There’s literally a hole everywhere in my body. I haven’t pulled out the stakes and swords stuck in my body to prevent too much blood loss but this in its own self is a little painful.
My pain receptors, my nerves that receive shocks and such only send a little up to almost no pain. However, a damage of this degree impedes my movement so it’s a little bother. Not only that, I am deeply staked at the tree behind me.
Well, at this rate, I am going to die. I need to do something.
First, I have already assessed my situation…and it’s shitty. Second is about my enemies…
Five Devils with powers far superior to an archdevil and stronger than even a giant devil when it comes to fighting prowess.
Each and single one of them wears armor and wields various weapons. Not only that, it seems they are capable of a wide variety of magic ranging from elemental to law defying ones. I doubt most of my tricks would work on them.
“[Mortem]”
Nothing happened.
It only works on low-level enemies. This just proves that each and devils are powerful. Such numbers of enemies...I can’t just escape. Even if I can, I am certain that they will follow me back and that would further trouble the others.
No choice, huh…
It has always been like this for me. Good times that I had with Nineteenth where we always end up in a shitty situation. A fight will always be a fight, bloodshed will always be bloodshed, whether we are in the mood or not.
Using my Arcana, distortion, I break the sword and stakes that were pinning me. The devils become alerted as I break free and put up their guard against me.
The Devil with I sign wields a one hand sword with a shield, the Devil II wields a spear, the Devil III wields a large axe with two edges, the Devil IV holds a huge mace with four bashers, and the Devil V holds a hammer.
The stake is a magic that the five of them used altogether. Three moves swiftly, and two moves slowly but deal a heavy damage.
A materialized a make shit ten span sword made of particles from the air. I started buffing my body with multiple distorted senses.
Three of the devils started rushing at me while the other two started running side wards.
“[Totsuka no Tsurugi.]”
CLANK!
As I rushed to them, albeit, hardly as I said earlier, my wounds impede my movement and blood kept flowing out. I am a little vexed as my initial attack got blocked by the Devil I and the two remaining devil tried to connect an attack to me.
However, before they can hack my head, I slid through a mini warp. But true to their strength, their precognition already predicted that I will emerge behind them so the two who rushes to the side already on my neck with their hammer and axe.
I roll my body backward and jumps repeatedly as my feet landed because the three devils from behind me have already positioned themselves to attack me.
The Devil II with spear shots its spear backward with a spin and it grazes my chest. Blood spills out and made my escape further with a mini warp.
As I land again from my mini warp… Devil I is already in my face with its shield drawn out.
BAM!
It bashed me with its shield that blew me away.
My wounds got much worse than before I for certain can say that a hole in your body is a little painful. No, from the start, normal people won’t be able to move with this kind of damage. I tried closing the wound with my distortion as I distort the reality of my regeneration, however, there will always be a limit to my abilities and stopping the loss of blood is all I can do.
I look forward again to pay attention to my foes, however, what immediately entered my sight is an axe whirling towards me together with a long thrust from a spear.
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With little time that I am given, the only evasion that I could do is to twist my body to avoid that axe.
SLASH
Blood gushes out again as the axe cut half of my left flank and the spear stabbing my right shoulder. I felt weak on my knees and I collapse on the ground. This time…for sure…
For sure…it’s the end…
.
.
.
What satisfaction did you found in your foolish life?
You had the power to decide everything in for most of your life but let it waste in vain. You had the power you once desire but didn’t use it once against those gods you detest.
You were once a hero of virtue but lost everything and became no more than a beast. The way you died, I still don’t understand its meaning. Did you found that dying like that will give you pride, that you will valiant about it, that you think you already made up with your sins if you act like a martyr?
I don’t understand what glory or valiant is in my life and I will never will. I don’t understand the logic behind heroism or what pride you can uphold with it. I’ve been taught in my life that once you committed a sin, you can never ever erase it or find a way to relieve yourself of it.
Repenting is a foolish word.
That is why I choose people that I will kill. I consider everything before taking an action. However, once I deemed a person fit to be killed with my hands on the spot, I won’t hesitate. I neither feel guilt nor satisfaction through my actions.
I know myself that I am no hero. I am a man and at the same time, a monster that couldn’t care less about the lives that I take.
But, still, I am far different from you, O foolish hero of the past.
What’s the point of berating me?
Do you find pleasure of finding fault in others?
I am guilty of everything that happened in my life, I won’t deny that I am a man that could not stand up for my own words.
However, I see no exact difference between us.
You also committed crimes in your life like me, and you are no better as someone indecisive. No, it’s more accurate to say that you don’t decide on anything, you just let someone order you around.
I am in no position to talk back to you, however, I want to point out how distorted you are.
Killing one and killing millions is no different from each other. You still killed someone.
I may be a foolish hero of the past but you are a disoriented killing machine. You are indeed not in need of any glory or valiant, either do I. But hear me, until the very bitter end of my life, I wanted to save them, I wanted them to be happy…
I don’t want them to experience what I’ve gone through.
Words of a man who thinks death is the right thing.
What a fool…
I will mock your beliefs and pride in your actions. It was no short of any heroism. It is all just self-gratification for the people you couldn’t save in your past. Even if you bark now, you are no more than a shadow of yourself.
You can never ever justify anything, less, repent. It’s just simply moronic that you think you can still do something.
I don’t understand you and I never planned to. I just find it ironic that now that you are dead, you have the guts to spew all of this crap. You should have done that when you were alive, fool.
I am person who fell in love, that’s right, I am a fool.
Unlike you, I have a woman in my life that I love and even now, I still do. I have daughters I wanted to meet and protect. You would never understand how I feel as you only toyed with feelings of people around you.
I perpetually hold something for myself and that’s what drives me to even possess you.
I feel like I haven’t done enough so I need to go save her and help our daughters.
I can never boast any achievements, I can never speak of any of my life full of sins, however, I at least want to feel significant to my daughters for one last time. I want to touch my wife one last time. These lingering feelings, do you understand it?
No, you can’t…
Like you, I couldn’t also understand you. Your way of thinking things are distorted to the point that one would think that you have an unclear view of your life.
What is your view in life then?
I have no need to explain something you wouldn’t understand.
To someone like you who pretend to be a father, you did nothing better for your daughters. Is giving your life away, even in your last moment was the best decision?
You’d rather leave your daughter fatherless. You think dying would do any good for them. It is just you being selfish.
I know how it feels to not have a father, no less, a parent growing up. Even your daughter to your beloved goddess knows that. The feeling of emptiness in her heart in growing up not knowing who her parents are.
And you are saying that I don’t understand you when you are the one spewing crap.
I am never troubled in whole life as an orphan, however, it pains me to see other children with no one to care for them. And you, in your life, took an uncountable amount of lives, regardless of age and gender.
That’s why I couldn’t bring myself to try to understand you.
This discrepancy from our beliefs and views of life…
To think that I found something in common with you…
Yeah…
If there’s one thing we are in common with, that is…
We can never ever understand each other.
We can never ever understand each other.
From this little speck of understanding, I know that you could use it.
Nowhere near as I once had in my life, just a fragment of it.
However, it will be up to you how you will use this power.
Consume it or be consumed.
That’s the only logic this power runs.
I have a lot of questions like how did this power manifested in the first place.
What’s the logic about it?
Hmph…
No matter…
My only complaint is that…this is how ones feel when someone else is pulling your ass in the time of dire situation.
How stupid and cliché…
.
.
.
“[Astlan’s Ira]”
Shade of hollow power started rising from my body.
My body started recovering and my wounds started patching up themselves. Even the hole in my guts or my torn flank, they started regenerating.
Power unknown to my body swells up and my body feels oddly invigorated.
However, since there’s a huge gap between me as a host, and him, the power could only last for three minutes.
For the next three minutes, I am going to boost my whole body to the breaking point with my own distortion and with the help of Astlan’s Ira, I will recover it instantaneously.
“Now then…let’s end this…so I can sleep…”