'Someone almost killed Mirxalyn…'
Those words echoed through my mind over and over again. I don't know what to feel, but I'm sure that hearing them had stirred something bad in me—worse and lethally dangerous. I rested for a few guarded hours when my swords suddenly vibrated beside me, and darkness engulfed my clothes. Panic surged through me, but I caught movement in the shadows—the creeps.
I frowned; these creeps looked different. "Aren't they spiders?" I thought. They had more than six legs. My eyes widened as I realized they resembled giant centipedes, each with a venomous scorpion's tail. Odd, but that's how they looked, and they seemed to be looking for something. "They were looking for me."
I sprang to my feet, slipping into stealth mode to blend with the shadows. But I'm surrounded. I held my breath and moved swiftly and silently. I run and hide in some stone coffin before moving to another, as some of the creeps decided to break some stone coffins. Then my gloves emit a malicious intention.
My eyes narrowed, and instead of thinking twice, I touched a few stone coffins, waking souls to act as a diversion. I whispered, "Please, hear my plea and help me slip away from their threats."
Some souls gave aid and diverted some of the creeps as I slipped further into the crypt, while some found me and raced to get me. But since they were long and had plenty of feet, I had to think of something before shifting my route and facing them. One charged at me from the front, and I dodged it by going beneath it and stabbed it on the way. As I cut the first in half, the second one immediately lunged at me, forcing me to use my blade to block its monstrous teeth. I groaned as it slammed me from one stone coffin to another, where the third creep came out and tried to eat me, but I shifted my weight and flipped myself upward, splitting the second creep's face and cutting the third one's head.
But I was not done. With the use of my whip sword, I cut them into pieces, as I didn't want them to regenerate if they had the ability.
Then I landed smoothly on the broken stone coffin, sighing. "That's a warm-up." I stretched my body, turning off my stealth mode, and looked where I was. "Hm, seems like I moved to the next phase without knowing."
There was another gate, rotten and filled with dead ivy. I entered carefully, but since it was old, it released a creepy sound before falling. I jumped, sighing because it echoed throughout the empty, dimmed space. I walked with my guard up, wary of my surroundings because the area was too quiet for my liking, when my blades alerted me. I quickly went into hiding, cloaking myself with darkness, before checking where a strange energy was coming from.
By the front of the small, ruined mausoleum, I saw a figure of a human, a man with a sword. I wanted to call and ask for directions, but I stopped. When the man turned, I didn't like what I saw. The right side of his face was burned, his right eye flashed with flaming blood, making him monstrous, and his left eye was dark and empty. I gulped because my blades shook, warning me about danger coming from that ghost.
"This is going to be tough…" I sighed, carefully assessing the ghost. "He's in the way, and I had no choice but to fight him."
And I did.
***
Swords were clashing. Combination attacks were met equally. But I'm alive, and he's dead. I kept stumbling, falling to the ground while he was not moving from his spot. I clicked my tongue, not in annoyance but with adrenaline. I am excited because I was fighting a Knightrose.
I fought the ghost as if I was facing my wife's swordsmanship, but instead of doing the same thing I used in my training, I began mixing up my Sigbin malice. My speed became like passing wind, my strength tripled, and my malice was a speck of dust, but I got a reaction. I smirked because each strike I gave wasn't in vain anymore. He moved with serious precision, striking as if meeting a remarkable opponent.
"Finally, you're taking me seriously," I said to the ghost, amused, and the blood over its eye fumed up, not with anger, but with excitement too.
Blood and darkness spread throughout the area as our blades made contact, releasing an enormous wave as it destroyed the surroundings. But none of us cares. We fought fiercely, releasing all our might, and in one blow, everything ended.
The ghost stood tall but could not pick up his sword anymore. As for me, I was on my knees, panting, but my swords were still in my hands.
"I still can go on," I muttered, grinning for more. But instead, he placed his hand over my head, ruffling it.
'You remind me of someone, someone who had been a master of swordsplay. Not Mirxalyn. You exceeded her. But I was referring to a Gamma Fenrir who cloaked herself as a werewolf. She blended well with wolves, and I could not beat her until I died. But sometimes to face a monster, you need to be one too.'
I lay on the ground, spreading my arms and legs wide before commenting, "Sounds like she was young."
'She was. The same age as you when we had our swordsplay. You did well, but sometimes to face a monster, you need to be one too.'
"Did I do it?" I wondered, looking at the clear night sky.
'Close. And it seems your swords and your coat were alive.'
I glanced over my coat, faintly sparked in golden light, which made me smile before answering, "My coat is, but I'm not sure about my swords…"
'Some blessed items began to have a life when they were named. They were excited to serve you on your adventure, and since you made them, they will be limitless.'
"They could become an artifact," I said, based on what I heard from him.
'They are already. Use them well.'
"I will." I grinned as I sat up, cracking a few joints in my body.
'Go ahead, and enter the fourth gate. You'll meet another Knightrose there.'
"Is that stronger than you?" I wondered.
'Depends on her mood. But she's the strongest Knightrose throughout history.'
That got me curious. My tone shifted and went serious as I asked him, "Then why is she not the core?"
'She was the first vampire who managed to control the bloodlust in our family. She could use it at will without losing sanity.'
"Then why is she here?" I wondered, getting up before stretching my body.
'She absorbs all negativity for the sake of the family and her mate, but her mate betrayed her. Vengeance and heartbreak took over her being, releasing a massive blood flood and thirst to the entire empire. Nobody was safe; luckily, an omega sacrificed himself for everyone.'
"How did he do it?" I asked, doing some squats.
'He offered his entire being and heart to her in exchange for everyone's life.'
I stopped, frowning as I looked puzzled at him. Then I asked. "How's that possible?"
'Mates. They were second-chance mates, and it was too late for her to realize it. She drained him. But she took him with her and sealed them together here.'
"So they were alive?" I guessed. Then he began grinning. To be honest, if I were not a werewolf and living in this realm, a ghost like him, grinning like that, he would be my nightmare.
'You would be the one who judges it. Because down here, it's timeless.'
"Right." I sighed because he reminded me of a different time down here. I did my final stretch before grabbing my things, bidding my farewell, "Okay, thanks for the chat and that swordsplay; I want to do it again sometime."
'Then feel free to come here whenever you need.'
"Then stop those creeps," I demanded firmly, and he laughed. I crossed my arms, pouting like a child.
'HAHAHA! They'll stop coming at you when you manage to get out of here alive.'
I glared before sighing. I waved my hand, walking to my next destination, saying, "Fine, I'd better get going then."
***
But there was something he forgot to mention when I passed his area.
"Next time we meet," I clicked my tongue in annoyance, dodging some ruined posts, jumping from dug graves to opened stone coffins, and then to the roof of small mausoleums. I ran at full speed, trying to get away from the mobbing of different types of creeps that began spreading a shiver down my spine. Then I started screaming, "I'M GONNA SHRED HIM FOR GOOD!!!"
By doing this, I began to master my acrobatic stances, my speed increased, and my control over my breathing became easier. My reflexes sharpened, senses heightened, and instincts sharpened in turn. I began testing my senses' sharpness as I ran. I read the energy flows around the area where I was and the creeps behind me. In the smallest gap, within a second, I made a counter and made it count.
"I'd better chop their numbers," I thought as I released my whip blade and let it go wild. In a few seconds, the first wave became clear. Then, as I jumped, I threw my other blade to kill the creep that followed me. I hit its head, but since my blades were alive, it moved on its own and killed its prey. And by the time I landed in another area, my blade returned to me as if nothing had happened. "Okay, that's fun, but this gate is huge."
It was the same gate, black, rotten, and filled with dried ivy. But this gate before me had two stone foxes on each side and a wonderful design of a phoenix with a dragon protectively wrapped around it at the center. I was about to touch the gate when the torch on the sides ignited blue flames, and the foxes released a menacing aura, taking a half-human form.
'The Bloody Conqueror's Wife has arrived.'
'Mistress has been waiting.'
'Follow us. Stay in the path.'
'Or else die in vain.'
I wanted to refute, but I didn't. I could tell they were the guardians here, and they were stronger than the ghost earlier. I sighed, scanning the area. It was plain, with no stone coffins or graves left open around; it was simply bare, filled with grass, and the only living cherry blossom tree was at the center of a ruined mausoleum.
"This is…" I tried to come up with something, but the view made me speechless. Among the areas that I've passed, this one had a calmness of what's above. A green field, a pond connected to a flowing river, and fireflies, which I think were fairies who took refuge here.
'Remarkable, isn't it?'
"It does," I replied, not even surprised by the amused voice from a woman enjoying the tree's comfort.
'I am glad that you do. You're better than that, lass.'
I turned to meet the giggling vampire from the tree. I noticed the tree was alive as if it had a soul that chose to be bound here, with her. From there, I understood the connection between the two.
I smiled before wondering, "Are you talking about my wife, Mirxalyn?"
'Who else? She's the only one who managed to pass here.'
"I didn't get the others' names, but you—can I ask what's yours, Lady?" I wondered politely, curious about the lady's name.
'I'm Elizabeth Fraye Knightrose, and I don't care what you decide to call me as long as it refers to me. Only me.'
"You sound possessive, Lady Fraye, like my wife." I chuckled, pointing.
'It runs in our blood.'
I nodded before wondering, "So, are we going to have swordsplay or something else?"
'How about we play a board game while we chat?'
"Finally," I sighed, dropping my things on my side before letting myself rest beneath the tree. "It's relaxing; I like it."
'I like you better than her, and maybe he'll like you too.'
"Then I'll take that as a compliment," I responded, stretching my arms up before asking, "So, what are we going to play?"
'Snake and ladder.'