Burr turned toward me, not moving an inch from Ael, "Why should I?"
As he asked this question, all that came to mind was how I wanted to leave this world free from a guilty conscience, how I should help someone before leaving, but there was more to it.
When I told him about the situation, he didn't think twice about helping me. He simply went along with it. His curiosity about me grew, but he was still there for me. He was the first person I could turn to who wasn't my mother. I didn't want to state it, but it was apparent.
"Because he is my friend."
Without a second thought, I made headway toward him, ready to slice him into pieces. As I got close to him, I saw Ael pull out a knife he had in his pocket while using one hand, trying to pry Burr's grip off his throat.
Ael slashed Burr's wrist, causing him to fall to the floor, gasping for air.
Even through all that pain, he kept his eyes on me and threw a punch toward me. Having nowhere to go, I reacted as quickly as I could and blocked it using my forearms as a shield.
A crackling noise came from them. They weren't broken, but my body was screaming from the pain.
I gritted my teeth, hoping it would help with the pain—it doesn't.
As Burr made his way toward me, I could still see Ael on the ground trying to recover. As of right now, I have no chance of beating Burr. He was too strong. The only way I would beat him is if I had Ael's help. I needed to distract Burr for now, hoping that Ael would recover in time.
I had to take advantage of his blind spots. He was big, so he had plenty of them.
'I have to be out of my mind.' I thought.
Getting up from the floor, I changed my grip on the knife, holding it in reverse. I ran forward, sliding a few moments later in between his legs, slashing his left ankle.
He grew irritated, letting out another roar.
Getting up quickly, I get ready for another attack. Having his back facing toward me, I climbed on him, stabbing him repeatedly. The only issue is that he had so much muscle and fat that it barely did anything.
Ael, still trying to catch his breath, watched me, making his way to a safe corner. That's all he could do. He was exhausted just being deprived of air a few moments ago.
"Get off me!" Burr screamed.
I did not stop, that is, until he finally was able to grab me, throwing me towards the other end of the room. I end up where the hole in the wall was made.
Agitated, he seemed to have forgotten about Ael. It is then that Burr says something before changing at me, "Filthy, low-born!" Getting up from the ground, I don't have much time to react. I took the full weight of his attack.
Still charging at me, I was now a foot up off the ground. Taking the full force of the charge, I get slammed into the next wall. I tried stabbing him near the kidneys repeatedly to slow him down, but nothing worked.
As we slammed into the metal wall, I could feel my organs wanting to explode. I was coughing up blood.
I was utterly fucked. In the process of trying to help Ael, I was now worse off than he was. I knew I didn't have a chance of beating him, but I thought I could hold him off long enough for Ael.
My hands slowed down as I continued to stab him repeatedly.
'It hurts,' I sobbed. 'It hurts so much.'
I knew dying was painful, but not to this extent. I wanted to help Ael, but even when I tried to do something good, I wasn't able to. He was going to die.
Everything I ever sought out to do in this world just ended in failure: a life of peace, giving my mother a life without worries, and now, helping Ael before my last breath.
The situation was stupid—no, this world was. I hated this empire for inflicting this pain on me.
Clenching my jaw, I stopped moving for a moment—losing all hope. Seeing Ael's tired face through the whole in the wall, all I could think was 'sorry.'
When his eyes finally met mine, I could feel my heart scream with pain.
'No, this isn't over, I won't let it be. I still had one more option. I will not leave this world without doing one good deed.'
In this world, there are different pacts, each upheld by a god. It was a contract between you and them.
"God of chaos, hear my words." Burr takes notice of what I was about to do. I was going to make a pact with Balor.
To make a Pact of Chaos was to hand over your life to them, to corrupt yourself for power. You would be able to control it for a bit, but after a few minutes, you would become a mindless monster. I planned to kill myself before then.
Burr, not wasting time, punched me in the guts. Blood spilled from my mouth.
As I drive through the pain and continue.
"I hand my body, my soul, my will over."
Seeing that I was continuing, he punched me again, this time harder. Crimson red covered me.
"Give me the strength." I barely muster these words to life.
Burr is trying to stop me, pulls back his fist more, and lands it straight to my stomach. I could feel the impact of his fist rearranging my organs.
"Give me the power." I was now on the edge of collapse, of death.
"Give me-"
Before I could finish the pact, a gunshot rang.
Burr stopped suddenly, realizing what was happening.
Behind him, I can see Amiel holding a pistol—the officer's pistol.
Feeling the bullet's impact, he placed his hand on his chest, turning around slowly to see who it was.
"Coward... you are a coward," Burr says, seeing the blood in his hands.
As he finishes up saying these last few words, he collapses, and with him, so do I.
***
It was bright. Really bright, in fact. As I opened my eyes, I realized I was alive.
Lying in a bed with a bunch of different stitches holding my body together. Off in the distance, Ael and Amiel are enjoying food.
I ruffle around my bed just for Ael to hear this and turn around excitedly.
"He is awake!"
'Oh great, a headache.'
Rushing over, he beamed with a smile. "Hello, sleepyhead."
"Was this you?" I point towards the stitches. He nods.
'Looks like he was talented in more than just killing.'
Looking behind Ael, I could see Amiel standing there. I turned my head toward him and told him, "Thank you."
Ael's smile turned into a frown, "What, he gets a thank you that quick? It took days for me to get one."
"Shut up." I let out. As I turned quickly to him, I groaned from pain.
"Careful, Careful." Ael laughed as he watched me.
Amiel, standing not far behind Ael, said, "No thank you needed, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have been able to kill him with my own hands." Not lingering, he went back to his food.
Looking back at Ael, I could see him finish up pouting. It was replaced by a warm smile.
"What's that annoying smile for?" I questioned.
"You called me a friend." He teased.
I could feel my face turn red with embarrassment. 'Shit.'
The moment flashed in my head, making me look away. I didn't know how to handle situations like this. Heck, I don't even know how to handle a friendship. This was entirely new to me.
"Leave me alone." I snapped back.
"Fine, fine." He waved his hand, walking away.
Watching him, all that came to mind was, 'My job was finally done.'
I stared at the stitches that were keeping me alive. I could leave this world in peace now, knowing I did something good.
I let Ael walk away before he noticed me picking at the stitches. When I do, I groan from the pain. I tried to hide it, but it hurts too much. Pieces of torn skin started to fall apart. Blood began to spill. Unwinding the stitches a bit more, I could start to see more of my flesh.
I kept picking at it as much as I could. There were more than a dozen different stitches, so it was hard to do them all at once. My groans become louder. It was then that I heard footsteps near me. Ael was coming back to bring me food. As he dropped the plate of food, he started to run toward me.
"What are you doing!?" He yelled.
"Let me be!" I replied.
He grabbed my hand, stopping me from picking my stitches, "Amiel, bring me the first aid kit!" As he turns to me, making sure I didn't pick at it again, he said, "What are you? An idiot!" I could see his face filled with concern.
Tears rolled down my face. "Please, let me die." My gaze found it hard to meet his.
"No." He lets out.
"Why?" I place my forearm, covering my face.
"You know why," he said. "It is you who said we are friends."
"But I killed everyone here, I'm a sinner, a monster. How could I live on like that?"
"Is that what you think of me?" The tone in his voice sounded different. It sounded hurt. Bringing my forearm away from my eyes, I could see the sorrow in his.
I thought of him as a monster at first, but there was something human about him. He killed for me. He killed to survive.
"No, you're not one."
"Then why do you think you are one?"
Looking around, I could see the room stained with blood, "Because I did this all."
"But you did it to survive. There is nothing wrong with that."
Even though I knew he was right, I still felt guilty about it. I felt like I was a different person than the one who came in that day. I didn't like who I became.
"What am I supposed to do then?" I sobbed harder than before.
"You're supposed to live. Even if the people who died here today were trashy people, dying now would be disrespectful to their lives."
As I stared off at the dead bodies once more, I said, "I don't know if I can." I paused, looking back at him.
"You can."