The cold air of the December winter hit my face. It was chilly and cold. At this point in time, people love to stay inside their house and warm themselves in a Kotatsu(hot table).
"We will search this city tonight. So, let's start our investigation from the market side. There might be a clue on the other war candidates as it is big center of attraction for both the locals and foreigners"
"I feel the same. We might find the clues in our path"
After locking the door and making sure that it is locked. We went downhill. We make our way to the intersection of four paths.
My local Japanese people and I live on the east side of the city. The place where the sun rises first. All of our houses are made in traditional Japanese style.
North, south, west and east. It was an intersection point. All roads lead to somewhere and will end somewhere, this is what my brother says.
In the south direction, the left side leads you to the market area where everyone usually gets their shopping list done. We will investigate this path tonight.
"——Huh?"
A sudden chill runs up my spine.
"This is.....!"
I feel a very different presence. This density sure belongs to the other candidate. This one is not a normal one. His presence is far different compared to the other ones I faced before.
She must have felt it too. I can see in her eyes. She is sensing this strong wave of magical energy too.
"AAAAHHH!!!!"
I heard the scream. The presence that I felt.....is slowly fading.
"Master!"
I turn to face Sraosha. Her body was emitting the light. I cannot see her. The light is too intense for my eyes. My eyes were burning as if they were exposed to the heat of the sun. At one point I thought that I would go blind but it did not come to that point. The next moment, I am holding a golden sword. The divine sword.
"I am ready. The scream has stopped. The presence is slowly fading. I am not sure but the victim is dead at this point. I have to catch up to that bastard"
I start to run at full speed. I——we ran to the origin of the scream. The presence that I detected was in the south direction. It was the last location I sensed that much strong magical wave.
The sword was increasing my speed. I was seeing the world in blur as I ran at my full speed. I was feeling like my speed was increasing each second.
The feeling of cold air passing through my body. The air feels so harsh as I am running. I come to halt. Shops were closed which is very odd. The market of the city is open all day. It does not matter if it is night or day, it keeps running.
"W-what the——"
The shocked expression came on my face. My whole body was trembling when I looked at the scene. The cold chill of winter and my body could make it worse. My body was shaking at the sight of what was in front of my eyes.
There was a girl lying on the road. There is a pool of blood beneath her body. The girl is very tall compared to other girls. I cannot describe her. It was beyond me what I was seeing.
'This is an act of sin! Who wickedly did this?!'
I can hear the voice of Sraosha inside my brain. The scene of the crime is disgusting. The woman is dead. She is lying naked on the floor. Her stomach had been opened. I can see the organs which had spilled over the road. I can see the guts of her inside. Her breasts are cut off. The place of privacy cut open like somebody had smashed an iron rode inside her——
"Wwaallhhh!!"
I start to throw up at the sight of the body. I took the support of a sword to keep me balanced. The food that I ate just an hour ago is now spilling out from my mouth. I am vomiting nonstop until my stomach is entirely empty.
"Too late"
A voice came from my side. I look up the direction of the source of that voice. I was so lost in the body that I forgot there was someone else beside me. He was a few meters away from me. He was close to the body.
He was young.....no, his hair is long and white and there was a beard on his face. He looked like a very old man and his eyes were green. But.....only from his face. His body was a different topic. He is muscular. He looks like those 17 year old teenagers shown in several famous manga. His body is the dream of every little kid. He is wearing a skirt? It is a strange cloth that he is wearing. It is all blue. It is one shoulder type. Cloth was pinned to his shoulder and goes to knee and…sandals are in his feet.
"You are late"
His voice was dry like crumpling paper. He is an old man after all.
"You should go now"
My body was in shock due to the scene in front of my eyes. Wait. When I come to realization. What is he doing here? Why is he close to the body? My grip on the handle of the sword got tighter.
"Who are you?!"
I demand an answer from him.
"It is none of your matter, child. Go back to your home and forget about this scene"
"I am asking you again. You did this?"
"If I say yes, then what are you gonna do? I do not have time for your talk, kid"
This is enough! I was respecting his age but he left me no choice. Every cell of my body is rushing faster. I feel my blood boiling inside me. He is definitely a candidate. His body, posture and this much magical energy is massive. This presence is different from the before. I am sure that he did not done it but——
"You are not going anywhere!"
I step forward. The ground cracked under the pressure. My gaze is not leaving him. The road fractured beneath me, cracks spreading everywhere. He did not flinch. He did not move from his position. His face gave a grin when he looked at me. In the next step, I was moving towards. Rushing towards him with my full speed. I closed the distance between us and swung my sword to cut him down.
"What?!"
The sword strikes the mark. My sword hit his body but there was no cut. The impact of the swing cannot be seen on his body. My sword was not able to even give him a cut.
"Pathetic"
I raised his hand and struck my shoulder. I went back a few steps away from him. I feel my shoulder got dislocated. I cannot feel my left hand. I cannot move my left hand. It was a critical strike.
I swing my sword. I have to put more effort into swinging the sword since I cannot use my left hand anymore. He dodged my sloppy strikes and counter attack with a punch in my chest.
"Aaahh!"
I lost air. I cannot breathe. A punch straight to my chest. I feel the crack in my body. Did he break my ribs?! My eyes widened with shock. I lost my voice to speak due to the impact of his punch.
"This is all modern mortals got?"
He grabbed me by my neck and lifted me in the air. He is choking me. I already lost air from my body and now he is making me suffer more. He is trying to snap my neck. His hands are massive and rough. I am losing light. My head is in pain!
With all the strength left in my body, I try to slash him upright in order to land a better hit.
"Not so easy"
He stomped on my sword. He pinned my sword down to the ground with his leg. I held the grip firm on the sword. He kicked me with his other leg. For a second, I thought I was dead. A kick straight into my stomach.
I was flying in the air the next moment. I was thrown several obstacles into my path. I crashed into several markets, shops or buildings. The damage from the building did not harm me. But that kick was still putting pain in my guts. I come to halt when I crash into a glass door. I hear the sound of the glass breaking and hitting the vending machine.
It hurts! My body is in pain. I have to heal before——
"Play time is over for me"
He is in front of me. The next thing I saw was his fist and.....
"Aarraah!!"
I scream louder and throw out of the shop to the other end. I was on the streets again. I try to stand up. My legs give up. I cannot stand properly even with the support of a sword to stand up.
'Master, do not let the fire inside of you die out! We can win!'
"It hurts"
My brain cannot register her words. Is she cheering me on? Am I in that much bad condition? Everything looks blurry. Is this the end?
He is face to face with me again. He is a different breed. I know that I cannot defeat him in one-on-one combat. It is an impossible task. He is fighting with experience and strength. His strength is the cheat code in this war. Not even that monster whom I fought yesterday was that tough. He is in a different category. He is a true monster.
I start to swing, slash and thrust my sword in every manner to land a single hit on him. Single hit. Only a single hit I need to make me believe I can win. Single hit!
He dodged my wild attacks and fist box on my face. He punched me on both sides of my cheeks. I taste powder in my mouth. A sudden realization got me——my teeth turned into powder. Then a punch in my guts made me throw powder with my saliva.
"Aa.....gr....."
I lose the light in my eyes. I cannot see.
I feel light.
It no longer hurts. My body is no longer in pain.
I feel——nothing.
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I am ashamed that iron age mortals cannot produce a strong warrior nowadays. Women's womb no longer gave birth to a warrior but a weakling. I am disgusted by this age of mortals.
"Kid, you no longer can stand up anymore. Is this all you got? It's been several centuries since I last fought. Today I got an opportunity to battle but you are a kid. I think I went too easy on you and still cannot even touch me"
He stood up with his sword. He feels different. He looked at me. His eyes are different. They are not his eyes. They are hollow. His face is not showing any emotions.
"Can you put up a fight?"
I smirk and throw a punch at him.
There was a BOOM! He countered my fist with his sword. The clash between my fist and his sword produces shockwaves which back me down a few steps.
What happened? How can he? His eyes are directly staring into my eyes. Those same eyes.....he is mocking me! He had those eyes too!
"Do not mock me!!"
With a war cry, I charge towards him and start attacking him. I swing my fist everywhere to hit him. He blocked every attack of mine with his sword. I increased the speed of my attacks but he was reacting. He is countering each attack of mine!
He slashed from below the vertical curve. I thought his strength is same before——
"W-w-what?"
His sword cut me. There was a slash on my chest. Blood was coming out.
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"Atman(soul).....Naraka(abyss)"
This was the only word I was able to grasp.
What is this place?
It is not white or black or grey. It was neither bright nor dark. This place is different. There is no top, bottom, above, below, right, left, front and back. This world is strange.
"Master.....Master....."
My colors come into my eyes. First, it was all blurry and second later, it became clear.
"Baawalllh!"
I vomit out. Blood was there. I am vomiting blood when I come to my senses.
"Master, are you fine?"
After throwing out my blood on the ground. She gave me support to help me to stand.
"Are you fine, master?"
"My body is no longer in pain or hurt. Only exhaustion"
"What happened to me back? You lost. For a short time, we got our connection cut off. I cannot sense you. Your heart and your breath stopped. Yet your body was working"
I try to think what was it? What was that?
"Did we win?"
These were my first words to her. It was surprising for me too.
"Yes, master. He ran away like that of a coward"
"I do not remember anything, Sraosha"
She was looking at me with a bit of an odd expression.
"Color of the green. It is associated with the color of despair. Regret. They look up to someone whom they love and idolize like a hero or god and try to become like them. But in the end, they follow the path of their idol and meet the sad fate"
Those words come behind my back. I try to turn to look behind.
"No need to look behind"
He came beside me. I know this voice. The voice which I can never forget. Voice of his can make anyone mad.
"Sir Nikolai Fyodorov!"
Sraosha got tense. None of us are able to sense him.
"Master....."
"Stay down"
I whisper to her.
"I do not expect the fight will happen right here. Maybe or maybe not. Heh"
His gaze shifted to the sky.
"Stars are shining brighter today. Don't you agree, my dear friend?"
He smirked. His silver eyes are still gazing over the sky.
"Tell me, my friend. What is desire?"
He questioned me. It was very sudden.
"Desire? Desire is what we want"
"Then what is wish?"
Sraosha spoke this time.
"Wish is what you love. It is a sweet dream. Desire is an act where a human wants that thing or act to happen no matter what. A mortal can do anything to make it happen. This is desire"
"Is desire a sin or blessing? If it is sin then I am the greatest sinner of the history of mankind and if it is blessing then I am the most blessed being in the world"
"I think it is up to the limit of your desire. It should not be beyond limit"
I answered.
He smiled. His body is very pale. It was a shadow. The case was the same as the reflection of the moon on the surface of water.
"Desire to reach God? Is it sin? Desire to help everyone. Desire to stop the evil and corruption in the world? Is it sin?"
"Maybe it depends on oneself and others. If you desiring for yourself then it is sin and for others, it is blessing"
"What about if someone desires to be kind? To change himself better? Is it sin too?"
He chuckled.
"Sorry, my bad. I am taking your time while you were hanging between death and life"
I give him a weak smile.
He disappeared from my sight.
"Is he a candidate, Sraosha?"
"Master, there was no magic inside me. He is not an ally. Do not trust this man"
"He is also not an enemy. I can say that. He is a different level"
"I believe you"
I looked up at the night sky, he was right. Beautiful. If she believes in me then I believe in myself. I am worthy of her trust.
I cannot keep my eyes open anymore. I let my eyes fall. Light is gone and darkness welcomes me. A good night's sleep.