My whole body hurt.
It wasn't a specific pain, it wasn't a clear wound. It was a heavy pain that ran from my neck down to my feet, as if they had used me as a punching bag and then thrown me aside carelessly.
When I opened my eyes, the first thing I felt was a strong dizziness, followed by a mild nausea that forced me to stay still for a few more seconds.
The second thing I noticed was the silence.
I wasn't on the bridge. I knew that immediately.
The air was different, thicker, with an unpleasant smell that got into my nose and didn't want to leave.
A smell between dampness, rot and something chemical that burned my throat a little when I breathed.
I opened my eyes fully and slowly sat up, supporting one hand on the ground.
Big mistake.
The ground wasn't ground as such. It was soft, damp and sticky.
I pulled my hand back instantly, with a grimace of disgust, and then I could see clearly where I was.
In front of me there was a Swamp.
It was an enormous swamp, dark, of an almost black purple color.
The water didn't move much, but it bubbled in some spots, as if something were breathing underneath.
Around, protruding from the water, there were bones. Many bones.
Some small, others long and broken, and others… clearly not from normal animals.
I swallowed hard.
—Great… —I murmured—. Just what I needed.
I tried to stand up carefully.
My body responded, but with complaints.
My legs trembled a little, though I managed to keep my balance.
I looked around searching for a quick exit, something that didn't involve getting into that poisonous swamp… but there was nothing.
High walls surrounded the place. Too smooth to climb. Too high to even consider it.
There were no bridges, no visible doors, nothing that resembled an easy exit.
Just the swamp.
I knew, without needing to test it, that those waters weren't normal. It wasn't dirty water, it was poison.
A slow, cruel poison. The kind that doesn't kill you instantly, but punishes you step by step.
But I had no choice.
I sighed long, crouching to pick up my sword, which was lying near where I had woken up.
When I touched it I felt a small relief. Not because it was an incredible weapon or anything like that, but because it was the only familiar thing in that whole place.
—Dying here would be… pathetic —I told myself—. So let's walk.
I took the first step into the swamp.
The pain was immediate.
It wasn't a scream, it wasn't a brutal burn, but it was constant.
As if thousands of small needles were stabbing into the skin at the same time. Each step made the pain rise a little more, like a silent warning.
I kept advancing.
The water reached up to mid-calf, and each movement felt heavier than the last.
I didn't know how long I could endure it, but I didn't plan to stop. Stopping here was the same as giving up.
While advancing, something began to move in the water.
Grotesque creatures emerged from the swamp without warning.
They had no clear shape. Some seemed like remains of animals mixed together, others had too many limbs, eyes in places they shouldn't be, twisted mouths that emitted horrible sounds.
I clenched my teeth and raised my sword.
It wasn't a clean fight. It was dirty, slow and exhausting. I cut, retreated, attacked again.
The swamp made everything more difficult.
Each defeated enemy sank back into the water, disappearing as if it had never existed.
I advanced like that for what seemed like hours.
Sometimes I found small areas of firm ground, patches of soil that the water hadn't covered yet.
In those places I stopped, breathed with difficulty and took out some bottles I carried with me.
When I drank them, I felt the pain in my legs decrease a little, enough to keep going.
My muscles burned. My head hurt. But I continued.
Until I saw it.
In the distance, in a completely dry area, there was someone.
Not a creature. Not a monster.
A person with a strange appearance, skin of a different color.
That, in itself, was already strange.
I approached carefully, without lowering my guard. The man was sitting calmly, as if that place weren't a poisonous hell.
He wore strange clothes, somewhat worn, but he didn't seem affected by the swamp at all.
When he noticed my presence, he looked up and spoke to me with total naturalness.
—Hey… knight —he said—. Have you come to buy some sins?
I blinked.
—What?
—Sins —he repeated, sighing—. Always the same…
—Stuck? —I asked, confused, thinking I had heard wrong.
The man slumped his shoulders, clearly discouraged.
—Look, are you going to buy or not? If you didn't come for that, better get lost.
I frowned. Something didn't add up. No one talked like that in a place like this… unless they were completely crazy or something much worse.
—And how much does a sin cost? —I asked in the end.
Upon hearing that, the man smiled from ear to ear. An exaggerated, uncomfortable smile.
—Kekekeke… today I'm in a good mood —he said—. I'll let you have them for a thousand souls each. What do you say?
A thousand souls.
I didn't know exactly what a sin was in this context, but something inside me told me they could be useful. Or dangerous. Or both.
—Okay —I answered—. Give me five.
The man laughed lowly and extended his hand. I handed him the five thousand souls without thinking too much. At that point, I had already been through worse things than a bad purchase.
In exchange, he gave me five small candies. Dark, almost black, with a strange texture.
I looked at them.
—This is all?
—Enjoy them —he said, still smiling.
I thought, honestly, that he had scammed me. Without hesitating any longer, I put the candies in my mouth and ate them all at once.
The taste was… strange. Not unpleasant, but not good either. Simply strange.
I turned to keep walking.
Then everything changed.
The place darkened suddenly. Not like when night falls, but as if someone had turned off the world.
I felt an invisible pressure around me, as if something were watching me from all directions.
My head started to hurt.
My body felt heavier, exhausted, but not enough to stop me.
I advanced blindly, searching for something solid, until I bumped into a wall.
I leaned on it and began to walk following its surface, hoping to find an exit.
It was then that I saw the symbol.
Carved into the wall. Strange. Ancient. Something I didn't understand, but that made my skin crawl.
Below the symbol there was a crack. A break that led to another place.
I approached.
And right at that moment…
I felt a presence behind me.
I didn't hear footsteps. I didn't feel wind. Just that horrible sensation of not being alone.
I turned slowly and then heard a single word, spoken in a feminine, cold and absolute voice.
—Execution.