Arc 1 Chapter 5- A Breath of Fresh Air

-This dark place seems familiar, I’ve been here before.

Kyosuke was again in a dark space, floating in what seemed like an infinite void. The air around him felt hot like he was sitting next to a fire on a cold winter morning. He could see himself getting murdered by the same person over and over in many different ways, all bloody and horrible. Sadly though, Kyosuke couldn’t cry.

~ “Young Kyosuke, what is the matter with you”~

Kyosuke was sucked back into reality looking at Edwin (the king of Delpa). Sweat streaming down his face. This is the first time he has ever felt death from the fantasy world’s point of view.

“Kyosuke what’s wrong? You started spacing out after Edwin handed us permits.”

“I’m fine, I just had a weird inner thought in my head. I do have one question though… Edwin, is there by any chance any big criminals in this city?”

He knew he wasn’t going to get any names or a direct answer since no king would want to share information like that with a bunch of ex-convicts. Kyosuke hoped to get a yes or a no, that way he could ask for one more favor from the king.

“I wouldn’t say there are multiple, but there is one. Like all criminals, they lurk in the dark waiting for unexpecting victims to come forth so that they can kill them. This person isn’t like the rest though, they haven’t be seen by anyone, even survivors of attacks ~the rare amount that has survived~ hasn’t seen their face.”

Knowing this knowledge means that Kyosuke and Adal themselves (even knowing the attack will take place) won’t be able to take this person on. Kyosuke had to make a big choice, either get the King involved and take him to the place with the knowledge that the criminal will be there, or completely remove themselves from that area. Kyosuke decided to go with the first option, he wanted the criminal dead there and now.

“I know where the criminal will attack from, I don’t really know how I do, but I do. I think we should go check the place out to see if they’ll show up.” Said Kyosuke.

Edwin looked hesitant but knew that if anyone had to beat him, it had to be him. He was king for a reason, it wasn’t just inherited, he had beaten his brothers and sisters in the election for he had the strongest will and attack.

“Take me to the place this instant, we must rid of this foul creeten as soon as we can!”

***

The trio arrived at the last known location of the criminal, the alleyway that ended the lives of both Kyosuke and Adal. Kyosuke had shivers going up and down his spine, as he walked down this alleyway, it was almost as if his body was prematurely terrified at the thought of being in this dark place.

“What’s wrong young Kyosuke? Your face is all red and your body is trembling, are you sure you’re alright to be going out looking for this person in your state.” Asked Edwin

Kyosuke was too embarrassed to tell him that he was just nervous about being in a place he thought he was going to die in. He didn’t even know if what had happened was real, all he knew is that it was in this exact location.

“Here is where it happened.” Said Kyosuke.

Adal replied with an unknowing question. ‘What happened here?’

Kyosuke forgot about the fact that they didn’t see what happened so he decided that this would be the best time to tell them that he saw himself die.

“I remember seeing Adal and I going down this alleyway when we were attacked, I remember seeing Adal getting killed right before my eyes, seconds after that I was killed too.”

The two looked at Kyosuke with confusion.

“What are you saying? You’re not making any sense Kyosuke are you sure you’re alright?” Asked Adal.

Now they all were confused. Kyosuke said what he did as clear as day, there is no reason that they should be so confused about what he said.

“I said it clearly, what did you two hear me say?” Replied a slightly annoyed Kyosuke.

Edwin and Adal looked at each other before speaking at the same time.

“You were speaking the language of this realm’s gods.”

Kyosuke was confused now, if they didn’t understand what he said but they knew he was speaking the language of the gods, how did that work? Before Kyosuke could finish his thoughts Edwin continued explaining

“The gods created this world as a testing ground for civilization, the gods have long since left this world, in search of creating a more civilized society, something humans couldn’t agree on. Before they left, they wrote a book called “The Gods of Acrayma” explaining the language of the gods and the accent that is used. The only problem is they never gave us any words to learn, only the characters with which to write with.”

All of this went in one ear and out the other for Kyosuke, but he understood the basics of what was being told to him. He figured that there wouldn’t be any way to explain to them what he really said since anything that came to his mind was just the same explanation of events worded differently.

As the trio spoke they heard a scream from outside the alleyway, after running out of the alleyway, they spotted someone on the ground. There lying on the ground they saw a mutilated corpse and a woman standing next to it crying. They were in the populated streets of the city, not many people out but enough to bear witness, yet, no one saw anyone.

“Lady! What happened here?” asked Kyosuke.

“My husband and I were walking to pick up our child from the magic training grounds when a flash of darkness swooped by us knocking me down and killing my husband.”

Blood soaked her clothes and hands, the loss of her dear husband would be the downfall of her sanity, she lost the man she vowed to love for the rest of her days. The one and only man she had ever loved was taken from her without a care in the world.

“Dammit! Which way did the dark shape go? We need to follow it now!”

“It kept going straight from here. Please… If you can avenge my husband I will give you three anything you would want out of life. I just can’t go on living with the thought of ~my~ Raul (presumably the husband’s name) being dead.

“Adal, you stay with her and calm her down, where gonna go chase this bastard!”

Edwin and Kyosuke made a break for it, Kyosuke was running the fastest he ever had before, they wanted to take this criminal down as soon as possible.

“Kyosuke, grab ahold of me tight, I’m going to use Adtonitus.”

Kyosuke grabbed onto Edwin, Kyosuke heard him shout from the top of his lungs ‘ADTONITUS!’ Within an instant, he was what felt like teleported to the location of the black shape.

“DAMN! THAT WAS FAST!” Screamed Kyosuke.

They were almost instantly met face to face with the person who had once killed both Kyosuke and Adal. This time it was personal, Kyosuke wasn’t going to let this guy take his life as easily as he had before.

“Would you look at that, a boy and an old man came to stop me, that’s nothing short of insanity. You two really think I haven’t killed people like you before?” asked the mysterious darkness.

The black shape was slowly being lifted and formed more of a human appearance. His voice was that of a mental patient, his deminer was unremorseful for what he had done.

“You have a lot coming to you, you’ve killed countless innocent people, you’re one evil son of a bitch. We’re going to have fun kicking your ass”

Kyosuke was filled with pride, an unhealthy amount at that, he felt like if he believed he could do it then he could. Kyosuke had no sword skills, no known magic, no known affinities (special attributes given to a select child at birth or in Kyosukes’s case once he came to this world).

“Evil? What’s so evil about what I’m doing, I’m purging the world from evil! I get to kill them, only me, I’m the only god here in this hell we call Acrayma. Do you think a good-for-nothing piece of shit like you could stop me? And this old man you brought with you, he seems more powerful than you by far, yet, I don’t sense any danger in him. What a pity.”

The odd man’s face grew into a creepy stretched smile, one that felt almost like it broke his cheekbones to make. He also was filled with pride, the same pride that Kyosuke was filled with.

An object roared to Kyosuke’s face but was blocked by a rainbow-looking light produced by Edwin.

“Thanks! You saved my life, Edwin, I’ll repay you for that.”

“No need! As long as you survive this I have my uses for you!” Yelled Edwin.

The man and Edwin fought with bloodlust, for every hit that Edwin landed, he was also get hit. Kyosuke knew that he would have to do something for them to win, without it, Kyosuke and Edwin would surely die.

“Dammit! I can’t die now, I need to think of something.”

Kyosuke continued watching the fight, without batting an eye the man created a smokescreen using an unknown spell which allowed him to smash Edwin’s head with a loose roof brick. Kyosuke knew that wouldn’t kill him but with Edwin out of the fight, it was up to Kyosuke to come up with a plan.

“I can’t die, I don’t want to die, I don’t want to feel the pain anymore!”

Silence.

“The language of the gods? Well, I’ll be, maybe I’m not a god. This is sure going to be interesting when I kill you, will I be granted the powers that were invested into you? YOU POOR INSOLENT FOOL, I’LL KILL EVERYONE IN THIS DAMN CITY JUST TO HAVE THE POWER YOU POSSESS!”

The man flings himself towards Kyosuke, it was in slow motion that Kyosuke had to make his decision, did he want to die. He could either restart again and take another path, or he could do anything in his power to save everyone. Did Kyosuke Matsuda want to be the hero of his story and achieve his happy ending or die and let everyone down?

Kyosuke screeched at the top of his lungs, shredding his vocal cords so that anyone in the city could hear him. ‘I DON’T WANT TO DIE, I WANT TO LIVE!’

As the man neared close to Kyosuke a giant burst of red light exploded out of Kyosuke, the aura was so powerful and hot that it started to rip and tear at Kyosuke’s flesh.

“YOU SON OF A BITCH I WANT TO LIVE!” Screeched Kyosuke.

Kyosuke accelerated at speeds that would kill a human, he moved at the speed of light almost teleporting behind the man.

“You cannot kill me! You cannot kill the likes of Kieran Blakely!”

Kyosuke without hesitation ripped the legs off of Kieran, blood splashed all over Kyosuke’s face, his eyes were nothing but red flame, it looked as if he was consumed by a devil.

People always assumed he was a devil thanks to his hair having little devil spikes in them, now Kyosuke had an aura protruding off of his head to make big, red devil horns.

“ETREATRAY!” Kieran screamed.

A flash of darkness slammed into Kyosuke causes the aura to fade.

Kieran Blakely, the “Delpa Ripper” vanished without a trace.

Edwin woke up and looked around at his new surroundings, there were flame marks all over the buildings and holes in the roofs. He walks over to a knocked-out Kyosuke who was torn to pieces.

“I don’t know what you did, but you kept to your word, you avenged that poor woman’s husband and potentially stopped the killings for a long time. Kyosuke Matsuda, you’re one hell of a boy.”

***

Bonus Chapter Epilogue:

Edwin brings Kyosuke to Adal and the woman. The woman’s name was Chasity Salche, her son was 12 year old, Damian Salche. He had shown up after his father’s passing to a grieving mother and helpful Elf.

“You’re telling me that this boy was able to defeat that monster?” asked Chasity.

“I don’t know for sure if he defeated him, but he was able to do a considerable amount of damage to make him runoff. That’s something even I, someone who has trained my whole life couldn’t even do.

The air around them grew quiet before Adal spoke up and asked. ‘What will we do with Kyosuke? He’s badly hurt and I don’t think he’ll live if we don’t give him the help he needs.’

“That’s a fine question my boy, well here’s your answer. I’m going to take you four back to the castle and have you work for me. I will tell you when your debt to me is repaid, but until then you guys will be living under my roof serving me.”

With all of that being said, Adal grabbed ahold of Kyosuke, carrying him on his back. They all looked out at the rising sun, they made it through the night. Edwin took the first steps to the castle before the rest of them followed.