Rather than fix his shoulder, they ignored Kagami’s request. The two men spoke to each other in hushed and a tense tone. Kagami frowned, listening to them.

“-just give it back! You have no use for it. I’ve done my job. I did more than I needed to.”

“You’re not getting the token back.” Walnut scowled at him. “You’re helping us get out of here.”

“How? We either fight the monster we don’t know behind us, or fight the monster we know in front of us. Either option is shit.”

They couldn’t see what Kagami could. They were acting like cornered rats, trying to find a way out. The only way out was to face the cat in front of you, or let yourself die. The easy way was to let yourself die.

“Hey-”

“If you’re not going to give it back, then I’ll just take it back.” Subaru put on his oni mask.

“You think you can take it back?” Walnut’s face was red, a vein popped on his forehead. His grip on his black axe tightened. “If you think you can take out the Bandit King, you better get an army.”

They were hot headed, but there was no one more hot headed than him.

“HEY!” His shout made the birds in the tree’s canopy fly away.

The two of them turned to him, their angry directed towards him instead of each other.

Kagami snorted in pride.

“Take that smile off your face. Do you know what you’ve just done? You gave away our position!” Subaru said.

“You can’t die, so I think I should just slice off your limbs.” Walnut glided his finger across the axe’s edge.

They drew closer.

“I know a way out.”

They stopped in their tracks.

“You do?” Walnut sounded skeptical.

“You do?” Subaru looked just as skeptical.

“I do.” Kagami acknowledged. “I’ll tell you if you fix my shoulders.”

“Information first, then we decide whether to do that or not.” Walnut pointed his axe at him.

If he could he’d have folded his arms at that. “What do you take me for an idiot? I can see it in your eyes, you don’t plan to do that at all.”

Walnut crossed his arms. “You’re always strangely perceptive in times like this.”

“Perceptive?” Kagami repeated that word. “Back in my world, I was always a target for assassination. You kind of have to be perceptive when you’re just shopping for food, and a sweet little kid trips and tries to stab you with a knife when you help them.”

“What the heck? Were you a prince in your world too?” Subaru shook his head.

“I was a cook.” Kagami answered him.

“There’s no way a cook would be targeted for assassination,” Walnut said. “Now tell us where the way out is.”

“I’m not budging. Pop my shoulders in. I yelled pretty loud, so if someone is nearby, they’ll come. We could run into the Sunny Assassins.”

“Black Sun.” Subaru corrected him.

“Or we could run into the Warden.” Kagami continued. “The longer we argue about which order this happens, the longer you won’t know where to get out. Now, come on. Put my shoulder back in place.”

Kagami turned to expose his shoulder to them. Relenting, Walnut sighed. He grabbed Kagami’s shoulder and squeezed it. It made Kagami bite down a scream.

Walnut met his gaze. “Let me make this clear. If you’re lying, I’m going to dislocate other things.”

Pop and then another pop.

His shoulders were put back in place. Kagami rolled his shoulder, feeling pain but more relief that he could move his arms perfectly well.

With the deal struck, Kagami turned to them and to answer their question, he pointed to the Crimson Tree in the distance.

“The Warden has an elevator that goes all the way up. You should remember right? After all you told me, and that was why I came down here a year ago in the first place.”

Walnut’s eyes widened at that, and then narrowed. His fist shook.

“That’s suicide. We’re not going there.”

“Yeah, that sounds bad. Can I have my token back?”

“It’s the only one we have. It’s not like the Warden will destroy it either. He uses it for supply drops to his mansion.” Kagami told them. “It’s not like we have to fight the Warden.”

Walnut eyed him. “You don’t want to fight the Warden? Bullshit! That’s all you’ve talked about for the past year. You mutter in your sleep about it. You wanted so much to beat him and you’re willing to give that up?”

“Yes.”

Kagami’s desire to fight him clashed against the wall with the reality of his situation. Walnut and Subaru waited for him to continue.

“I can’t win. There I said it.” He forced himself to smile. “I’m not at a level I can fight him.”

“Well, this is a surprise. You’re talking reason.” Walnut leaned against a tree. “So, you’re saying we try and sneak to the elevator then?”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Yes.”

Walnut looked to Subaru. “Does that work for you? You get your token back by helping us sneak in.”

“I guess I can do that,” Subaru shrugged. “But I want assurances. Your word means nothing to me.”

“Assurances.” Walnut rubbed his beard. His axe dropped with a thud. His hand hovered over his pouch in hesitation. Then when he found the courage, he rummaged through the pouch, pulling out a gold coin. They way he handed it to Subaru, made it seem like it was something holy.

“A golden suncrest?” Subaru looked up with a frown. “This doesn’t mean anything to me.”

“But it does to me,” Walnut pointed at it. “Look at its back.

Kagami peeked over Subaru’s shoulder. There was an engraving on the coin. He couldn’t read it though.

“Barru?”

“That coin was my son’s. It’s the only thing I have left of him. You give me that back, when I give your token back.”

Subaru turned back at the coin, seeing it’s value now. He nodded and pocketed the coin in his own pouch. “We got a deal. I’ll protect the coin, but you better give my token back.”

“Keep it safe, because if you lose it, it means your life.” Walnut’s voice went low and dangerous.

“Great!” Kagami clapped and pointed his thumb over his shoulder. “So, we have a plan. Let’s get the heck out of here.”

#

Luke stabbed through one of the men that ambushed him. They were all going to the Crimson Tree, and some had thought it would be a great idea to try and thin the numbers. He should know, he killed the man that tried to ambush him. The position was great for ambushes, it guarded the the single pathway to the Crimson Tree.

The Crimson Tree was guarded by a giant sharp rocky wall that encircled it. While he guarded the area, he was only out for the Prince and allowed anyone else to go past. Most did, some were fools and died as a result like the body in front of him.

Luke sat down on a rock, leaning his spear right next to him, and waited patiently. When he was a knight, he was assigned guard duty many times, he usually slacked off during those times, and would give a great big yawn.

No more.

He dug his nails in his thigh, remembering that memory that led him here.

If only he had not slept, he may have saved his sister. He still remembered the face the Prince made as he burned their village to the ground. That face, was one of a demon’s.

The current prince with no memories had the face of a fool with no care in the world.

That was unforgivable to Luke.

All of his misfortunes, could be pointed to that one man.

He would never sleep, not until the prince came to him.

“Boss?” The lanky man came into his view. “Are you alright?”

Luke glared at him. “I’m not your boss, Summers. You’re my slave, until we kill the Prince. Unless you want your heart to explode.” Luke pointed at him, and could feel the flow of blood. With his Aura, Luke could control his blood. He put a little of his own in Summers after the man had tried to kill him at the beginning of the Ritual.

“Sure, but you also promised to get rid of it, and give my family money,” Summers waved at it dismissively. “Since the other two are gone, I get their share.”

“Sure.” Luke eyed the smiling man. He didn’t like this feeling. “What did you say you did to land yourself down here?”

“Nothing,” he said, but seeing that Luke didn’t like that answer, Summers continued. “Just like you, I was accused falsely and sent down here as a result.”

“I didn’t tell you I was accused.” Luke leaned in. “Say anything like that again, and I’ll make your death very explosive.”

“Come on, boss-”

“I’m not your boss.”

“-we both know you’re too kindhearted to have burnt your sister to death. You can stare daggers at me, but everyone knows at the processing center knows about your sentence. We know it’s bullshit.”

“You work at the Processing Center?” Luke searched his memories. He thought there was someone like Summers but he was in the background.

“Yes, I don’t really stand out, I’m usually in the background.” He snickered. His smile faded though. “I, used my powers to pretend to be a statue in a certain place, and was caught by the wrong person. That’s why I got sent here.”

“So, you’re a peeper and you peeped on the wrong woman.” Luke snorted derisively. “Pathetic.”

“Ah, I can’t believe you said that.” Summers grabbed his head in agony. “I was in love with a noblewoman and the feelings were mutual. We were going to elope but I got caught by the father.”

Luke leaned into his hand, resting his chin.

“I don’t believe you in the least.”

“Well, what about you then! It’s obvious why you’re obsessed with the Prince! He’s the one that killed your sister wasn’t he?”

“Yes.” Luke easily answered him. “He did.”

“I don’t understand then? Why did you do what Walnut said? You played with him didn’t you?”

“I didn’t train him. I tortured him.” He corrected him. “I was getting paid to torture him, so, given the chance, why wouldn’t I?”

“Huh…you’re a lot darker than I give you credit for.”

“I’m only what I was made to be by that man.” He subconsciously reached for his crimson spear, bringing it close to his chest in an embrace “When he comes here to pass, I will break him, and then I will end his life.”

“I apologize, but I can’t allow that to happen.” A masked woman stepped into view. She rested her arm on sword’s hilt. “I’m waiting on the Prince too and he’s coming with me.”

Luke stood up.

“And who are you?”

“I’m-”

“We are the Black Sun.” A very charming looking man stepped into view. He gave them a dashing smile. “We were sent to spread the blessing of this world. We’re looking for the Prince. Have you seen him?”

The masked woman turned to the man, and he wilted upon her stare.

“As I was saying, I can’t let you do that. We plan to take him back with us. Our seers have foretold a future where he destroys the world. That must be stopped, and we plan to keep him contained and kill him at the right time.”

His grip turned white on the red shaft of his spear.

“The prince is my prey and mine alone. He killed my sister. That’s enough for me to want to kill him with my own hands.”

“Look, you can break him if you want. I can promise you that much, but after that, we take him with us. If you don’t want to do that, then I suppose we’re at an impasse.” She looked down at her sword and then met his gaze. “Are you sure you want to make an enemy of me?”

A shiver went down his spine. The masked woman was fearsome. He could tell by one glance that the way she held herself was how a skilled swordsman would hold themselves.

“I’m not saying I would revoke your revenge, but I have a duty to uphold and I won’t allow anyone to impede me,” she said.

“That’s not enough!” Luke stabbed the ground with his aura infused spear. A shock wave followed.

“Not enough?” She looked over to the nobleman. “Can you use your green sword? The one that can control time?”

“You know I can’t. I overused my Gate.” The nobleman grumbled.

She crossed her arms. “How long will it take you to recover?”

“A few hours. Maybe three.” He shrugged.

For a moment, she mused. Then she walked up to Bell. Bell seized up and took a step back as she stepped forward.

“Stop moving.” He didn’t, so she vanished from their sight and reappeared behind him. She pushed his shoulder and made him sit down, and then placed a hand on his back.

A soft glow enveloped him. After a few minutes, she pulled her hand back.

“There, you should be able to use it now.” She turned to Luke. “I don’t like meaningless deaths. I haven’t witnessed it, but it is true that the prince can revive himself, right?”

“Yes.”

She clutched her chest in great pain.

“Like, I said, I don’t like meaningless deaths. It’s quite horrifying for me to hear he can’t die by normal means, but I also understand revenge. I understand the pain that someone has caused. And I understand the rage that is unquenchable.” She met his eyes, and in those slits, he could see a pair of ruby red eyes stare back at him. “You can kill him over and over again, but in return, when you’ve exhausted all you have, I will take him.”

His spear was trembling and Luke turned to it, to see that it was his own hand causing it. He grabbed his wrist to stop it.

“I don’t understand, what do you get out of this?”

“I told you, I get the prince’s body. An exhausted, broken prince.”