“Show me your ID,” ordered one of the two Templar guards standing watch by the steel door.
I slowly reached into my pockets to pull out my ID, along with the silver badge depicting a man with nine wings extending beyond its edges.
“His Holiness has personally sent me to reinforce the matrix,” I replied calmly, showing both items to the guards at the entrance.
They didn’t even bother to verify my identity; that’s nothing more than a basic protocol for detecting imposters who don’t understand the rules.
I adjusted my reading glasses, leaving the medallion—which showed no sign of change—under the guards’ watchful gaze for a few seconds.
“You may enter; the maximum time you may remain inside is two hours. His Holiness has likely already mentioned this to you, but I’m reminding you just in case,” the guard explained, as the steel door began to open when I inserted my ID card.
“Thanks for the heads-up; I’ll keep that in mind,” I thanked the friendly guards before putting away my ID to walk through the heavy door.
The card Aquarius gave me worked perfectly; if it had taken a few more seconds, I would have been forced to break in.
I took the small pill out of the glass vial I was carrying in my pocket.
Not only the taste, but also the smell is a problem. The results of the infiltration are more than satisfactory; the problem is that it’s Pisces who creates them with his own foul-smelling blood.
I glanced at my watch as I walked past the display cases filled with all kinds of treasures and a few slabs with incomplete ancient fragments.
I have about half an hour left before the physical and magical camouflage returns to its original state, turning all of this into a zone of magical distortion.
I stopped in front of the gleaming Bible, open on a golden altar with a dagger beside it.
I picked up the sharp dagger lying next to the gleaming Bible, which emanated an intoxicating aura that whispered to me in a melodious tone, urging me to hold the sacred scripture.
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” I remarked in the face of the diabolical murmurs emanating from the pages.
I ignored everything calling out to me from the display cases to focus on the dagger that had pierced my hand, letting the blood run down my fingers until it stained the pages.
I began to decipher the code I’d stored in my mind in case I couldn’t take the insignia with me; fortunately, I’d printed several copies in case time constraints caused the data to become corrupted.
01001101 01100001 01111001 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101100 01101001 01100111 01101000 01110100 00100000 01100111 01110101 01101001 01100100 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01110011 01110111 01101111 01110010 01100100
***
Clang, clank, clang!
My hands had been numb for quite some time as I parried the deadly, blood-soaked blows from the woman in red.
It didn’t take long before one of my legs was sent flying toward the rubble of the collapsed buildings.
“Fufufu, I expected nothing less from Alec the Immortal. This empress admires your perseverance,” she began, descending slowly on platforms of wind beneath her feet, speaking to me as if the outcome were already decided.
“Shut your mouth and die already. My ears are aching from listening to you,” I replied with a touch of frustration.
It wasn’t a lie that my ears hurt; in fact, having died so many times makes every step hurt like hell.
This madwoman keeps coming back to life no matter how many times I kill her, and she seems to be aware of my ability, since she only pierces my organs, without even letting my body get used to the pain before I die again.
I spat a large clot of blood onto the rock, which splattered all over the area, feeling the stinging burn of my body regenerating until it returned to its previous state.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“Not only do I have a mountain of paperwork to catch up on, but now I have to deal with the extra work this nuisance is causing me…,” I muttered as I brushed the dust off my suit.
I gripped the hilt of my sword, which at some point had begun to feel like holding a mountain rather than a piece of metal with a handle.
Splash!
I spat out another stream of blood, but this time it wasn’t because of that woman up there; it was because of something far more outrageous: someone had touched the sacred scriptures.
So that was her goal all along…
“This is where our paths part. I hope we meet again…”
She didn’t get to finish her sentence before my sword pierced her heart.
“This empress doesn’t like impatient men, but I can make an exception…”
“Get out of here!” I shouted, on the verge of losing my patience amid the pain coursing through every ounce of my muscles—and just how stressful a woman can be.
My body fell heavily among the wooden rubble of what was left of a house, sending up a thick cloud of smoke.
“It’s not time to rest yet; I must protect the city’s cathedral,” I said in a weary voice, slowly standing up, leaning on my sword.
“Please, wait!” cried a girl’s voice.
It was the young woman from earlier; her elegant blue dress was completely stained with blood, and her face was gaunt, with deep dark circles under her eyes.
What surprised me a little was seeing her holding the head of the girl who had been beheaded and carrying the body of the other girl—who seemed to be close to her—on her back.
“My deepest condolences,” I said sincerely to the poor girl. “I recommend that you go to the academy until the situation calms down; for now, it’s the safest place in the kingdom.”
“Please, help me,” she said, bending slightly, on the verge of collapsing to the ground under the weight she was carrying.
“Young lady, there’s nothing I can do about it, you know? I’m not an omnipotent god,” I replied, trying to go about my business.
I couldn’t help but turn around to see if the girl had left, but, unfortunately, she didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving anytime soon.
“Go away,” I told her.
“No, I won’t leave until you help me,” she replied defiantly, even though her body and mind were clearly at their limit, judging by her determined yet exhausted gaze.
Sigh… why do I always end up with the most stubborn people?
If bringing the dead back to life were that easy, the ancient kings wouldn’t just be legends of the past.
But leaving her here could be very dangerous, and I can’t just leave her unconscious in the middle of the street.
“If I help you, will you leave right away?” I asked the girl wearily.
It didn’t take her even half a second to nod her head, without even considering the possibility that I might be lying to her.
Young people these days are so reckless…
“In that case, let me introduce myself. I’m Alec,” I said, rubbing my temples to relax my facial muscles a little. Once you agree, you’ll lose more than you can imagine.
“Lose more than I can imagine?” she wondered as I stopped in front of her.
“They’ll take away your most precious memories; you can consider it a fair trade,” I said, extending my bloodstained hand toward her and looking at her solemnly. “I’ll ask you again: are you sure? If you are, take my hand; if not, turn around and enjoy your life.”
“I accept,” she said, without a hint of doubt in her voice, as she took my hand.
***
I plunge into the darkness of lamentations, which welcomes me with a warm embrace, celebrating my arrival in infinity.
“The indifference of family is felt in the soul, but it is nothing compared to the betrayal of your beloved, who plunges the knife into your sweet abode without shedding a single tear…” I recited the new poem that had just inspired me for my sad arc, “The Tragedy of the Extra Under the Bloody Moon.”
“Human, shut your mouth!” growled the hoarse voice coming from the top of the stage.
Everything was completely dark, except for a few fireflies lighting the way and the two enormous red circles in the sky—or whatever lies above me.
“Don’t be such a grouch, Mr. Mystery; wrinkles look terrible for the final act,” I advised him sincerely, looking into his shining eyes.
“I don’t care about your delusions. Your presence isn’t welcome here.”
“Just give me a few minutes to get ready…” I stopped as soon as I saw an unfamiliar—yet, for some reason, familiar—dragonfly flutter by. “What’s that?”
“Hmm. Some fool sacrificed something important in exchange for a wish, but don’t change the subject. If it weren’t for $#@%/£₡\#’s intervention, I wouldn’t be so patient with you,” remarked Mr. Mystery.
I think he just said something important. Don’t tell me he wants to quit…
No, Mr. Mystery has been one of the most helpful people I can remember. I still remember his incredible performance when I drank that strange wine from that glass bottle in the basement.
His reaction was a 10 out of 10, though it seems like a waste to squander his acting talent on this formless void.
“Mr. Mystery…”
My body was sucked into a black hole beneath my feet, in a lamentable return to normalcy.
Impatient as ever, he still wasn’t ready to raise the curtain; besides, he needed confirmation for his next role.
Hmm. Why is it so cold? Has a blizzard swept through the bloodsuckers’ dining hall?
“I’m sorry, Vikir, I’m sorry. I swear I’ll make sure to find you in the afterlife once I’ve settled a few matters; until then, I’ll preserve and take care of your body while it’s in this world.”
Isn’t that Morgana? No, no, you mustn’t mix up the roles; this is supposed to be a medieval fantasy play, not a teen romance.
I let my guard down for just a second, and the plot has already gone off the rails; I have to fix this before it’s too late.
Crack!
Huh? Is my body buried in a glacier or something? My vision isn’t helping much, to put it mildly, since everything has a bluish tint.
“V-Vikir!”
The crimson-haired heroine lunged at me with unusual intensity, before her body came to an abrupt halt, her face flushed.
My eyes gradually adjusted to the surroundings, allowing me to catch a glimpse of the mess this girl had caused; we were in what appeared to be a room—quite nice, actually… Ahem, but that’s beside the point. Apparently, at some point, my clothes had been removed, leaving me in the purest state of human existence.