What you see and what I see are totally different things Roa…. You only see Life, You don't understand Death. Life and death might be two sides of the same coin but that is also why they can never face each other."
Finally, it seems I have a good grasp of the vampire, or to be more accurate, I realised what Roa never understood. Roa never understood death, he always showed his back to death, tried to run away from it, to find loopholes that could take him away from death's inevitable grasp. His eyes reflect exactly that. It sees the lines of life in its target which he can cut to kill the target. These are different from my Mystic eyes of death which sees lines of death and applies a state death on the target itself.
"Don't fuck with me. If that was the case you wouldn't have been able to maintain your own sanity. Are you even human ?" I hear his infuriating voice again as bolts of lighting shoot out of the dozens of magic circles he created in a span of mere seconds. Yet…..
"Allow me demonstrate Roa what it means to kill something" before any of the sparks reached me it all vanished into thin air as if it didn't exist in the first place. That was expected to happen since I killed it with my knife.
Though it seems that wasn't a predictable or even an acceptable result for Roa who without wasting a second followed up with more thunderbolts. Even though I can kill them, taking on this many of them would be akin to suicide. Yet despite this my body didn't stop but waltz through this dread as I closed the distance between me and the bloodsucker.
I cut some of his projectile lightning and evaded some. My breath was ragged and my body was shivering with numbness spreading though it. However none of that impeded the motion of my body which moved at the pinnacle of human speed… no beyond what should be considered the pinnacle of human speed as I cut through lighting and the magic circles creating them.
My muscles and bones felt like they would rip apart as I made my way through the debris of the school building jumping from one to another. Roa also did the same but due to his Dead Apostle physique he won't face even a fraction of the backlash I did. Yet this won't change his future. The future I decided for him.
In this waltz of death, filled with horror, chaos and most importantly uncertainty there was only one thing I was certain and that was his death. That was the one thing I Shiki Tohno wouldn't compromise on. This and the image of smiling True Ancestor were the last thought I had as my knife reached him.
"You're not scared are you ? This path called death should be quite familiar to you. If there is a difference it's only one thing…. This time won't be coming back" Words left my mouth as I stabbed my knife directly into his Point of Death sending him to a slumber from which his soul would never return.
The existence of Michael Roa Valdamjong, also known as the Infinite Reincarnater, the serpent of Akasha and the Blasphemer of the True Ancestors had left this world for good. His body started turning to ashes and then dissolving into nothingness.
Roa shouted, tried, and resisted the decay, the finality of his existence with all his might but it didn't change anything. Not just soul but the very concept of his existence had been 'killed'. Within a few seconds it was gone as if it never existed.
"I really did it" a small smile formed on my face as I crashed on my back raising a cloud of dust. This was not because my legs had been damaged but because I simply didn't have the strength to carry my body anymore. I had exhausted every bit of my remaining life force to match the vampire. It was simply impossible for me to move right now.
I was having the worst headache of my life. It was bound to happen for using these eyes to this extent. Arcueid had warned me before that if I continue to push myself to see "death" a time will come my mind would be devoured by it.
And I supposed it was high time for that to happen…..
My heartbeats slowed down, the lungs stopped pumping oxygen and it didn't took me long to realise that these were my last moments in this world. I closed my eyes embracing the darkness, total emptiness.
This was how Shiki Tohno met his end….
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Or how I was supposed to meet my end.
It has been hours or at least it felt like hours in this empty dark wasteland of a space with no up or down, and no boundaries in sight. It is a pitch black void with no sensation to provide to my body. Just after a few minutes of closing my eyes I was certain that I was dead since I can't sense or feel any part of my body, not even my eyes. Yet despite this I retained the ability to think and think I did.
"Where am I even?" I said once more similar to many of my previous attempts that received no responses.
"You're in my workshop Shiki Tohno, the workshop of a mage." To my surprise this time someone actually responded. The voice was horse, grumpy, smug and seemed to belong to someone old enough to have one foot in the grave.
"You know I can sense what you are thinking right now." He continued as if he had read my mind. "Regardless, that isn't important right now. But before I get on with that let me introduce myself."
"I am Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, a Magician." A tall old man with medium length white hair and beard, deep red eyes, dressed in brown and black fantasy mage like robe, and carrying a cane with a Ruby glued to its top, entered my view. "Though you may know me as one of the 27 Dead Apostle Ancestors"
My guard was lowered and I was open to a friendly interaction with him until he mentioned the part of him being a Dead Apostle. Yet I wasn't in a position to retaliate so putting my thoughts aside I chose to listen in on what he has to say and hoped that he would answer some of my questions.
"You must be wondering how and why you are here." He stated with a kind smile on his face which didn't befit a man-eating vampire "The answer to that question is because you are dead. And also because I decided to pull your soul here."
"Why?" I muttered without thinking.
"Why, you ask. Hmm it is complicated but let's just say I am doing this to not have any regrets." He answered as if deep in thought and nostalgic about something. But before I can think what he was reminiscing, the smile on his composed face returned leaving no emotion out in the open. "Or would you have preferred to die permanently instead?" He asked, raising one eyebrow slightly.
The answer to that question wasn't something I was sure about myself. I always lived my life believing that living itself had meaning. I understood death more than anyone else and that's why I cherished my life even more. A thought that it would all be okay as long as long as I live was one of things that had been my principle since that accident even though I never admitted it.
Yet I can't say it's the same anymore. When I fought Roa… no, even before that when I declared that I loved Arcueid to Ciel I had already prepared to die for her. It was not because I felt guilty for killing her but because I realised I valued something… or someone, her more than I did myself. Even if I get to live again, life without her would never be the same.
"If you could really revive the dead I ask you to choose Arcueid instead." I said, surprised at myself for showing such trust to the guy I just met. He said I didn't die permanently, meaning there was a way to save me and if he could do that he would surely have a way to save Arcueid as well. Or at least that was my reasoning.
"I can't do that." He said in a flat tone refusing my request. "After all I don't exactly resurrect someone but more importantly, I can't revive someone who isn't dead." He continued with the statement, making me widen my eyes.
"True Ancestors don't have a concept of death. That remains true regardless of how weakened she was. When you killed Roa both in body and soul the power he stole from her returned to her giving her just enough strength to fully revive."
He continued speaking but I already heard what he desired to hear. A statement even I just now realised how much it meant to me. However, he had to pour cold water on me.
"Though she would still need to return to the Planet's Inner Sea far away from any person or civilization since she would no longer be able to resist her bloodlust."
"I see. Though I have to ask you why are you telling me this. You wouldn't be telling me this for no reason." I replied. I had forced myself out of being gripped by emotions and started looking at my situation more rationally. Yet no amount of rationality could prepare me for his next line.
"Well you are right about that, after all I am giving you a chance to save the True Ancestor Princess and continue on with your life in another world."
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What proceeded next was a conversation I would never forget. The conversation that led me, Arcueid and perhaps the world down a path no one… not even Zelretch had foreseen. This was the start of a journey of two souls in a world alien to them, on a path that would let them meet many allies, face many foes and perhaps reach an Ideal future that was unattainable in their former world.
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As I open my eyelids, warm rays of the Sun filter through it causing me to squint. The sensation returned to my body and so did an extreme level of pain, exhaustion and numbness. That however wasn't something to keep me down. I pushed against the ground and stood up on my two legs while grabbing a nearby wall for support.
In front of me was something that I could previously only describe as a scene straight out of an anime, European based fantasy-esque city with medieval, architecture for buildings, roads paved with a pale smooth brick, lizardmen, demi humans and all kinds of creatures of myth and popular media roaming around, small dinosaur like creatures driving carriages and more things that I had words to describe them with.
"he.. hahahhaa" I had a hearty laugh as I thought and on some level accepted the absurdity of it all. I had been dropped by Zelretch in some alley of what appears to be a major city in this magic world. I was still wearing my school uniform I wore while fighting Roa which left it mostly in tethers and only had my smartphone and a few other stuff I bothered to keep in my pocket. My body was bruised almost everywhere and I had barely enough strength to move around so simply put had a terrible starting gear and was in a weakened state.
Still despite it all, there was a smile on my face.
Roa is dead;
My world has literally changed;
& the beautiful moonlit night....
It has been replaced by
A new Dawn
Notes:don't even get a single Excalibur? I'm done. What am I supposed to do in this getup?"
I sighed at my condition. A cheap black and white tracksuit with orange embroidery, well worn sneakers, a cell phone with only a little battery left, a wallet with a currency that isn't in circulation in this era, a cup of instant ramen and a bag of crispy snacks were all what I had for my starting gear.
"Who the hell is the writer of this stupid light novel? What kind of trash idea was for him to give me no starting gear, system or magic. Hey square up you Author."
I shouted while looking at the sky as if that would change anything. Opps it looks like making the noise is making everyone look at me weird. Well I mean it is understandable since who in their right mind would shout at the sky. Hey, that doesn't mean I am not in my right mind. I am completely fine…. Or maybe a little excited and surprised but that's all.
But who wouldn't be if they were put in my shoes. Before today I, Subaru Natsuki was a nobody. I was an extremely ordinary 17 year old boy born to a middle class family in Japan. There was almost nothing that could differentiate or make me stand out from the ordinary except the fact that I recently became a shut-in, high school dropout. Though that wasn't anything positive or even rare considering that Neet life was at an all time high in Japan these days. But that all ends today. Since I was summoned to another world!
People with all colours of hair from red to blue to orange in the market, wearing outfits that went from historically accurate to straight up something that would only exist in a fantasy novel, architecture that won't be found anywhere in the modern earth and literal real Demi humans, etc. were more than enough to convince anyone that this wasn't a trick or prank but an actual genuine Isekai.
And yet I still haven't gotten any of the protagonist's benefits of even meeting a cute girl yet.
Speaking about benefits it seems I can't even use magic. Just a while ago I tried to rescue a kid from being stopped by an out of control carriage by using magic. And nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. But at least a knight came just in time and saved him.
'What am I even supposed to do now ? Why was I even summoned here? Dammit!" I muttered as I walked towards no place in particular while regretting.
"Wait.. what's that" my eyes widened as I saw who came out from an alleyway. It was a boy around my age with dark black hair, bluish black eyes hidden behind black spectacles, but the most important part was that he was soaked in blood. His clothes, formerly deep blue, were now dyed in deep red. slashed in multiple places and were barely holding together. It looked almost like a miracle that he was alive and was walking. "Forget walking, how is he even standing?"
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Shiki Tohno had just walked out of the alleyway he was summoned to this world in. Due to his condition he looked almost identical to the ruffians in the slums no one wanted to be associated with. Worse yet due to his rare hair color black, which was hardly ever seen in Lagunica except for the troublemakers from Gustenko; he was avoided even more. Due to standing out however, a kid seemed to want to approach him only to be pulled away by his mother.
Shiki however neither noticed all this nor did he care about it. He might appear to be an attraction to those surrounding him but to him those people didn't even exist. His find was focused on finding the one person he wanted to see again the most. And he wasn't really in as dire a state as he looked from outside. His body has already started healing at a decent pace, the pain was bearable and he was able to form rational thoughts without any issues. So he certainly wasn't at the mercy of his surroundings.
With that said he knew he would need to get more information about this world first and that would require others' help.
This was because while Zelretch had said that he also sent her here he didn't say which part of this world. She might be nearby or maybe on the other side of the world. Of course he hoped she was nearby but there was no guarantee so it would be best to learn about this world first before heading anywhere impulsively.
"Hey are you okay"
Before he could formulate a plan of action a voice broke him out of his thoughts. The concerned voice came from a boy who was breathing hard. Among the sea of people he was the only other person with black hair aside from him.
"Huh" As if confirming if he was the one who the boy asked, Shiki looked sideways.
"Yes I am talking to you." Subaru blurted out, almost annoyed.
"I assure you I am in better condition than I look. Thanks for asking though." Shiki finally said as he was completely out of his daydreams and focusing on reality, more specifically the boy. The same was true for Subaru who was only now noticing the appearance of Shiki.
This resulted in them both reaching the same conclusion at the exact same time.
""Wait… Are you also from… Japan""
""Wait… Are you also from… Japan""
This was how the two individuals who were going to make great changes to the path of this world first met.
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"You are really beat up. And here I was thinking I got the short end of the stick."
"Well all this blood is making it look worse."
"True. But how did you get those in the first place?"
"A school fight."
"What kind of fights result in this much blood loss? Wait you said school fight so did you like, get summoned exactly during it ?"
"What?"
"You know, everything fading to white and when you open your eyes you find yourself in this magic land."
"I suppose you can say that"
"Figured. I was summoned while walking out of a convenience store."
"You think there would be others from our world here as well?"
"I can't say but I certainly haven't seen any except us."
It had been about an hour since the two met. And saying they were making small talk would be an understatement. For Subaru he was surprised to find someone else who was isekaid as well and was having doubts about his 'protagonist' status but more than that he was glad to find someone else in the same boat as him. In case of Shiki he didn't know if he should be delighted or frustrated because he couldn't lie and say he didn't like Subaru's company but he also realised that Zelretch didn't mention sending someone else over as well.
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"This simply doesn't make sense. Was Zelretch lying to me or did he make a mistake" I muttered to myself as I thought about how Natsuki Subaru could have gotten here. There was also a possibility of someone else also being capable of moving between Worlds or summoning people but what could be the reason for such a person to bring a normal human being who isn't connected to the world of the supernatural at all.
Still for whatever reason he is here it doesn't change my first priority of finding Arcuie—
"Hey you two, If you don't wanna get hurt, cough up everything you have."
"If you do that we can let you get out of here scott free."
"What he said."
Before I could complete my thoughts I seem to be interrupted by the voice of 3 ruffians or hooligans or whatever petty criminal they seem to be. One of them has grey hair and slender built, with two knives that seem to be hidden inside his loose baggy rags for clothes, the other was a small boy or dwarf with most likely the least threat level amongst the 3 and the last was a considerably tall man with a bloated belly and a physique that seemed to suggest he had the highest physical strength. They look like they are trying to mug us of all our stuff in this thin alleyway.
Still not only did I not sense them, the feeling of suffocation, fear and headache which arises when I look at Zombies, or vampires like Roa or Vlov simply never came. It seems those encounters warped my sense of what I subconsciously consider dangerous.
"Hey are you two listening to us?" the short one shouted with anger evident in his tone due to the lack of response from our side. But what are we supposed to say?
"Hm" I turned my head around as Subaru poked my arm, and looked at me and nodded with a serious expression on his face which in less than a second changed into a wide ear to ear grin.
"OH YEAH! Finally a compulsory main quest has arrived. Since ancient times it's been a rule that anyone who is summoned to another world displays supernatural power. And by just believing in myself hard enough I will make those manifest." He spoke with his eyes shining. He then looked at me with those same eyes that screamed more optimism than capability. That seems to be his sign to me.
"What are you blabbering on about—"
"Take it you lumps of Exp"
Subaru sprang into action as he kicked the short one with enough force for him to hit the side wall. This surprised the remaining two as it seemed they didn't expect any retaliation. Though it seems it wasn't enough of a deterrent as the Giant recovered quickly and tried to punch Subaru which he evaded by a hair's breath and grabbed his hand.
"Don't underestimate my grip of 80 kilograms." He spoke as he managed the giant muscles.
The white haired guy realising this quickly pulled out his knife and tried to aim it at Subaru.
"It seems you are forgetting someone here" I spoke up as I appeared in front of him deflecting his knife attack using my palm. While dealing with someone armed while being unarmed isn't usually a good choice and especially not when I am still recovering. But after relying on my knife for so many fights predicting the movement of a knife user seems to be second nature to me.
"Also that isn't how you are supposed to use a knife" I said as I kicked away his palm making him scream and throw out the knife in pain.
"And that takes care of that" I muttered as I turned around to see how Subaru is doing. But it wasn't Subaru who entered my field of vision.
"Move it, Move it"
"Hurry"
"Move out of my way!!"
It was a girl.
A girl with short blonde hair,
and deep red eyes.
Yet it wasn't the beautiful vampire clad in white that I was familiar with but instead a small petite girl dashing at me with superhuman speed and flexibility. Seeing the conflict the girl increased her speed as she jumped from one wall to another and reached the roof. It seemed she also said something about 'living strong' but wasn't paying attention to be sure.
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This girl wasn't Arc, I knew that since the similarities began and ended with the blonde hair and red eyes. But; despite that, it was enough to divert my attention for a split second.
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And distraction is one mistake no one should ever make in a fight.
This situation was no different.
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"Got it" In that moment, while Shiki was distracted the situation shifted on its head. Chin, the one with the knife was able take it back from the ground and point it against the scary eyed teenager
"What—" Subaru screamed both surprised and… scared. In just one instant the slum dweller changed the situation on its head. And now the two otherworlders were in trouble.
"Don't move. If you move…. He wouldn't see another day" Chin spoke confidently with a wide smile on his roughed up face as he carefully positioned the knife against Subaru's neck slightly carving the skin shallow enough to just draw a few drops of blood from it. But this was enough to prove he meant what he said.
Shiki's heart raced as he started to think of what he could do while also having a part of him blaming himself for being distracted. Subaru was sweating profusely as he gulped down his own saliva since this was the first time in his life he felt so close to death. If someone could read Subaru's mind in this instant they would see chaos within thoughts with one side drowning in fear and the other simply couldn't believe how things ended up like this, from the cute girl who summoned him not showing, to have met someone else from Japan and now a cute girl who did came to him just ran away. This wasn't anything like what he expected an Isekai to be.
But it seemed the heavens hadn't forsaken his poor soul. For someone whose fate would be intertwined with his had appeared.
"That's enough"
A feminine voice came from the end of the alleyway as a figure who said it walked into the alley. A figure who's presence garnered attention of everyone present though for different reasons.
"Stop now and I will forgive you. If you would be kind enough to return what you stole."
The owner of the voice was a girl. A girl of average height, adorned in a white outfit with lavender highlights and embroidery, that cut decently above her knees, is tracing the shape of her fullness around her chest, and is wavy and wide near her hands.
But most importantly a beautiful girl with long flowing silver hair and amethyst coloured eyes that made her resemble one of the most feared beings in history, the Witch of Envy.
Notes: