It only took a blink of an eye before the giant man's headless body collapsed to the floor. In one smooth motion, Nigel moved to the side to avoid his swing and instantly decapitated him. It was like watching the world's best swordsmen fight an amateur; the only other time I had seen something like that was when he did the same to me, going for the neck. He had done the same to Robert. This new fighting style he adopted was simple and effective: avoid or deflect the first swing and kill before they could react. It was truly as if he could see a second into the future.
"Now I don't think I could take on… however many of you there are. But he can." Nigel stepped forward as he pointed over his shoulder to me. Walking closer to Corvis, who had collapsed onto the floor in shock at the defeat of his strongest soldier.
"Now, mister Corvis. What's to stop me from killing you right now and taking over your organisation?"
"The army! The army is coming! My uncle!"
"Oh yeah, Henri, right. Haven't seen him since we were on the front lines. You know, I was his commanding officer, right? We made those grenade things together. Hey Shinya, remember Henri?"
"Yeah, I remember Henri."
"See, we're friends with Henri, but… have you ever met him? I think he would be more inclined to do business with old friends than with some nephew he's never talked to before."
Corvis scurried back slightly along the floor as Nigel got closer and closer, reaching behind his back.
"Now, I don't really want to kill you simply because the paperwork seems like a pain. So, how about this, you honour our deal, you send for the money to be delivered for Robert's death by our hand." Suddenly, all the nearby soldiers started to whisper among themselves. "And if you do that and behave yourself, not only will I let you live, I'll even give you over half of his bounty."
Corvis's expression changed from that of a cornered rat to one of a money-hungry merchant ready to close a deal. He tried to hide it, but did a poor job as he sprang to his feet eagerly and extended a hand towards Nigel. "Deal!" He yelled out a bit too enthusiastically. I guess Nigel was just putting on a show. I was worried that maybe something in him snapped and he was losing it, but it seems it was just a front, after all, he knows exactly the kind of person Corvis is, and how to manipulate him.
They shook hands, and Corvis turned to his men, shouting orders.
"Thirty of you to Glenumbra, thirty to Eastwatch! Remove all wanted posters of Shinya Akame and tell everyone he killed Goran and dozens of other criminals! Report back via letter once you're established!"
There was a silence that fell as soon as Corvis stopped giving his orders. The soldiers all stood there, glancing towards each other as if debating whether to actually do as he said. After what I just witnessed, I don't blame them.
Nigel stepped forward. "Well, get a move on!"
A roar erupted from the men as they started to march past Nigel and Corvis through the gates to the city. I stood watching from near the trader's inn at the spectacle, personally enjoying the looks on Corvis's face as he realised he had just lost most of his power. Once they were gone, I walked up to the two of them, removing my face covering.
"And what about Ravens Rest? I would like to be able to live without a mask on my face."
Corvis remained with his eyes locked to the ground until Nigel turned to face him as well. He snapped his head towards the two of us, "Yes! Of course, at once."
"And the letter to the church."
"It's already sent!" Corvis yelled out as he ran off into the town, leaving Nigel and me alone with the headless body on the floor nearby.
"No doubt he sent it right away, and intended to keep it all for himself. Men like that only care about money and power. They're easy to deal with, especially weak ones like him."
"Right. By the way… how did you do that?" He pointed towards the headless body.
Nigel simply shook his head and shrugged. "Instinct?"
I looked at him, concerned. Instinct? That sounded like how I would explain my actions on the night ship, or on the mission with Yuma. That was the only thing I could think of to explain it, but now I know it was something else. It can't be the same for him, can it?
"You're not possessed by a sin, are you?"
"What the fuck? No? That would be super interesting though!" His one eye lit up at the idea, that same childish excitement he had back at Red Beach Outpost and before going to Balim. Seems I'm being too worried for nothing, he's the same as ever, though annoyingly, slightly taller than me now. "No, I honestly can't explain it. Do you think Wrath could?"
I had never thought to even ask. I hadn't spoken to him for a long time, and he hasn't spoken to me in any way. I suppose it couldn't hurt to try to get his attention. I shut my eyes and tried to envision the dark place where he lived as I let his name flood my mind, repeating over and over until I would hear a response. Wrath, wrath, WRATH!
"What?" I heard a voice ring through my mind. All at once, I felt his presence again; it was like he was somewhere else, and I never noticed until he spoke just now. I understood in an instant that he was hibernating; this whole time, he had been asleep, and I didn't even realise. The conversation in my mind passed in an instant as he explained that using his powers and strength drains his own, and after Goran, he needed time to recover his strength. He explained that manipulating a mind that wasn't his own was difficult and exhausting. He knew what was going on vaguely and read my thoughts to fill himself in on everything that had happened, and then instructed me.
"He… wants your blood?"
"My blood? Why?"
"He says that he needs blood to see your…genetic history?"
"I have no idea what that word means, but okay." Nigel pulls his blade from its sheath only slightly, stretching his hand and pressing his fingertip against the blade before letting it go. It retracts with a metal thunk as Nigel holds up his finger with a drop of blood pooling at the cut. "Now what?"
Wrath told me what to do next, but it felt kind of gross and weird. He explained that he couldn't take control of doing it himself, so I had to. "I have to… drink it."
Nigel could tell I was uncomfortable about the idea of licking his finger. He drew his blade once more and pressed his finger against it, the same as last, tight but slightly harder, making the wound a little larger. He grabbed my wrist and held my hand out as he made a few drops of blood drip from his finger onto the palm of my hand. With a reluctant sigh, I lifted my hand and licked the blood.
The moment my tongue made contact with the blood, everything flashed white, and I jolted back, falling onto the ground. My breath quickened, and I felt my heartbeat racing. In my mind, I heard a cacophony of words all at once, only able to discern a few.
"What happened? What did he say?"
"He said… what are you?" I turned my focus back inwards, to try to get some answer to what happened, but Wrath would not respond. Only saying a single word in my mind that I repeated out loud to Nigel. "Magic."
Nigel leaned down and took my hand, lifting me to my feet with a smile. "I'm magic, am I?"
"He says, you're like me… you're…what? Out of place? I don't know what he means; he's refusing to explain."
"I'll just stick with me being magic and awesome as the reason behind my amazing powers." He spoke with glee and a grin on his face, clearly joking to some extent. "But seriously, magic?"
"I don't know if magic is real; it's meant to be subtle, or so I've heard."
"If it's real? What do you call yourself? Or that thing in your head? I would say that's magic, and it sure ain't subtle. Maybe I've got a small amount of lingering magic, maybe I'm naturally gifted. Maybe people who have immense natural talent are magic? Like what if a natural, inborn skill is actually magic and nobody realises?"
There he goes, nerding out again. I did like his theory, but it had one flaw: me. Wrath said we're alike, but I have no natural talent, no inborn skill. I was normal and boring until Wrath tried to possess me. From the way Nigel shook his head, it seemed he may have already come to the same conclusion. I figured it was best to leave it be.
We went into town and found the cemetery, telling the gravekeeper there was a body near the main gate to collect. As he took a horse-drawn wagon, we accompanied him, as the body was no doubt too heavy for him alone to move.
All the while, as we helped dispose of the body, that flash of light kept playing in my mind over and over. Everything happened so quickly, I couldn't even perceive it, but Wrath could. He knows my mind, but I don't know his; he knows the answers to these mysteries, but refuses to tell me. Why?
I kept repeating in my mind, Why? Why? Why? Wrath knew I was doing it in an attempt to bother him until he told me what I wanted to know. After a few hours, he gave in. He said one simple sentence that answered my question but raised many more. He said, 'Nigel's power is inherited, therefore it is weak.'
That night over dinner, I told Nigel what I had learned from Wrath. He laughed it off as nonsense. His mother was long dead, and his father was human trash in his eyes; there was no way his power was inherent, he said. He made peace with the idea that he was just naturally gifted and that, whether it was anything magical or not, it made no difference; it would change nothing. He's simply him, nothing more, nothing less, and if who he is is a gifted swordsman, then so be it, magic or not.
I suppose he did have a point. There was little use pondering over the cause or origin of something that simply 'is'. It's just as likely that his theory is that skills are magic, but we just don't call it that anymore. Or this was something he could always do, but only recently started to trust this instinct of his. The reason didn't matter.
But still, there was that lingering doubt in my mind about it, about what Wrath said, about what he didn't say, but aside from all that, what bothered me most was what he felt in that moment.
Confusion and fear.