John felt the hair on his back stand on its ends, incited by the prospect of killing the cursed thing and receiving the goddess’s favor once more. The feeling of power and pure pleasure afforded to those who level up; however, the stranger shared not in his ambition, for just as he could not hide his excitement, the stranger could not hide his fear.
The stranger’s eyes gleamed a certain way, the thin golden line within his pupil shining dimly. John felt the air shift and knew another battle would commence, one sure to end quickly seeing as how the previous one turned out, but the voice of reason screaming at the back of his head was drowned out by the unending growls of hunger.
“Ah, are you perhaps preparing to use that again? We admit that it was a bothersome ability, but we wonder how many more times you can afford to use it. Perhaps you should harvest the newest arrival, would his power be enough for you to surpass us, we wonder?” The accursed spoke freely, unbothered by the hateful gazes of those plotting against it.
“…” The stranger could only grind his teeth in response, pondering every possibility and outcome where he would come out of this miserable situation alive, meanwhile, John picked up a particular word and his eyes reflected his confusion and near realization, a move that did not go unnoticed.
“Are you starting to understand why he’s so focused on protecting you? He sees that which you unwillingly stole from us as his, it is an unfortunate situation; however—” Its tone was much friendlier and softer speaking to John, harboring no hatred or spite, merely pity, and even some sadness as he uttered such terrifying words. “If you accept death by our hand, we will make sure you’ll feel no pain or discomfort as you return that which you unwillingly stole.”
“The hell are you on about? I stole nothing from you.”
The monster with many souls slumped its shoulders, seemly exhausted, as if he had the exact same conversation millions of times before, and with a sharp and venomous tone, it once again addressed the stranger.
“It’s the last time we shall ask this of you thief, speak the truth to him. His sins are not his own, we do not wish for him to have to hear the truth from us.”
The stranger took a breath, a tired, pitiable breath. “This world is dying. There is no way to save it, but there is a way to escape.”
“What?”
“But opening a tear into another reality is not easy, it's practically a fucking miracle, and to perform a miracle you need a power beyond anything we can reach, you need the power of a god… the divine power idiots summoned to this world are given. You included.”
A shiver ran down John’s back as he began putting the pieces together to the delight of the cursed monster watching silently.
“While there is no goddess here to turn the divine power, the grace, we have within us into blessings, it's still there; and when you chose a class, that grace within you crystalized, becoming tangible… ready for harvest. The proof is in your eyes, the golden ring is faint but visible. It’s the most valuable resource in this dying world, and I’m not the only one after it.”
A whirlwind of emotions welled up within John’s heart, but anger and spite were the only ones he could feel as all else was blocked by the goddess’s boon.
“y-you… you were planning to kill me all along, you fucking asshole?”
“I wanted to give you a chance. A fair fight between two proud men, survivors… but these… Things that think they can glue together this rotting corpse of a world-” The stranger gritted his teeth, letting out words dyed in poisonous spite. “-they would not let go. They stripped this world of everything, now they want to waste what little is left too.”
John failed to muster a response before the accursed did, its many voices reverberating in a gleeful tone. “Ignorant, just as expected of a thief. You know not of the origins of this world, the Eden it was, the nightmare it became. You are not but a decadent vulture, feeding on that which you understand not.”
The stranger showed his true emotions for the first time since their meeting. Unriddled by artificial calmness and petty attempts of manipulation. He let his rage and hatred show fully to the accursed’s amusement.
“Ignorant? Me? That’s just precious coming from you, a fucking tool, a disposable toy that outlived its damn usefulness. What do you, or the worms that made you know of this world? Aside from turning it into a barren wasteland?”
“…”
The hatred and bitterness between each sentence told John all he needed to know, the two monsters, both hellbent on killing him were going to come to blows soon, and he needed to make use of the chaos before one managed to kill the other.
“It matters not what you, a being of lesser worth, have to say. We shall pass judgment upon thee, thief, but despite everything, we wish you to know that it is within the supreme one’s plans to grant even one such as you a true death.”
John glanced to his side, looking over to a screen with rapidly decreasing numbers. Mere seconds left, just enough for him to maybe make some distance away from the impending battle, but what would come after, he thought?
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
A sneak attack wouldn’t work even if he had the ether blade, escape seemed unlikely as the old man was hardly in fighting shape, and it was clear that their battle wouldn’t last long.
John wanted to think logically, he knew the only way out was to do so. But the hunger, the insistent, agonizing hunger gnawed at his very soul. The more he pushed against it, the more it tightened its hold on him, pushing away all thoughts and desires except for one. Level up.
“oh,” The cursed creature spoke, genuine surprise apparent in his voice. “What a wretched creature you are, we pity what the false goddess made of you.”
John’s fist did nothing. It was the hardest, most precise punch he threw in his life, putting all of his weight and power behind it, but it simply bounced off the monster’s face.
What followed was a sharp pain, a nearly faint pain. John felt it reverberate from his chest to the rest of his body, and by the point he realized what happened, he was already on the ground, laying in a pool of his own blood.
The accursed’s attention was already back on the old man when John saw the fist-sized hole in his chest.
Their fight raged on in the background, a blur of sights and sounds that John could hardly even focus on between his last, bloody gasps. In his heart, he knew that it was the end of the road for him, and he was somewhat at peace knowing so.
He was truly himself, unshackled by the goddess’s curse, and thus he attempted to recall what little happy memories he had, to take solace in them before the last of his blood seeped out; however, he instead saw the familiar blue light of a screen flickering in the darkness.
ACTIVATION REQUIREMENTS HAVE BEEN MET
The ability “Apostle of the dead gods” has been unlocked
ABILITY ACTIVATION
would you like to sacrifice 5 levels to activate “Apostal of the dead gods”
Yes no
The screens flickered in and out of existence quickly, and John understood why. His life was coming to an end, and by all measures he should’ve been dead instantly after that monster’s fist pierced his chest, however, the magic of this world sustained his failing body yet. Giving him just enough time to consider what could be his final choice.
He was tired, and victory seemed impossible. Those monsters, the constructs of the elves were beyond reason, beyond defeat; however, John found his hand moving by itself, sluggishly finding its way to the screen.
Something sparked within him, holding back his urge to just lay there and die; however, it wasn’t fear nor bravery. It was something more primal, more basic. It was spite.
He was tricked by the goddess and brought into this nightmare of a world. He was herded by the old man, treated as nothing but cattle to be fattened up and slaughtered. And lastly, he was brought to the brink of death by a monster created by a species he had never even seen, for a crime he did not even know he had committed.
Before he was transported to this dying world, he was pushed around by many different people. His landlord, his boss, and his coworkers; and he had felt the same spite then too, yet he simply ignored it.
He was powerless then, as he is powerless now, but there was a chance for that to change.
ERROR!!
No matter how small or farfetched, he had a chance for the first time, a chance to fight back. A chance to pull down the pity tyrants that oppressed him.
ERROR!!
ERROR!!
ERROR!!
His vision began to fade, and darkness moved to replace the blurred image of the battle happening next to him. The last thing he could see was endless screens overlapping each other, their crimson hue blinking in and out of existence.
ERROR!!
ERROR!!
ERROR!!
ERROR!!
ERROR!!
ERROR!!
BLESSING RECEIVED
By the grace of the goddess Yuurena,
you’ve temporarily received the “Golden Dawn” Blassing.
Bath in the light of the goddess and carry out her will with great zeal.