Memories were being sent to Ryner’s brain as he slept. It had become a daily occurrence ever since he sent parts of his soul to other worlds. Time flowed differently for each world. As such, he could get a few hours to a few years’ worth of memory from his fragments. Thankfully, he had become somewhat used to having various experiences stuffed inside his head as he slept compared to the first time he simultaneously lived different lives.
When he first learned how to tear a piece of his soul and let the fragment live in a body, he was completely exhausted. No matter how many hours he slept, the process of synchronizing with its memories took a toll on his mind. Even if he didn’t have nightmares right after, he would still feel like he didn’t get a wink of sleep. Now, after getting used to it, he would only feel a bit more tired than usual.
The fragments were sending him all of their experience thanks to their link that could span across different worlds. The connection between a soul’s pieces couldn’t be severed so easily. He knew that one fragment, that was a half-elf, was growing up locked inside a room. Ryner didn’t need to worry about that one for now since, although it was being somewhat mistreated, it wasn’t anything serious. More importantly, its safety was assured and that was what that mattered for the game with Alice.
Another one was running through the streets of a city filled with undead. For this fragment, Ryner was concerned as he received real-time information. Night had fallen and ferocious creatures were out to hunt him. The fragment was hiding inside a dumpster in an alley, waiting for the sun to rise. Ryner wondered if it would request his help. It was possible for him to go to its world to lend a hand, like he did for another fragment before. If they called his name out loudly, then he would receive their request for help.
Information transfer occurred when Ryner was sleeping for convenience, but it wasn’t truly limited to only when he was asleep. If he had decided on one certain signal, on one emergency call beforehand, then he could receive it whether he was awake or not. So, his name being called was the one signal that he chose and that he could receive at all times. That way, he would be able to respond right away whenever a fragment needed help.
As various memories flooded his mind, he checked the status of each fragment, making sure that they weren’t losing the game given to them. Then, the visions were cut off and the usual nightmares began again. The dead were screaming at him and skeletal hands latched onto him, their bony fingers digging into his flesh. However, everything soon faded into darkness as new memories were dragged up from the deepest corner of his mind.
Inside a room where the floors and walls were covered with pure white tiles, two boys stood before each other. In their hands was a knife that was pointed at the other. The simple white shirt and pants they wore were dirtied with dirt and their own blood. Bruises and a few cuts adorned their small bodies. Their breathing was ragged because of fear and tension.
Only one person could leave the room alive and neither of them wanted to die.
Ryner remembered this moment. He could never forget it, or the boy who had black hair and jade green eyes. The two fought to prove their strength, to prove their worth. They had endured two grueling years of deadly training by the adults who always carried guns and this was their first time doing this. They were now fighting to best the other and not be labeled a failure. Otherwise, they would be disposed of like trash.
Ryner and the boy slashed, clashed and danced around each other. It was a clumsy fight as they both tried to do something they hadn’t done before: to kill a person. When the boy who was of the same age luckily managed to knock Ryner’s knife away, he raised his weapon high to deal the killing blow. Seeing his imminent moment of death, the young Ryner, instead of stepping back, charged at him.
This surprised the boy and he froze, leaving him open for a precious split second where Ryner tackled him to the floor, landing on top of him. His enemy knocked the back of his head and was disoriented. Taking this chance, he stole the knife from his hand, raised it high and stabbed it into his chest. With this, the winner was decided as the blade buried itself in the young one’s flesh. The defeated boy’s initial response was disbelief. He stared at Ryner with his eyes wide open.
“… No…” [Boy]
Gradually, as a red stain grew on his shirt, reality caught up to him. His face contorted into fear and pain, tears fell from his eyes and his lips trembled.
“… No…” [Boy]
Blood flooded his throat, causing him to cough it out, staining his mouth and Ryner’s face a deep crimson color. His faint breathing was growing weaker as he uttered words of denial in a small, raspy voice.
“… I don’t… want to die…” [Boy]
That was all he managed to mutter before his eyes lost all light and his breaths completely ceased. The boy died with Ryner, covered in his blood, staring into his face from close proximity. The winner forced himself to look away from the face of the fresh corpse and diverted his line of sight downward. As such, his trembling hands appeared in his vision.
“……. Ah…” [Ryner]
A faint, faint sound escaped from his lips as if he just realized what he had done. Blood stained his palms and fingers, covering his pale skin and painting them a dark shade of red. The stench of blood, that had gone unnoticed until now, strongly filled his nose and attacked his brain.
“… Ahhh…” [Ryner]
Even though the fight was over, Ryner’s heartbeat gradually grew stronger. His breathing was becoming even more ragged as if he was hyperventilating. The boy’s two dark brown eyes were wide open, wavering between fear and insanity.
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!” [Ryner]
Stained with blood and straddling the corpse of the kid he just killed, Ryner raised his head, looked to the ceiling and released a high-pitched, heart-breaking scream. As if he was trying to let out all the pain, anger and sadness that had accumulated deep inside of him, he roared madly to the heavens. He wailed, cried and howled until adults with guns and others in white lab coats showed up and subdued him.
He could never forget the fear and pain he saw as life left his opponent.
He could never forget those jade green eyes as they grew dimmer and dimmer.
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He could never forget the boy, who he had murdered, at the age of nine.
No matter what, Ryner would never forget his first kill.
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It was another beautiful morning at Suky’s place. The multitude of animals was up and about, doing whatever they usually did. Some still slept while others were awake. It wasn’t much different from their usual routine except for their master that had drunk too much last night. As a result, she was in her bedroom, moaning in pain while holding her head.
“Ryner, let’s play!” [Mi]
Another scene that was new was how the red puppy, Mi, was happily riding on top of the wolf’s head.
“Ah! Not fair! I want to play too!” [Puppy]
“Me too!” [Puppy]
“Me too!” [Puppy]
“Play with me!” [Puppy]
Ryner, who was lazing about, was assaulted by a pack of grey puppies that followed their sister’s lead. Some climbed on his back while others ran around him. They had noticed how their red-furred sibling kept hanging around him instead of following them like usual. It hadn’t taken long before they stopped avoiding him and approached him out of curiosity. Then, in the blink of an eye, they grew attached to him.
“Hoho, you’re really popular with the little ones. How heartwarming.” [Da]
“… Why did their numbers multiply…?” [Ryner]
The old tiger that was napping a bit away from the commotion was watching them with a gentle and amused smile. Although Ryner had a grumpy look on his face, he didn’t make any move to shake the kids off of him. Instead, he stayed still as the puppies continued making a fuss. The contrast between his expression and his actions was fun to watch.
“Damn it, maybe I really should just go see the gods and get this situation fixed.” [Ryner]
“Hmm? What did you say, Ryner? I didn’t hear it.” [Mi]
“Nothing, kid. Just wondering if I should go see some people that I don’t like to deal with.” [Ryner]
Although he was considering such an option, he decided to wait a bit more before asking the gods for help. He didn’t want to look weak or rely on them since they would definitely use it as a chance to make him owe them a favor. But, that relic that the beastmen considered sacred was probably put in the third floor of his fortress by one of them.
Asking the gods about it would most likely be the fastest way to turn his body back to human. Then again, he wasn’t in too much of a hurry. Right now, his first goal, besides handling the everlasting threat known as Alice, was to find all of his Heaven’s Blades. Different from the other magical weapons that anyone could use, only he could wield them. Furthermore, the last time he saw them, they were on the deeper floors of his fortress.
So, they were surely still there and in the same state he left them, untouched and broken. That was another reason why Ryner chose to wait for news from Evelyn and Maya. Those two visited him every day for the past few days and had told him that they were heading inside the ruin again to investigate the relic. Moreover, they were going with an escort that consisted of the Terdim clan and, for some reason, the royal family.
“(Well, if those two find no solution, then I guess I’ll go threaten Motyx. That purple-haired god probably put that relic there.)” [Ryner]
Ryner casually decided on this ridiculous future course of action while puppies were swarming around him. However, that peaceful moment was soon broken by three fireballs that were shot vertically upwards in the middle of the city. Ryner and the other animals could see it from the window, so they turned their heads to look at them.
“(I think I saw something like that before…)” [Ryner]
Ryner thought carefreely as he stared at the three disappearing balls of fire with Mi still on top of his head.
“Something’s not right.” [Da]
Da said as he got up and approached the window. His eyes, which always seemed relax, were tense. All of the other animals went rigid as if they sensed something, looking left and right with their ears standing straight.
“The city suddenly feels restless.” [Da]
It was then that it begun. Distant screams of men and women could be heard in different parts of the city. There were people walking down the road in front of the house, but now they stopped and anxiously looked in the various directions from where the screams came from. Furthermore, a few explosions could be heard, flaming their fear even more.
“I’m going out for a bit.” [Ryner]
In the uneasy atmosphere, Ryner casually declared his attempt to leave the safety of the big house.
“Are you serious, new guy?!” [Black dog]
The black dog, who had warned him not to cause trouble when he arrived, questioned his mental state.
“We really shouldn’t go outside.” [Bird]
A bird chirped in as well.
“Wait, Ryner! Don’t go! It feels really dangerous outside!” [Mi]
Mi, who fell off his head when he stood up, stared at him pleadingly.
“Watch the place while I’m gone.” [Ryner]
His voice, that was neither commanding nor overbearing, had a strange force that stopped her from speaking further. Mi, with her ears drooping, backed off. The tiger, Da, different from his usual behavior, nodded with a fierce expression that a confident predator would wear. No other animal told him not to leave and silently saw him off as he headed for the backyard.
“Ah, that’s right.” [Ryner]
Remembering about Suky, who was suffering from a major hangover, he made a small detour to her bedroom. There, he dropped a note telling her to stay in her house in front of her door before heading outside. From the backyard, he jumped into the streets and ran in a certain direction.
“(I went through the trouble of saving you two, so don’t die on me so quickly.)” [Ryner]
He was running towards the house of Myra and Snow, the two beastmen that he had saved and escorted back to Ofauvra. Unlike Suky’s house, that wasn’t in the middle of a chaotic zone, theirs was right where the screams were coming from. Furthermore, from what he saw, the three fireballs that were the starting signal to the current chaos came from their location.
“(Damn it, first Sakael, then Elura and now Ofauvra… My luck never changes.)” [Ryner]
Ryner complained to himself as he thought back on how big disturbances happened in the three capital cities he visited. Even as he grumbled to himself, he didn’t drop his speed that was impossible for a normal wolf to attain. Fueled by life force, his body was rapidly crossing the distance to the Elkinds’ house. The scenery around him zoomed by with people running in the opposite direction, screaming in panic.
Since they were blocking his path, he travelled on the roofs of the buildings, jumping from one roof to another. As he avoided the traffic below, he made sure to take in his surroundings to gather information. His mind calmly analyzed the situation as robe-wearing slaves were attacking anyone they saw. They had a collar around their neck and a weapon in their hands. The most surprising part was that they were human which would mean that they infiltrated the city while posing as slaves.
Guards, adventurers and brave citizens who could wield a weapon were fighting back, but oddly, beastmen were helping the attackers. Seeing this, Ryner concluded that since the humans managed to pass the checkpoint at the city’s gate, then they most likely had help on the inside. So, the beastmen in armor that were attacking their own kind were their helpers. For one reason or another, they were traitors that betrayed their country.
The fighting was getting chaotic as people cut flesh with swords or bashed heads with maces. Those with high mana pools shrugged off such attacks and mowed down their enemies before being engaged by someone of their level. As the soldiers of Ofauvra tried to eliminate the humans and the traitors, a few were focusing on evacuating the fleeing citizens.
Men leading their family, women holding onto their children and kids crying in fright, Ryner took in all of the information around him to get a clear idea of the current situation. The allies, the civilians, the enemies, their origins, possible motives, numbers, battle strength, casualties, positions, environment… Everything was being amassed as pure data. His mind that was rapidly working filtered the information, keeping track of the dying, but ignoring their screams of agony.
He registered every person’s existence on a strategic level and made sure to look straight ahead so as to not make eye contact with anyone. He only had one priority and he kept running towards his destination. Eventually, he reached the Elkinds’ house under a minute thanks to his incredible speed and his shortcut over the roofs. Sure enough, the guards that were assigned to protect Myra and Snow were on the ground, dead and covered in their own blood.