EXPERIENCING DEATH

The tide of our battle turned. Cain was now defensive as I chased after him through the sky. His fellow Blasters were busy dealing with the white arachnids and soratakas that Cain was left to face me.

Cain was quick, but my soratakas rained down on him with lightning bolts until one struck him. I flew through the air at him. But he regained his aerial balance and fired beams at me. I avoided, Leaping off the stone hand and tumbling through the air at him.

He turned to flee, but I was finally close enough to grab hold of him with Telekinesis.

PAIN

What happened!?

I yelled at him as I came down with a heavy Willpowered punch to the side of his face. His ward was denser than steel, but the force of my angered fist knocked him out of the air.

PAIN

Why are you not talking anymore!?

He cratered into the ground but seconds later was bolting north in an attempt to flee. I landed on my stone hand and gave chase. He dodged a lightning bolt and swerved west and up into the sky.

What was he up to, I wondered to myself. Another bolt of lightning struck him, breaking through his ward, and he spiraled to the ground in a trail of smoke. I landed, crashing into the ground, my eyes darting to the smell of his scent.

I whipped my claws at the plume of smoke, clearing it away to see that I was tracking Cain's abandoned robes. Mana Sense suddenly detected his location, and a wave of invisible fire incinerated the homes around me in an instant. I covered my body in Willpower as Cain emerged from behind the charcoal ruins of a home. I glanced down at the half-emptied Vial of Mana in his hand.

Another scent reached my nose, and I saw the first Blaster that was slain had dropped a small Inventory, something Cain just took advantage of.

He grinned at me and wiped his mouth clean.

CAIN

Now I can talk.

He threw the vial aside and conjured a ball of Fyre in his hand. The heat was immense as it solidified into a long, dense pole.

CAIN

I am called the executioner for a reason!

He then suddenly spun the rod. It grew in length before it formed into a curved scythe.

CAIN

I would be running away if I were you.

He spun it around, creating an area of dry, intense heat.

PAIN

Water Cast:

I mumbled under my breath before the yellow, burning scythe extended, melting through homes and stone. Cain then swung it around at me. The scythe of intense heat singing through the air came crashing into me.

PAIN

Water Sword.

ABIMELECH

I mean no insult when I say you are truly a monster.

A plume of snow, smoke, and debris clouded Cain's vision as the force of his attack upheaved homes, stores, and even parts of the ground. But as it cleared, the fear on his face was the most satisfying experience I have ever felt in the past three years.

PAIN

Thanks to you,

I responded.

A phenomenon occurred as our weapons collided. A singularity of dense hot steam the size of a grain of sand formed between our weapons. As Cain and I pushed against each other with all our might, the bead of steam kept our weapons from touching as it radiated the area with a continuous wave of hot steam.

My black arachnid aided me by pushing against my cursed arm. Its limbs sliced into my arm, but I barely felt a thing. I had cast Stone around my legs, welded deep into the ground beneath me, to give me an absolute footing to withstand the force of Cain's attack.

CAIN

Impossible!

He wailed in disbelief.

PAIN

You should never fight a vampire in the presence of nigh limitless blood!

I shouted over the deafening hiss of the singularity.

PAIN

—an excerpt from Plight of Souls! Have you ever read it!

I felt his stare tingle up and down my body.

He finally noticed the hollowness of my armor. But it was too late. He had expended all of his mana into this attack—I could feel him losing it.

I eyed him with a taunting grin as we stood frozen in our wrestle of strength. He glanced at the broken vial in regret, and I felt his hold on his scythe weaken sharply.

He grunted and exerted more force onto his Fyre Scythe.

PAIN

But I am also a quick learner.

Using Blood Control, I slowly lifted my cursed hand off my Water Sword and aimed it at him. Flattening my hand out like a knife, I created my Fire Blade, and it shot out like one of Cain's beams, ripping off part of his left torso along with his left arm as he attempted to avoid it.

His burning scythe evaporated, and he fell to the ground in a bloody splat. I stood still to catch my breath as the harsh blizzard slowly dissipated the heat. The cold sting on the bare parts of my skin took me out of my tired daze, and I stomped toward him.

His entire left side was scarred with burns and blood oozing with every heartbeat. Despite his sorry state, his mouth was contorted into a painful grin.

He started laughing,

CAIN

Absolutely a fucking mess.

He coughed out blood, forcing his head up to get a look at me.

CAIN

Fucking bastard.

He coughed some more and pushed through the discomfort.

CAIN

You must feel proud! Right! Killing Master Cain?

PAIN

I barely even know you.

His head fell back as he let out a bitter laugh.

CAIN

Oh, but I know you, yes, you and that bitch that broke you.

My jaws clenched, and my eyes twitched. I tried to relax, but he caught a glimpse of my anger.

CAIN

Locness? Dean told me all about it. How you would cry within the stables. How you would try to kill yourself!

He gasped for air but ended up puking blood that would have suffocated him had he not turned his head.

CAIN

Now,

He croaked. He could barely say a word without hacking out a lung—I was impressed at his vitality.

CAIN

You get to—live—with that memory—

He wheezed out a painful pint of blood.

CAIN

—for the rest... of your pathetic immortality!

The left side of his body began to heat up—was the idiot casting Fire on himself?

CAIN

I hope... the pain... eats at you—

PAIN

To late. It ate me enough.

I kneeled over him, staring into bulging eyes of madness.

PAIN

That is why my name is Pain.

I pulled away and extended my left arm. I created a controlled Fire Blade, its form precise, sharp, and flattened out like a proper blade and sliced—

DEAN

Pain!

I froze at the sound of a familiar voice.

A voice that haunted me for years every goddamned morning. That voice that shouted out, not my name, but what I was to him. Such a sound froze my body still—the heat of my Fire Blade sizzling the neck of Cain. I extinguished my Fire Blade. I slowly raised to my feet and turned to witness a figure that had to be Dean standing before me. I stared at him in disbelief. He wore layers of robes up to his head. His head was further wrapped in bandages and scarves, nearly hiding his face completely.

But those pure white eyes—

PAIN

Dean!?

I shouted over the storm.

The weather whipped about as we eyed each other. Was this some illusion, I thought. But it was not. I picked up Dean's faint, unique smell from where he stood. Dean's mana was also unique and radiated from his core as he protected himself from the storm.

PAIN

Why are you here!?

DEAN

Good to see you again, Pain!

His voice carried over the wind as he approached me, and I materialized my staff. The storm raged, nearly knocking Dean over. I staved off the snow by forming tendrils of flame out my sides and aimed them at Dean.

PAIN

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Good to see me!? Fuck you!

I raged with conviction, my energy returning to fuel my flaming tendrils.

PAIN

What do you think you are doing!? What do you think you are saying!? Do you want to die too!?

Dean adverted his gaze past me toward Cain.

DEAN

If it means you spare him,

He looked back at me.

DEAN

Gladly.

I was bewildered, and in my daze, Cain attempted to fire at me from behind, but the black arachnid on my back pounced and stabbed its forelimbs into Cain's right shoulder.

DEAN

No! Please,

He dropped to his knees and ripped off his bandages, revealing old scars and gashes.

DEAN

Please! Spare him!

He cried as tears crystallized down his cheeks. Cain, behind me, gurgled in laughter and incoherently shouted something. What the hell is going on!? Dean!? Crying!? Questions began to flood my mind, but the only one that came to my mouth was—

PAIN

WHY!?

I shouted and stomped the ground with Earth.

PAIN

Why Cain!? Why Delve! Sky! Those heartless, uncaring bastards! But not Locness!

I felt cold tears trickle down my cheeks. My eyes burned with heat, but I could not burn away my sorrow for Locness.

PAIN

You could have saved her! But you left her to die! Why not spare your life for her!?

He mumbled something that tore through my gut like a spear. I wrenched him in close with Telekinesis, dragging him through the snow.

PAIN

Open your eyes!

He obeyed, and I glared into his near-invisible pupils.

PAIN

Say that one more time.

I growled at him.

DEAN

I... I love him—

And I slammed him into the solid snow of the road with enough force that he bounced.

PAIN

Are you mocking me!

I roared.

PAIN

How dare you say that shit! You turned my life into Purgatory! What about those that I loved! Answer me, Dean! What about those that I loved!

I pounded the earth around him, but he simply rolled over onto all fours.

DEAN

Please... this was not what we wanted... take my life instead.

He uttered, the sound of the storm nearly muffling his begging. I stood there, tensed with anger as the raging storm brought echoes of Locness' scream to ravage my mind. Warm tears drenched my face, and in my rage, Lesser Elemental Control ravaged the immediate storm around us. With my claws digging into my staff, I glared down at him.

PAIN

No.

And Cain laughed hysterically before the black arachnid bit down on his neck. Dean cried out, a bloody loud cry as if he was the one who had been bitten. He charged, and my mind recalled how I ran for Locness.

Back then, Dean was in my way, and the way he gutted me in the stomach with his fist, I gutted Dean through his chest with my claws.

I clenched my jaws, knowing Dean was not lying. The look on his face and the emotion that painted his voice... I pulled back, allowing his lifeless body to fall to the ground.

I fell to my knees, tears flowing freely at what I had become. This was why I could never laugh at the death of someone. The pain of losing the ones you love was worse than death itself. I turned back and eyed their souls that floated above their bodies. Both of which were walking toward something.

As I absorbed their souls, the memory of Locness' death began to torture me.

PAIN

I loved her!

I whined, the heat of my eyes unable to stop the flow of tears that crystallized along my cheeks.

PAIN

I...!

I hated Dean more than Cain, but I could not understand why killing him felt so wrong. Lost for words, I shouted and screamed at their corpses. I shouted at their lifeless corpses till my voice gave out.

GENT

Ironic, isn't it.

A voice laughed behind me, and I blinked—my ghosts were still distant, so I did not see anyone approach, and my elemental rage hindered my Lesser Scent Detection and Lesser Sound Vision.

GENT

Angered about the loss of your loved one,

He gloated. I commanded the snow beneath me and floated to my feet. I slowly turned around to glare down at him.

HILROY

And here you are, slaughtering innocents and murdering loved ones.

Hilroy/Hilly, Gent, Kinan, Warrior, Twenty-eight years old, MUA(Most Used Ability) Lesser Night Vision. I could not focus on the new MUA details as I saw another gent calling out Hilroy's name in the distance—Mantis, Gent, Kinan, Warrior, Twenty-seven years old, MUA: Air Jab. It was just one after another. First Beka, then Cain, Dean, and now this smug bastard. My annoyance bit at me with a sting more cruel than the freezing storm that pelted my poorly covered torso.

Hilroy drew his sword, and through the raging mist of dancing snow, I could see tears in his eyes.

HILROY

Go ahead and kill one more,

He croaked, losing his composure to tears,

HILROY

At least I'll be with her.

He Quickstepped at me carelessly, and I telekinetically grabbed him and lifted him in place.

MANTIS

Air Jab!

I shielded myself with Willpower, and his fist hammered into me. The gusty force of his blow pushed me back along the icy snow. Hilroy began screaming at Mantis the moment I let him free—

HILROY

Why did you follow me!

Mantis prepared himself with his fists raised, his eyes locked on me.

MANTIS

Really Hilly? The second I turned away!?

He shouted at his companion.

MANTIS

You were just going to leave me? Am I not worth anything to you? This is not what she would have wanted!

It took me only a fraction of a second to search my memories and remember them from a month ago—they were among those adventurers near my lair. I also saw how my black arachnid had recently torn into two ladies who had stood beside these two. The arachnid that did so had not finished consuming Panuka's corpse.

PAIN

I see. Now, you are rushing to death?

They said nothing. I approached them, and they kept still. I stopped nearly a foot away from Hilroy.

PAIN

What makes you think I would want to kill you?

A wraith swooped down upon Mantis, shocking him with fear and terror and sending him to his knees.

HILROY

No!

He swiped at me with his sword, but I effortlessly caught each and every swing, holding them in place momentarily before letting go.

PAIN

Death? For you?

I glided out of the way of his now uncoordinated swings.

PAIN

That would be a gift. That pain you feel is weakness.

I snarled at him. He continued to come at me, his face riled in anger and determination.

PAIN

Bastards need revenge! It is a push! A strive to become stronger!

I flipped away from him and floated inches off the ground. My sorrow of Locness faded away, and all that remained was the determination to make this gent suffer.

PAIN

Let me play out this lesson before you. If your revenge is sloppy... you will die... if you are suicidal, someone else will die—

I gestured at Mantis,

PAIN

—and then you will fail and die with regret. You are bound to miss a step if your revenge is overly detailed. But the worst type of revenge is the one done too soon.

My black arachnid arrived with the top half of Panuka's lifeless body, and the visuals of her body tormented him. He screamed and frantically threw his sword at me, missing by a yard, as I watched it soar by.

PAIN

Ironic how you came to die but instead brought someone else you loved to die in your place.

He ran back towards Mantis and struggled to pull him out of the wraith's cone of Fear. He nearly fell victim to it but tugged onward with Willpower. A sliver of hope came over him as he carried Mantis out of the wraith's breath of concentrated Fear. But I crushed his hopes the moment I ordered my wraith to follow.

I floated at his tail. My black arachnid continued to taunt him with the body of Panuka. It skittered around in front of him, dangling her body upon its back.

I floated around and watched as tears flooded out of his eyes. He began to scream incoherently at me as I stared at the visual pain tormenting his face.

PAIN

Ironic. Why not laugh at his death? Is it not funny enough? Do you think it's funny to mock someone’s love! Someone’s death!?

His Willpower gave out, and he fell to his knees, letting Mantis, his soul nearly siphoned, flop in his lap.

HILROY

Kill me instead!

He shouted into the blizzard.

HILROY

I was their leader! Let Mantis go!

I pushed in, inches from his wet face.

PAIN

No,

I whispered harshly. Mantis' soul emerged from his torso, leaving his body to shrivel in Hilroy's arms.

PAIN

Because you are weak.

That was a lie.

It was because of the way he approached me—so carefree and thinking that I was simply going to take his life because he wanted me to. Did he assume I took joy in this? His smug greeting was abhorrent as I was in the midst of mourning Locness. I had killed Dean, the one gent who made my life a living Hell, and it felt wrong. Why did it feel so wrong!? None of it made sense, and then this bastard came at it with contempt.

Still, to be fair, I would not have killed him even if he had asked me humbly. I would have let him live in regret and despair without taunting Panuka's death or harming Mantis.

But what was done was done, so I palmed Hilroy's weeping face and forced the air from out his lungs. He attempted to breathe, and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He slumped forward unconscious, and from the eyes of my ghosts, I looked down on the ruined city that was once Dagon City-State.

PAIN

Abi.

I whispered his name.

PAIN

Do you think I am evil?

Vampor Increased:

Basic Night Vision(1%), Basic En Vitality(1%), Basic Sound Vision(1%), Basic Blood Control(1%), Basic En Scent Detection(1%), Basic Danger Sense(1%) Basic En Reflexes(1%) Basic Quickstep(2%), Basic En Stamina(4%), Basic En Strength(4%), Basic En Hearing(4%), Basic En Sight(4%), Basic Heat Vision(3%), Basic Interference(6%), Basic Body Control(5%), Basic Mana Sense(8%), Basic Day Vision(2%)

Skill Increased:

Lesser Danger Sense, Lesser Mana Sense, Lesser Day Vision

Aptitude Increase:

Petty Mana Zone(57%)