Dance with the Nightingale-Chapter 64 - 63: First kill, and a mistake.
-It’s should be over.
I wished.
But was it truly?
Maybe, maybe not?
My unblinking gaze, my stiff behavior, and my solemn aura said otherwise.
-Step.
-Step.
-Step.
I walked slowly, going down the crater, towards its center where someone was having a coughing fit, a bloody coughing fit.
’Half-dead, but still alive... will die in a few moments...’
-Step.
-Step.
My footsteps resounded. My shoes crunching the scorched ground as I walked. Finally causing the half-dead woman to notice me.
Seeing me, she turned her upper body, which was only thing left on her.
-SCHWING!
"Don’t bother."
I said, as I drew my sword and placed it against her neck.
"Heehe-cough! -cough!"
Still, she laughed, or so she tried, before breaking into another coughing fit. Red blood spilling from her mouth.
"Don’t bother, I said!"
"-cough, and why shouldn’t I, cough, brat?"
"Hmm, maybe cause your life is in my hands."
"Heehe, is it, cough, now?"
"My life, in your hands? In the hands of a, cough, still green boy...?"
"You could have killed me with that spell. But, you didn’t. You can kill me now, but you aren’t...? So..." She took a deep, painful breath as she asked. "Are you really gonna kill me, with those shaky little hands of yours..?"
And with that she had me.
Of all the things she could say, she said this.
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And surprisingly, I was tongue-tied.
I couldn’t refute.
I stayed silent.
Causing her bloody smile to widen, "So, instead of, cough, watching me die, why don’t you fulfill my one last wish..."
A crazy, an evil, a dark light of pure malice flashed in her eyes as her voice distorted demonically.
"Heehe, WHY DON’T YOU DIE!??"
-BUZZZ!!
The mana in the surroundings massively fluctuated as wisps after wisps emerged from her half-dead, broken body.
10, 20, 30, 100, 1000, and still increasing, the number finally stopping at 3364.
3364, that was the number of wisps I counted. The number of wisps that escaped from her body, as she laid there with only a last spark of life left in her body.
And yet she was like this, crazy and evil till the end.
So eager to kill, even in her last moments.
Seeing her like this, I felt something in my heart.
Rage and anger directed at myself? Yes...
But along with that was something else, something cold, something dark. And yet, that something was eager to burst.
I couldn’t quite describe the feeling, it was something I never felt before, but I suppressed it. I killed it, along with all other emotions I was feeling using [Parallel Mind].
I knew I was running away, but right now, I had to be at my best.
The 3364 howling wisps that combined and revolved, coalescing to form a thick dome around me, demanded at least that much from me.
Squinting my eyes, I sized up the black dome made of howling wisps, before turning my gaze towards the insane woman.
"Heh-cough-hehe, see you on the, cough, other side brat..."
She chuckled quietly, her voice barely audible, and yet again, I remained silent.
The dome around me flickered. Flickering with countless dots that kept appearing on it. Each dot signifying an attack.
In that black dome which was my death trap, in the black dome that was ready to pierce me with thousands of attacks, I stood still, finally breaking my silence.
"Sorry. But your wish..."
As I called forth a completed magic spell from the deepest thought process of my mind.
My real trump card.
A magic circle formed around my whole body, a blue magic circle which erupted before the dome could, enveloping the black dome, enveloping all the black wisps within it, in an instant.
"I can’t grant it."
-SWISSHHHHH!!!!
Then, the magic circle with a lot blue prisms, spun. Spun insanely fast as it sucked them all.
Sucking all the black wisps into it, forming a black cloud that seemed to be screaming with a thousand different faces and voices.
The spell worked fast, for the spell itself was being corroded by the frenzied wisps, so it had to work fast.
Fortunately, I knew that and added a lot of branching and dummy parts to the spell, making it much harder for the energy to infest it completely.
Bringing the black cloud near my head, I triggered the final part of my spell.
The runes covering my armor climbed up, up from my neck to my forehead. From there, they stretched into the air, forming a funnel like shape with revolving runes that enveloped the black cloud.
Delivering it straight to the array in my mind, cleansing it all...This time it felt like the lion-of-the-array burped a little...
It all happened in a second.
From being in the middle of a death trap to having the complete control of the situation.
It all took just a second.
And for the half-dead body lying in the middle of the crater, apparently, it was too much to process.
Her expression blanking for a few seconds, before she finally figured out what happened.
Pure malice downing her whole visage as she spoke.
Or she tried to...
With a simple spell, I shut her up.
-Step
-Step
-Step
"For someone who is going to die you talk too much."
I walked slowly, revealing with each step I took.
"The only reason I kept you alive is because I was waiting for you to reveal your trump card, so that I could counter it with my own, nothing more nothing less."
I lied, for who knows why.
"And now that its done, its time for you to die."
Stopping near her, I crouched down, my magic holding her in place, as my emotionless eyes reflected her face in them.
"Don’t give yourself more worth than you deserve!"
I said, before drawing my sword out, and-
-Puchi!!
Plunging it in her throat.
Holding the sword stabbing in her neck, I watched carefully, I felt carefully. Her every attempt, her every struggle and her every spasm as she tried and failed to keep clinging to her life...
Her burnt bloody hands tried to push me away, push my sword away, but I remained still, so did my sword.
My eyes met hers which even now remained crazy and yet, they had a feeling of desperation they didn’t have before. Desperate, fighting for their life.
-Ga..gargle
-Ga..garrlee
Unfortunately, they had already lost. Unfortunately, I was unmoved... at least I tried to appear so.
And soon it was over. Her spams, her struggle, her life...
I stood up, my eyes the same as before still emotionless, as they maintained eye contact with hers. Just, her eyes no longer had any focus.
’That was enough.’
I thought, as I stopped using [Parallel Minds] to kill any and all of my emotional thought processes.
With that they came back, my emotions. A truckload of them, trickling back into my system bit by bit.
And yet, I couldn’t handle those bits.
Guilty, nauseous, confused, scared, angry, desperate, isolated, helpless...
I felt all those emotions, at once. My mind becoming a useless mess that couldn’t function at all.
All I could see was the corpse laying on the ground, and the bloody sword in my hands.
My mind churned, all sorts of thoughts running through it, all types of negative questions and doubts, popping up and disturbing it.
From ’Why was I transmigrated here?’ to ’Why I had to kill?’, I thought about all those useless questions.
I simply couldn’t stop them.
I could still feel it, I could still remember it, her powerless hands doing their utmost to push me away, and I also remember what I did.
I held my sword and stabbed in her throat even harder, not allowing her an escape.
And with that memory, with feeling, I came reeling back to what I just did.
-I killed someone.
My hands shook just like she said, along with my body, almost hyperventilating on spot.
-Calm down!!
-CALM DOWN!!!
I screamed to myself, but it didn’t seem to work..
A vicious cycle of guilt, rage and helplessness overtook me, like an bottomless abyss...
For how long, I didn’t know.
But for a long while, I was immersed in that feeling, not even knowing when I fell on my butt.
But in this long period, I dealt with my feelings, somewhat.
My brain wasn’t a mess anymore, I could sort out my feelings, a bit.
I knew, I had to kill.
I knew it from my first day here.
This world was just that cruel.
I had even resolved myself to kill, but seems like that resolve was not enough, and even if it was...
’...I don’t think its bad to feel sad, after killing someone...’
Even if that someone was hell-bent on killing you.
Even if that someone was a crazy bitch who had killed thousands.
And just like that, I calmed down a bit.
I was not in the right mood yet, though.
Still guilty, still sad, about the world that was created based on my imagination. Even inwardly scolding myself for not writing a fairies and butterflies novel.
’But then again, the world couldn’t be based on some all-goody book.’
After all, the world doesn’t work like that, I thought absentmindedly as I sprawled on the ground.
This thought being just another passing one of the many I have already had.
-Crunch.
It was then, just after an emotional rollercoaster, that my bubble burst.
Popped by a small kid with blue hair, golden eyes and a heroic face.
And though the expression he was making was anything but heroic, I couldn’t mistake him.
For he was the central piece of this madness.
Yes, Allen had finally arrived at the scene.
Walking ever so slowly, ever so carefully, as he made his way through the forest.
His gaze, his demeanor showed no trace of being controlled or charmed.
His expression wasn’t normal though.
Rather his expression was like that of a drug addict who wanted but couldn’t resist the allure of drugs.
Scrambling through the last of the bushes in his way, he stepped into the clearing, into the canopy that now had an massive crater embedded in it.
With a somewhat fanatic expression that turned into a betrayed one in between, he walked through the canopy.
With his attention on the crater, he obviously spotted me. Me, who was sprawled near a dead body with semi-dried blood all around me.
His eyes opened wide as he reeled backwards, falling on his butt, while covering his mouth with his hand.
But I didn’t care. The rage, the anger, that I had just calmed down bubbled up again, as thoughts like ’Wasn’t it his fault that I had to kill..?’ emerged in my mind.
I knew it was stupid. I already knew what it meant to have him in the party, I already knew what it meant to travel with him, yet I had him join us.
So now, when I had to bear the consequences, I couldn’t blame him...
I knew that, and yet my emotions got the best of me.
In an alien voice, in a voice filled with dark and cold hatred I asked, "What are YOU doing here, Allen!??"
The kid didn’t answer, the fanatic look on his face crumbling, as he stuttered.
"I...I...I..-"
His stuttering wasn’t the answer I wanted, though.
[Acceleration]
-SWOOSH!!!
I disappeared, only to appear right behind him. Looking down on him, with my face inches away from his, I asked again...
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!??"
...despite knowing the answer.
He flinched, and fell, laying down on his back. And stayed like that, having nowhere to run.
Instead, he hid his face with his hands as tears falling from his eyes, "I... I’m sorry... b-big-brother, I couldn’t... control myself..."
He apologized.
"I tried! I tried a lot! I really, really, tried. But once he gets interested in something he doesn’t listen to me! He swallows me! He overpowers me! He’s too strong for me..."
The little boy broke down. Weeping on the ground as he shrunk and murmured.
"I’m sorry... I’m sorry... I’m sorry... I’m sorry that you had to go through all this... I’m sorry... I’m sorry...sorry..."
Seeing the weeping boy on the ground, my mind froze along with my body...
-Oh! Shit! What have I done!!
-SLAAAPPPPP!!!
I slapped myself, hard.
A slap that both helped me to come back to my senses, while also being my punishment for scaring a kid.
But even then, I was clueless. I didn’t know how to coax him; I didn’t know how to help him.
So, without much thinking, I took his hands in mine, and stood up. Helping him up with me, breaking his sobbing posture.
The kid was still sobbing, still crying, still going about how sorry he was, and I had to stop him.
Placing both my hands on his cheeks, I lifted his head, making him look up at me.
And as soon as our eyes met, I spoke. Mana infused in my voice, while I stared dead into his eyes.
"Allen, listen. This isn’t your fault. You hear me, this isn’t your fault! Not now, not ever. Whatever happens, just happens. Its no one’s faults in that, no one’s; remember that. So, don’t cry Allen, this isn’t your fault. Don’t cry."
I paused, letting my words to sink in. But instead of stopping, he cried some more while spitting out some gibberish.
’Oh fuck!’
I thought as my attempt to coax him went to gutter. I didn’t give up though. I just kept trying. Again, and again and again. And by the time I coaxed him to sleep, I could faintly see three suns rising from the east.
-Huuuuuu.
Sighing, I caressed the sleeping boy’s head. Inwardly lamenting, ’I’m sorry Allen, but you probably will suffer a lot...’
I lamented about his pain, his suffering, not even knowing when mine stopped bothering me...
Absentmindedly, I thought about his skill...
**
[Unique Condition: Insane Dragon’s Chosen]
[Unique Skill: Insane Dragon’s Omen]
Bearer of the Insane Dragon’s will, madness and power.
The skill tampers with the law of casualty and fate. Bringing upon the chosen what the Lord of Chaos, the Insane Dragon desires, Chaos.
The chaotic elements of the world will be attracted to the chosen, regardless of their form. Providing the chosen a chance to collect them, or to be collected by them.
**
A nasty skill that essentially meant kill or be killed.
A powerful skill that allowed Allen to absorb any power falling under the [Chaos] category to strengthen his power.
But that was not all, I wouldn’t call it a nasty skill it was just that.
The skill was actually a double-edged sword, not only did it strengthen Allen and his magic, it also strengthened the Insane Dragon’s will residing within him.
Meaning, the more chaos he collect, the more powerful and more insane he became.
A truly nasty skill.
Fighting an intense urge to somehow go back in time and smack my author self in the head, I sighed.
-Huuuuuu
Slowly caressing the boy’s hair as he rested, while I called my teammates through the communication amulet.
My call, connecting on the first ring.
’They must be worried.’
I thought, as I left them almost clueless.
I opened my mouth to speak, but before I could someone was already speaking.
-Please, please tell us that you have already found Allen, and both of you are safe!!?
"Yes and yes. I found him. And we both are safe and uninjured."
I replied to the frantic Cana, calmly. My calm spreading to her as she quietened down, not before saying a ’Thank Goodness’, though.
Next, I heard Syrus’s voice. After all, this was Syrus’s amulet that I called.
-Where are you guys right now?
"In the middle of the forest, in the clearing near the tallest tree. Allen is sleeping, so you’ll have to come get us. I will send you the coordinates, right away."
-I thought so. There we some bright flashes of light coming from there, so we were headed that way already. Also, we secured Allen’s raptor, so you won’t have to wait for long.
"That’s great."
I exclaimed without any joy... my emotions ran thin after this... but finding a lone raptor in this big forest would have been no easy task, and yet they did it... good job, I guess.
-See you soon then, leader.
"Yeah, see you soon."
I said before cutting the call and sending my coordinates.
Then with both, a tired body and a tired mind, I watched the three suns slowly climbing up the sky. A sunrise that I never would have been able to see on earth...
A bright day after a dark night...
"...is beautiful as expected."