followed calmly.


    ¡°Now that the matter with the Black Demon has been dealt with,¡± smiling evilly Zacheus continued, ¡°there is news of the Death God¡¯s ancient legacy in the Western Continent.¡±


    The gazes of the remaining league members and Lionel burned with fervent desire.


    This was earthshattering news.


    <hr>


    Weeks later¡­


    Day after day of riding flitted by. In the Northernmost parts of the Eventide Kingdom, the silver masked and black clad Subere trudged through the knee-deep snow accompanied by the hulking figure of Thanatos. There was a solemn atmosphere surrounding them as they hauled through the terrain. They had been pursued by the Order for the past few weeks, yet three days ago the shadowy beings that tracked them disappeared.


    Naturally this was reason enough to celebrate, but I knew the Order well and understood that something much more terrible had arrived. Despite the wolvish gazes of our pursuers on our backs, the group couldn¡¯t last in the cold without some thick animal skins and food to warm their bellies. Hence Thanatos and I, the two greatest fighters and the only two which needed neither warmth nor nutrients in the group diverged when we spotted a Snow Deer prancing nearby. Caught between a rock and a hard place, the groups rumbling stomachs led to my less than ideal choice.


    The snow-white deer met my gaze as I held out my hand, a pure black bow forming in my grasp. Thanatos had naturally crouched, readying himself to pounce and masking his presence in the snow forest. Nocking the arrow, I emotionlessly drew back the string, training my sights on the feast to be.


    ¡°AHHHHHHHHHHHH¡±


    *Twang*


    A bloodcurdling scream set the deer into motion, prancing forth, it narrowly avoided its whistling demise.


    ¡°Shit.¡±


    Both Thanatos and I forgot entirely about the deer, swivelling towards the direction of the scream. The Order had finally acted. The gamble for food had not paid off, giving their pursuers the opportunity they sought. Thanatos¡¯ muscles bulged as he ploughed through the snow, I shadowed his hulking figure sprinting in the trench he created.


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    The wails were cut off as Thanatos and I neared, the thick stench of slaughter assaulted my magical perception. My black flesh tensed as I feared the worst, my withered heart began to sink, and an insatiable rage erupted inside of me.


    We came to a clearing in the woods where a small path was carved by the occasional traveller. A bright crimson stained the pure snow, a steam rose from the ground, as if to signify the dissipation of life. A curvaceous woman had a sharp glint in her eyes as she stared at Thanatos and I emerging from the woods. In one of her dainty hands she held a head, in the other she grasped Helen by the throat. A cruel smile crept across her face.


    Brent''s expression of anguish was still written across his face as his headless body steamed in the snow, we were a step too late.


    "KILL!"


    Releasing Thanatos'' seal he leapt forth with Heruclean strength, his qi erupted as did his insatiable rage.


    *Crack*


    An ungodly pressure erupted from that woman''s body, instantly I was reduced to my knees, but Thanatos was far less fortunate.


    *Crunch*


    Clearly the closer you were to the woman, the greater the pressure. I watched helplessly as the fruit of my magic was crushed into a meat patty.


    "THANATOS!"


    Under the mountainous pressure I still managed to draw Python, my own magic attempting to fight back, however there was a suppression from something far beyond my comprehension hindering my retaliation. I couldn''t understand how I, who thought myself powerful, would be reduced to such a state by a mere aura.


    Taking aim I lined the woman in my sights, but she merely revealed an amused smile


    *Zip*


    A silver light flashed by as my hand exploded, Python similarly crumpled into waste. A silver haired man appeared, towering over me with a calm confidence. He had emotionlessly destroyed a magical weapon I thought to be indestructible, as if it were mere child''s play. An illusory being floated into my view as he tossed five body-less heads at the feet of the woman.


    "So this is what the ''Black Demon'' amounts to? Truly a pitiful existence."


    Despair. Utter despair. It was just like back then. I watched powerlessly as my sister was dragged away. I watched as they tortured her. I did nothing, for fear of my own life.


    The woman before me gripped Helen, choking the life out of her, yet the aura from the woman¡¯s body crushed me into the forest floor. Helen looked at me, a tear running down her cheek as her blood vessels popped. Even in her final moments, she smiled, as if to convince me it was alright.


    *Snap*


    She crumpled to the ground. Deader than dead.


    My eyes turned a deep crimson as a tear of blood streaked down my withered cheek. My vision dimmed as I remembered something, a memory from a long time ago. In that memory, a Great war was waged, as beings of incomprehensible power slaughtered each other. The fluctuations of their war caused planets to crumble and stars to implode.


    In the vastness of space, a deity blacker than night, strode through the emptiness slaughtering those in his path. A young woman stood by his side, as they accompanied one another through this chilling battle unimpeded. As I observed closer, I noticed something familiar about the woman. Getting a closer look at the woman, my soul itself trembled.


    "Sister?" I asked aloud without realising.


    The silver haired man standing over me turned to Vulpes with a calm smile.


    "Looks like he has lost himself in despair."


    "Hahaha, there is nothing more satisfying than a successful exorcism! But alas," sighing lightly, "he was simply too weak."


    Pointing her finger out towards me, she spoke steadily, "Die, evil creature."


    Thunder rang through my mind as I gazed upon that Great war in the depths of space. I was unable to believe it at first, but soon her gaze swept towards my eyes, and our gazes met through both space and time. She smiled, the warmth in her eyes melted the ice of despair which had shrouded my heart.


    ¡°Erebus, wake up.¡±


    Jolting from my memories, enlightenment graced my mind. Who was I in the past? Who was that black deity?


    *RUMBLE*


    Just as energy swirled towards my head the earth trembled in the wake of a boundless energy.


    *Kacha*


    Vulpes'' aura shattered completely causing her to cough a mouthful of blood as she visibly paled.


    "Which expert has arrived?" she inquired respectfully, truly shaken by the energy fluctuations. Who wouldn''t be shaken in her position? As a peak Saint realm Mage she could roam unfettered in the entire of the Eventide Kingdom, destroying the current King was as easy as flipping her palms yet she was injured in this desolate place.


    Clearly, she did not even consider it was me. The fluctuations of energy locked her in place, threatening to crush her feeble body, but I was too busy to pay attention to her.


    Once my despair had melted, the flames of anger in my soul acted as the key to the shackles locking my true being. Countless memories, flowed into my mind. Slowly I became more and more numb to the anger in my heart. The flames dimmed as my emotions became as tranquil as an ocean and steady as a mountain. I realised that in my years of existence, these few months had been a light breeze in the countless storms I had weathered.


    Even this wealth of memories were barely scratching the surface. For some reason, as I gazed at my soul, layer after layer of shackles hid away my past. The reason why these memories were sealed was unclear to me, but I knew I would slowly unravel the many mysteries shrouding my existence. For the moment, merely the first layer was sufficient. Clearly, an intense stimulus was required to unlock the shackles.


    Along with the memories, a suffocating energy erupted from my body nourishing it from within. Not only that, but it began to greedily absorb external energies siphoning magical essence in the air as well as the blood essence which splattered the ground.


    My consciousness adopted a birds-eye view as my body began to drain the surrounding energies. It was going to evolve, that much I was certain of. My black, corpse-like body weaved a cocoon around itself, it swiftly drained the blood from the warm corpses in the snow, setting the evolution ablaze.


    The silver haired man and illusory being were pressed deeper and deeper into the snow, completely suppressed by the energy. Now they understood that despair they once mocked him for.


    "Spare us Senior!" they begged, but I could not hear them. Their bodies were reduced to pulps as my cocoon instantly sucked their vital essences dry reducing them to mummies.


    The ancient blood arts in my memories spewed forth an irresistible urge to evolve into a terrifying being. My body within the cocoon quickly grew following the ancient arts, creating an ideal body to practise them. But for this, I required even more energy.


    *Splat*


    Vulpes'' head exploded as the nourishing blood of a peak Saint realm mage nourished my dried body, turning the flesh red before coating it with a delicate white skin. That woman who had disregarded me as being too weak now became sustenance for me to grow stronger, I felt such an end was fitting.


    Day after day went by as I meditated upon my new memories. I contemplated ancient martial techniques and magical attacks that resided within me. It seemed as though the first layer of memories each surrounded the laws behind slaughter and blood. Each blood art was able to release a power that shattered mountains and drained seas.


    The one most worthy of my notice was namely The Bloodfiend¡¯s Thirst. I had no knowledge of the origin of such a perverse art, but it¡¯s destructive potential was enough to wipe out whole civilizations at its peak.


    I contemplated the first stance of the art, The Bloodfiend¡¯s claw. Firstly, a strange bloodmark would appear on the user¡¯s palm, which when activated would abruptly extend a claw, similar to three sabers, piercing through whatever lay in its path. But the profundity of the technique lay behind the simple surface. This seemingly basic swipe contained the laws of Death, Blood and the Saber.


    I submerged myself in contemplating the technique, forgetting about the passage of time, I quickly realised that there were four major stages of comprehension, namely basic, advanced, transformation and perfection. Of course, I realised this after perfecting the technique, giving me insights into the laws of Blood and Death, but also allowed me to comprehend some saber intents.


    Little did I know, if an ancient expert discovered my comprehension abilities, they would keel over in shame of their uselessness.


    Before I could begin on the second stance, the vibrant cocoon shrivelled and I fell into the boreal forest once more, revelling in my new form. My silky and smooth skin painted a sharp contrast to the black withered flesh I had previously. The white purity of this skin even shamed the snow. This unnatural paleness was offset by my crimson eyes and golden iris''. I realised my current form was still in its infant stages, resembling a fourteen to fifteen year-old boy. My long black hair fluttered past my hips.


    I was the first of this ancient race to walk these lands for untold millenia. A progenitor to the divine Vampire race, my current form was that of a Blood Divinity.


    I barely got a moment to take in the beauty of the forest before an old man appeared in the skies above, peering down in utter shock. As our gazes met his amazement grew, as did his fear, it was if he was being gazed upon by a natural predator.


    I cast my gaze indifferently at the figure behind the man, a woman with a lithe figure and violet hair and eyes with long pointed ears. It was Alarielle!

 Chapter 9 - Crossing The Bifrost Mountains

    Crossing The Bifrost Mountains


    Through the canopy of the boreal forest, the old man floating in the skies began to descend cautiously. Alarielle seemed to be confused, she was unable to understand what made the old man so wary. I wove a black cloak covering my naked adolescent body, enjoying the prospects of a living form as I awaited their approach.


    My beating heart had never felt so warm, despite me being part of a cold-blooded race. The feeling of my bare feet submerged in snow was pleasant, the complexity of the sensation was far beyond what my previous forms could emulate through magic. I felt like I was alive, my acute senses made everything so real.


    The crisp sound of rustling branches rang in my ears as the pair passed through the canopy, evidently the senses of this body were far beyond that of a human. Despite me being in my infant form, having the body of an ancient race brought innumerable innate advantages against other species.


    The old man kept his eyes trained on my body, watching for any movements, he tried his best to hide his fearsome aura, but it couldn¡¯t escape my perception. I could sense he was ready to retaliate at any given moment.


    Alarielle finally caught a glimpse of me. She quivered slightly as her instincts screamed danger. Her delicate brows furrowed, glaring at me out of fear, not recognising me after the evolution. The old Mage waved his hand at her to stop before he bowed his head slightly.


    ¡°My name is Grent Everfrost, may I ask what business Senior has in my territory?¡±


    Despite Subere¡¯s youthful appearance there were many races in this world which did not age according to human standards, the Elf race being one of them hence seniority was judged by strength rather than looks. This was a tradition passed down from ancient times to present. This was the respect strength commanded.


    Ignoring the aged wizard, I turned to face Alarielle and with a deadpan expression I spoke coldly, ¡°What took you so long?¡±


    I had forgotten how many days passed since my evolution began, perhaps even weeks had gone by. When the Order¡¯s scouts had vanished, Alarielle travelled ahead to find this elderly Mage, Grent Everfrost, our potential saviour. This was far too coincidental from my perspective. It was more than likely the pair were in cahoots with The Order, but then why would they be here?


    Her confusion faded into shock. Myriad expressions shifted across Alarielle¡¯s face. Finally, something dawned on her.


    ¡°Could you be¡­ Subere?¡±


    I nodded, confirming her speculations. My new body was too drastically different from my previous corpse-like appearance.


    Hiding my supspicions, I stated, ¡°The Order sent some powerful people. Everyone else died.¡± I observed their expressions carefully. Even the smallest twitch couldn¡¯t escape my eyes. Alarielle¡¯s residual shock faded into remorse.


    It seemed that she truly knew nothing of the battle. Perhaps she was kept in the dark by her superiors? Could I have been mistaken about their allegiances?


    ¡°At least you¡¯re still alive¡±, optimistically forcing a smile, but once she looked into my cold desolate eyes her smile receded. Her pained expression of guilt was truly convincing, but alas, it seemed she cared more than I did for the deaths of our companions.


    I realised once I unlocked my memories, that Helen was just a poor replacement I had subconsciously found for my sister. The girl¡¯s death pained me, but as I had once said, there was no point crying over spilt milk, I could not perform miracles like resurrection, even if I wanted to. I pitied my dead accomplices for their poor choices and accursed fates. The most I could do was bury the Order along with them.


    Throughout my train of thought, shocking revelations were booming within Grent¡¯s mind.


    ¡®The disruptions in mana were because of a battle here? But the power required to shift the mana in the atmosphere would be an energy at the Heavenly Grail realm at the minimum.¡¯


    Grent¡¯s fear of Subere subsequently increased realising the magnitude of his strength.


    ¡®Anyone capable of defeating multiple Saint realm Mages, especially if they were those freaks from the Order, should never be underestimated. I know one thing for sure, and that is to not make an enemy of this youth, no matter the cost.¡¯


    Subere however did not know Grent¡¯s thoughts as he continued speculating the duo¡¯s true intentions in leading him to the North of Eventide.


    Ever since Bartimaeus had helped me escape the Order¡¯s headquarters I speculated the reason for doing so was personal gain, something akin to using me as a chess piece for a rebellion, considering the exalted status I had as the ¡®Black Saint¡¯, this was within the realm of possibility. Clearly there were many plots and schemes running under the surface of the Order.


    I had presumed that Alarielle was a subordinate of Bartimaeus but from the looks of things the matter was far more complex than I had imagined.


    The time during my evolution was enough for me to gather my thoughts on my experiences of this world. No person of power was to be trusted unrequitedly, this was an unspoken rule in every society. I wanted answers, and if they lied to me, they would pay the price. I was sick of being a tool for others¡¯ plots and schemes.


    ¡°Who are you really?¡±


    Alarielle looked towards the old fogey, his expression souring. Grent knew he couldn¡¯t fool Subere, but how could he divulge their organisation¡¯s existence so easily.


    ¡°It is hard for us to reveal ourselves to a stranger, despite your quarrels with the Order, but know that we are not your enemy.¡± He pulled a smile that was not a smile across his wrinkled face and swallowed nervously.


    It was obvious that they did not take me seriously, despite being fearful of my strength. I slowly raised my palm with the bloodmark engraved upon it, making him grimace. My black hair fluttered in the frigid breeze. The pair before me seemed to shiver, perhaps due to the cold but their faces told me otherwise.


    In an instant, I activated the bloodmark executing the Bloodfiend¡¯s claw. Despite perfecting the technique, it was my first time unleashing it, so I took great care in controlling my strength. The result however still astounded me.


    A crimson flash beamed past the pair¡¯s widened eyes.


    *BOOOOOOOOOOM*


    The red light spread further and further as a torrential energy swept through the forest for a millisecond before dissipating.


    A sudden weakness assaulted my body. That one attack had consumed all of my stored energy. As the billowing smoke cleared, I noticed the vast forest of trees had vanished in the area my attack had passed, a charred wasteland extended on for miles in that direction.


    *Crunch*


    Alarielle¡¯s quaking knees gave way as she collapsed in the snow, her eyes were vacant after coming so close to death. A mutual despondency resided in the old Mage¡¯s eyes, I chided myself internally for going overboard. I had only intended to scare them shitless, not turn them into idiots.


    I noticed a wound slowly creeping open on Grent¡¯s face, his wrinkled flesh sagged as blood began to pour out of the ferocious claw mark down his cheek. He understood how close he had come to death.


    In that moment, my debilitating weakness became an unquenchable thirst. As the blood streamed from Grent¡¯s wound my instinctive hunger wrestled with my will. In order to quell this urge, I flicked my hand, absorbing the old man¡¯s essence at a terrifying rate.


    Grent¡¯s blood nourished my body rapidly replacing my lost energy. As his body withered a hoarse whimper brought me back from my bestial cravings. I forcibly held back my thirst, I still had uses for them.


    With my replenished energy I launched myself forward, whistling through the frigid air, closing the distance between us in a split second. Both sets of eyes narrowed, but it was too late, I grabbed Alarielle by the nape, a pair of ghastly fangs extending in my mouth, I sunk them deeply into her glistening throat.


    Naturally, her body began to spasm as she gasped for air, resigning herself to fate her struggle was short-lived. I laughed internally seeing her panic, naturally anyone would, but my race was universally different to our distant descendants, Vampires.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    Whilst Blood Divinities harvested blood from living beings, they were the Monarchs of any creature with blood flowing through its veins. Naturally, those who provided blood would be greatly strengthened in return, becoming powerful servants for the Divinity.


    The iron-like taste of Alarielle¡¯s blood assaulted my tongue, in comparison to the old fart¡¯s essence, the blood of a young dark elf was like comparing a fine wine to grape juice. Alarielle¡¯s eyes glinted with a golden light as her dimming vitality surged forth. I felt an energy resonate between us as a bond formed, similar to a mother feeding her babe.


    Withdrawing my fangs, I similarly subdued the terrified and withered Grent, making both of them my blood slaves. Without me explaining anything, the two adjusted to their newfound strength.


    ¡°Let us leave this place.¡±


    Both of them stopped fooling around and bowed loyally. Any will to resist had vanished. My bloodline caused them to experience euphoria when carrying out my commands, naturally there was no reason to resist.


    ¡°Where are we going Master?¡±


    ¡°North. Away from Eventide.¡±


    The pair nodded. Through the master-slave relationship their memories were at my disposal, answering the many questions I had. As I browsed them Grent withdrew a flying magic treasure in the form of a wooden row boat. It landed in the snow with a heavy thud, allowing us to climb in, finally we soared into the skies, heading further North.


    Without a need to converse, I understood the two were part of a resistance against the Order, namely the Hand of Darkness, similarly Bartimaeus was part of this organisation. Despite Grent¡¯s impressive strength his ranking was still below the executives in the resistance. Alarielle however, was the daughter of one of the resistance leaders hence her understanding of the resistance was much deeper.


    The Hand of Darkness was on an extremely large scale with countless operators within the Order¡¯s ranks. Only through the duo¡¯s memories did I get a clearer image of the Order¡¯s power.The Order was an interplanetary organisation with unfathomable roots. They were on the cusp of dominating this planet and only a handful of factions with powerful leaders could resist such an organisation.


    Namely these factions were the Beastman Confederation, the Hellflame Magisterium, the Lastrian Oligarchy, Darkblood Theocracy and lastly the Sanguine Aristocracy as well as a group of other smaller powers. Both Alarielle and Grent had a pitifully small amount of information on these different factions, but I knew that I had to flee the Order¡¯s territory to have a chance at growing stronger.


    The closest non-Order faction was namely the Sanguine Aristocracy, but it was still more than a week of flying and a hazardous area away.


    I meditated silently on the rowboat magical treasure, Alarielle snuck the occasional glance at me, but I was immersed in my ancient blood arts to bother with her. The second stance of the Bloodfiend¡¯s Thirst was infinitely more complex than the first.


    Namely it was the Bloodfiend¡¯s Dash. Simple in name, but the laws surrounding the technique were far more profound. By combining Space, Wind and Blood it allowed one to dissolve their body into a blood mist, providing them invulnerability to attacks whilst they travelled for long distances, reforming their body upon reaching safety.


    Of course, there were drawbacks to this, one of which was the vast energy consumption, and another was the weakened state your body would be in after using the technique.


    This was obviously an escape art meant for preserving your own life. After I had basic comprehensions in the second stance, I found myself at a bottleneck in my understandings. Space magic was incomparably profound, but also incredibly powerful.


    It was only when I reached a bottleneck in my meditation that I realised we had entered a violent blizzard. The Eventide Kingdom and Sanguine Aristocracy were separated by a vast snowy region known as the Bifrost Mountains which was a danger zone to anyone underneath the Heavenly Grail realm and currently we were paying the price for crossing this place.


    In the midst of the howling wind I gestured to Grent who was controlling the magical treasure to land. Bringing us down through the blizzard the treasure shuddered and bobbed unsteadily, finally plummeting and crashing into the snow.


    ¡°Allow me Master.¡±


    Grent waved his hand, forming an ice barrier around us, similar to a glass dome which moved as we did. The duo looked towards me for orders. I contemplated momentarily before remembering that Grent lived in this region. Despite having access to the pair¡¯s memories, I couldn¡¯t assimilate or merge them with my own, I could only study them.


    ¡°Where can we take shelter.¡±


    Grent frowned lightly, obviously unable to think of anywhere. He had never seen a blizzard as harsh as this despite living in the region for centuries. Naturally this was due to his reclusive nature as a hermit.


    ¡°I know of a place. I had to avoid this snow storm when searching for Grent.¡±


    I nodded towards Alarielle as she began to trudge through the deep snow. There was little to no visibility from within the ice barrier, the blizzard prevented us from surveying the landscape and each of us were extremely cautious in our footing.


    One misstep could be fatal, sinkholes were not uncommon in the Bifrost. We soon discovered however, that sinkholes were the least of our worries.


    ¡°Master, my magical perception is being hindered by the snowstorm, but there is something moving in the darkness. It¡¯s likely to be a Frost Devil, they are the only creatures that can survive in this area.¡±


    I nodded in response. Nothing was ever easy. I too could sense movement in the blizzard, not through magic but the wretched smell of beasts.


    *BANG*


    Something collided hard with Grent¡¯s ice barrier, cracks running through dome. Grent grimaced but the cracks quickly faded, restoring the barrier.


    ¡°My mana is being drained too quickly, I won¡¯t be able to keep this up for long.¡±


    ¡°Stay calm, we¡¯re almost there.¡±


    Despite Alarielle¡¯s comforting words, the shake of nervousness in her voice was very disconcerting.


    ¡°I hope you know what you¡¯re doing.¡±


    Saying this, I turned to Grent, ¡°Lower the barrier.¡±


    His eyes widened, but he quickly nodded. As the barrier vanished, my ears perked up and my nose twitched.


    I mumbled under my breath, ¡°One, three, six¡­¡­ ten beasts are coming our way!¡±


    Our steps halted. Grent¡¯s countenance steeled, his mana flowing rapidly, ready to engage them. Similarly, I took a fighting stance, worst comes to worst I would activate my Bloodfiend¡¯s dash to escape the beasts, but I would have to conserve the little energy I had.


    My vision was greatly enhanced in the darkness, I could see as if it were as bright as day, but the snow and raging winds still buffeted my senses.


    ¡°On our left!¡±


    I was the first to react, swiftly turning to face the beast. It had white fur as tough as wire and resembled a snow bear. Large tusks and horns protruded from its mouth and forehead, ghastly claws swept through the blizzard as it approached. Its illuminous eyes were like blue torches in the dark.


    As the Frost Devil directed its gnarled claw at my torso, I launched myself into the air above. My new body was filled with vibrancy, sending me hurtling towards the beast with ease, giving the creature no time to react, I sent a palm strike directly towards its hideous skull.


    *Bang*


    A roar sounded behind me, magical fluctuations flared in the open snow, Grent obviously finding his own opponent trying to protect Alarielle.


    The force of my strike collided with the Frost Devil¡¯s thick skull jarring my wrist, but the stinging pain was negligible. I had felt the skull of the creature collapse, causing it to claw at its forehead in agony. Something akin to adrenaline was rushing through my body. As a deep bestial strength erupted, I sent a sweeping kick to the scrambling creature wanting to put it out of its misery.


    *ROAR*


    *Crack*


    More Frost Devils approached as the crisp shatter of bone reverberated in the surroundings, the first Devil slumped, its brains steaming in the snow. Litres of purplish blood flooded from the creatures head onto my body. That ancient thirst erupted once more as I drained the dissipating essence of the Frost Devil.


    A thrum sounded from my body as the blood of the creature became nourishment. My bones crystalized, my muscles solidified, and my organs strengthened as more and more energy was stored.


    Exhaling heavily, I turned leaving the withered Devil in the snow, following Alarielle who had abruptly spurred into action, frantically searching for cover. Grent swiftly disengaged the Frost Devil he was fighting not wanting to fall behind.


    Alarielle took a heavy step, crackling noises sounded before she disappeared. I swiftly encroached on her position, Grent followed. A hole barely big enough to fit through was opened in the snow. I unhesitatingly slid down the frozen tunnel, going deeper and deeper. The sounds of battle echoed through the tunnel, Grent clearly covering my escape.


    Moments later, the tunnel came to an end as I fell onto a bed of ice. Alarielle stood to the side panting heavily. We had arrived in a giant ice cavern, tunnels just like ours dotted the walls and the ceiling was hundreds of meters high.


    The sound of sliding sounded from the tunnel, I moved out of the way before Grent¡¯s bloodied figure appeared alongside us in a miserable state. The proud air of a mage was nowhere to be seen looking at Grent¡¯s dishevelled appearance. It was very likely he would have lost his life if it weren¡¯t for the strength gained from my bloodline.


    Biting my finger, I spared him a drop of my blood which quickly sealed his wounds and allowed him to somewhat recover.


    ¡°It was by chance that I stumbled across this cavern when searching for Grent Master.¡± Alarielle pointed towards a nearby tunnel, ¡°This leads back to the surface, I was too scared to explore this place before, so I only ventured along this path.¡±


    I nodded in response.


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait out the storm here.¡±


    Sitting in a meditative position I began to contemplate space magic once more but alas, it was short-lived.


    ¡°Massssster!¡±


    The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. A booming and raspy voice entered my mind. It seemed to be very excitable, but I was confused, could it be something from my past lives?


    I shot to my feet, without alerting Grent or Alarielle who were resting protectively at my sides, I launched myself deeper into the cavern following the voice. A light breeze tickled my face as I flew down a vast tunnel. After minutes of listening to the calls of the voice I arrived at an opening. A silver light glowed around a blue spear. It was held between two gargantuan ice pillars.


    ¡°Masssster, you have come for me once more. Fate willsssssss it.¡±


    I had no memory of this spear, but I was clearly its wielder in the past. I flickered, approaching the spear in an instant. My hand wrapped around its shaft.


    *BOOM*


    Thunder went off in my mind as a boundless icy energy came under my control. A radiant smile spread across my face, the spear became an extension of my arm. An ancient spear art resurfaced in my mind, one I had created personally leading to that same question once more. Who was I? But I only knew what I was allowed to, remembering this spear and the countless who fell to its blade.


    ¡°Xavier.¡±


    ¡°Yessss. You remember thissss sssservant.¡±


    As I reacquainted myself with the spear, a deep rumble sounded out from the ice.


    ¡°Ah, Masssster an annoying little lizzzzard has nestled itssself here, wanting to absorb my essssssencccce.¡±


    *RUMBLE*


    The ice began to part as a gargantuan draconic body rose from the ground. Its terrifying ice blue eyes glowered as they saw Xavier in my hand. Its titanic maw opened, revealing sharp teeth akin giant icicles, a blue flame gurgled in its throat.


    ¡°YOU DARE STEAL THIS KING¡¯S TREASURE!¡±


    My hair fluttered in the gale roused by the dragon''s roar. A slight smirk tugged at my mouth as I calmly regarded the theiving dragon.


    "Who is stealing what little lizard?"