Public Release: March 9th, 2019 - 5:00 pm EST
I moved over the land like a beam of light. I operated two detection abilities simultaneously, both my [Mana Detect] and [Fae Energy Detect]. I didn’t want to take any risks while working on something so important.
Those combined with RED’s [Map] meant I had nothing to fear. There was no chance of being ambushed or attacked unless someone far stronger showed up, but the only beings I could think of on that level were the Fae.
And I had already killed one of those fuckers.
-
The country of Barbory had a lot of fetid swamps and damp waterways. The flora and fauna were twisted, filled with strange mana. The ambiance of souls laid over every township and city, as if the piety of the people had a real effect on the world…
[Solution: It does.]
I stopped running on the top of a tall hill. Not much time had passed since I killed the first target, but I needed to address that newest piece of information.
[Solution: Worship and prayer can provide a type of support to a being past level 1000.]
Seriously? I could only wonder what kind of support, though.
[Solution: With a lot of prayer, beings over level 1000 can have an easier time developing new skills or learning new abilities.]
How? How in the fuck did that even work?
[Solution: Data not found.]
…
RED was still mad at me. I could feel it.
[Solution: Data not found.]
Pffffffft…
I couldn’t stifle my laugh in time. Still, though, if worship helped further along a Fae’s strength then I needed to probably dismantle the entire country of Barbory, considering the piety of its people.
[Solution: I do not recommend you do that. If he stops receiving worship, the Human Fae Samart would know something was up and come back to this world earlier than expected.]
So I just needed to let him continue to grow and get stronger?
[Solution: Calliope, you are outpacing him in growth for sure. While off the ‘Leveling World’ he can’t level up. You can…]
I shook my head. RED’s answer had some logic to it, but I didn’t like leaving things alone, either. He was right in that I couldn’t afford to bring the strongest Fae to this world. I only managed to kill Argyle by taking him by surprise. Otherwise I wouldn’t have stood a chance. Well, I supposed Nox would kill Argyle for me in that situation, but then Lily would have definitely died in the interim.
I couldn’t invite that kind of calamity on myself.
I decided that it would be best to only kill those on RED’s list and to ignore the rest. So long as the church couldn’t contact the Fae again, then I would leave them alone afterwards.
-
I reached the second location rather quickly. It was a city with a name I couldn't even begin to pronounce so I decided not to even bother trying. There were three of the remaining targets here.
[Solution: Follow the main road. You’ll see a steeple rising in the center of the city. That’s the church building where two of the men are, currently. The third is in a brothel sleeping with a prostitute.]
I decided to deal with the two in the church first. Hopefully, by the time I finished, that one in the brothel would be finished too. I couldn’t think of a more awkward time to have to assassinate someone.
As that thought crested in my mind, a myriad of visions appeared in front of me. I watched myself grow up as a child on the streets. I witnessed my first ever kill, a murder in self defense against a thug that wanted to beat me to death over a stolen fruit.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
I watched a red-haired boy grow up through his own eyes and begin reaping life after life.
I shook my head and the visions passed. My soul was on fire and I felt like the sunlight above could extinguish it. I opened my arms and stopped for a moment, letting the bad thoughts and memories pass.
The corruption of my own soul was massive and brutal in scope. Every monster, man, or creature I had killed since I came to this world was bubbling inside me, thrashing against the chains of my own ego.
And today I’d add more to that black pit.
-
I was certain the parish would be surprised to find two priests, who both had been reading calmly in their prayer rooms, died of a sudden heart failure. It turned out that a quick enough strike given with sufficient force to their chests could indeed stop their hearts. I imagine it would be realized as a murder rather quickly, but I’d be long gone by then and, with how I destroyed the only instant communication device in the city at the same time, I would be far ahead of the news as I traveled.
I left the church and traveled across the tops of buildings until I reached the brothel. The smell of it almost made me lose my balance on the roof. Even from outside the building I could smell the stink of it all.
I followed RED’s directions here, not wanting to even enter the building. He directed my hand until I reached the right spot.
[Solution: Exactly 7 feet beneath you is the target. Beneath him is an innocent.]
I closed my eyes and manipulated my mana. I could feel it roil under my skin and flow into Belial’s Blade as I materialized the sword. I activated the Expert class skill [Blade Extension], but I measured my mana output carefully. I focused, making my mana sharper and smaller until the extended blade stretched exactly seven feet. Then, in one motion, I swept the sword’s tip against the rooftop beneath my feet.
A bloodcurdling scream from below confirmed everything. RED double checked with his [Map].
I vanished from the rooftop, leaving behind the torn up shingles. I didn’t bother to hide my work. Thankfully this trip didn’t involve having to free slaves.
-
I jumped the city walls and moved into open country again. Soon after I entered another wetland and needed to watch my steps. There wasn’t anything that could threaten me, but I didn’t feel like stepping into the marsh and finding a deep mud pit.
The journey became a chore. One by one, following RED’s directions, I cut down man after man. I didn’t stop their souls from joining mine. Their souls weren’t very strong and I snuffed out their egos one by one.
My own soul looked more like a writhing mass than anything. It looked Lovecraftian in design.
But it was mine. It was me.
Memories, like a good joke, were a temporary reprieve from the now. I lost myself in vision after vision as I moved, my body like a machine.
I wondered if this was what a self-aware AI would experience.
I grinned.
I extracted my revenge on the church of Barbory one soul at a time. The sun was now on the far horizon, and dusk spread over the land.
My kill-count grew until it reached 16. Only one person remained and I was standing in front of him.
“So you’ve come for me,” said the Pope. Behind him were two people in chains that I recognized. One was the teacher from when i broke apart the pocket dimension. I couldn’t remember her name…
[Solution: Watterson.]
Next to her was a man, someone I thought I saw at the dinner with the Sixth Prince…
[Solution: Phanedor.]
We were in a blood-filled hall. Of the last five people on the list, four laid dead behind me.
“Yes,” I said as I tightened my grip on my blade. I wasn’t sure why I didn’t kill the Pope instantly, like the others. Though I was more curious why RED’s [Map] couldn’t detect Watterson or Phanedor earlier.
“How vile. To think my soul would become one with a monster like you... “ said the Pope.
He paused and pulled a knife from his waist. I almost swung my sword, but then I noticed he didn’t turn the knife towards me. He turned it towards himself.
“A man should die at the hands of a man. Demon, I applaud you, but our God has descended upon this plane. Your death will soon follow mine,” said the Pope as he pressed the dagger into his own neck. I didn’t stop him. I watched on, curious about what would happen to a soul that committed suicide in a world like this. But, I also didn’t like the prospect of the Pope thinking he won…
“I met your ‘God’ yesterday,” I said. “I have no reason to lie to a dying man. It wasn’t your real God, it was an impostor.”
Perhaps he felt the truth in what I told him, but the Pope pulled the knife across his neck in one motion without showing it on his face. His blood sprayed but I moved out of the way of it. He collapsed in a heap. His soul was torn apart by the runes on the world. Normally a soul would be absorbed by the killer, but since he killed himself...
-
I flicked Belial’s Blade once, and the two caged prisoners behind the Pope’s body were annihilated as well.
I knew why Barbory sent a message to the Fae, now. I looked on where Phanedor had just been, towards that empty blast mark left behind, and I clenched my teeth in regret. His memories poured into me, his manipulations revealed themselves to me, and I felt disgusted.
If I had known those things pouring into my mind earlier, I could have stopped everything. I could have kept RED in a real body. I wouldn’t have had to let all those soldiers die in The Pass.
And now, as I felt Phanedor’s soul enter mine, I could see a terrible future coming. I could see all the actions he took, desperate attempts to extend his life by even another minute.
For a man who was originally destined to die in his teenage years, Phanedor did rather well for himself by living to 57. I almost respected him.
[Skill -Path Correction- is evolving…]
A blue screen popped up, but I didn’t care.
My job in Barbory was done. Now I needed to return and prepare for tomorrow. At the first morning’s light I would take Lily and Sell to The Forgotten Lands.
But first…
-
On that night, while a cold wind blew, the steeple of The Human Fae Church burned to the ground in a miraculous fire. Only the Pope and a few of his inner circle didn’t make it out. I watched the orange glow from atop of the Barbory capital’s outer wall. Sparks danced up into the night, and death sang like the roar of an open flame.