Chapter 4
The Divine Judgement Blessing
Sitting in the pool of blood, Tokiya looked at the soldiers with tears blurring his vision. His strained voice pleaded to them.
"Please, you have to help me. I-I don't know how this happened. I didn't mean to kill him. I didn't mean to. I was just defending myself."
His voice was so panicked that it was almost impossible to understand what he was saying. His eyes looked from soldier to soldier, trying to find one who could understand him.
One of the soldiers stepped forward. He was a tall man with brown hair which was slicked back under his white police cap and a black beard. His uniform was more decorated than the rest.
This man was Gremory, that captain of the police. He was very familiar with Tokiya and recognized him once he stepped forward. When he spoke, his voice was deep, calm, and firm.
"Tokiya, please calm down. We can't understand you."
"B-but-"
"Shhh, you don't need to say anything right now."
Gremory nonchalantly approached Tokiya making sure to keep his white boots free of blood. He reached his hand out to Tokiya while standing right outside the red pool.
"We're going to bring you to the station for some questioning. We really know nothing about what's going on over here, so we'll need your cooperation."
Tokiya opened his mouth the say more, but he gave up. No matter what he said, it wouldn't change the fact that he just killed someone. Mors' blood lingered on his arm. Even if he did want to say something, his stressed body wouldn't allow him to.
He lazily reached up and grabbed Gremory's hand. Mors' blood spread onto Gremory's white glove. Gremory smiled nervously.
"Up we go."
He pulled Tokiya to his feet. The soldiers gasped, and their faces cringed as blood dripped from Tokiya's clothes.
Once on his feet, Tokiya could feel his wound on his back burning again. His eyes felt heavy. Everything felt heavy. Everything hurt. Before he knew it, he fell face first into Gremory's chest.
Gremory's eyes widened. He could allow the blood on his glove, but to get it all over his uniform was too much for him. He heavily sighed.
"Tokiya, you know I hate getting dirty."
He mangaged to put his germophobic thoughts aside to do his job. He placed his hands on Tokiya's shoulders, so he wouldn't fall. He looked behind him at his soldiers and spoke to them in a firm voice.
"Clean this whole scene up and get all the evidence you can. I need a few of you to help me bring him down to the station. It's a miracle he's still alive."
With that command, the soldiers got to work.
*****
When Tokiya woke up, he was lying in a bed in a dim candle lit room. He was shirtless, but his whole torso and arms were wrapped in bandages. Upon seeing the bandages, he remembered everything.
He lay in the bed without moving. He looked up at the ceiling. He didn't even wonder about where he was, who bandaged him, what would happen to him. He couldn't think about anything.
On top of the burden of him being a murderer, he also was almost assassinated. Earlier that day, a random woman appeared and told him he had to master a godly power to avoid death. It was too much to process.
The lights in the room flickered, snapping Tokiya out of his tranced state. He tried to sit up. He was able to but not without pain. From this he deduced that he hadn't been resting for long and that his wounds were still relatively fresh.
His thoughts began to settle.
Death. That's all he could think about. The last thing he wanted to think about was the gruesome scene with Mors, so he thought about his own death.
"Karasu said death would be knocking on my door soon, but I didn't think it'd come this soon. I guess I'm not dead yet though."
He looked down at his left arm. The mark was no longer glowing blue. It had returned to black.
Tokiya remembered using it to shatter Mors' leg and kill him. He wasn't completely sure how he managed to use it, so he knew it wasn't mastered.
"So, if I haven't mastered this Divine Blessing thing, does that mean I haven't escaped death?"
He sighed. Thinking about this only roused his thoughts again, so he returned to starring at the ceiling again. The light sound of footsteps entered his ears that only got louder until they stopped at the door to the room he was in.
The door opened and Gremory walked in. Their eyes immediately locked.
"You're awake. How do you feel?"
Gremory walked over to the bed, noticing that Tokiya was straining to look up at him. Tokiya responded in a monotone voice.
"Not too good. I feel like shit."
Gremory awkwardly chuckled.
"Yeah, I could imagine. I saw your injuries. It's incredible you're still alive. I'm guessing you can't move too well."
Tokiya frowned and stared up at him. Gremory put his hands up.
"Right, that's pretty obvious. Do you mind having a conversation?"
"Yes."
Tokiya knew what Gremory wanted to do. He wanted to interrogate him. But Tokiya could barely process his own thoughts, so he couldn't even imagine talking to Gremory right now.
Gremory pulled a stool from out of the corner and sat on it. He leaned forward and clasped his hands together in a very professional manner.
"Look, there's no rush, so you can just take your time. If you'd like, I can start by asking lighter questions."
Tokiya's frown remained.
"If there's no rush, you can leave me alone."
Gremory finally realized that he wouldn't be able to get through to Tokiya, so he gave up. However, he didn't leave. He silently sat on the stool beside the bed which created this odd tension in the room.
Tokiya knew what the veteran soldier was doing. Just Gremory's presence was enough to apply a certain pressure upon his victims, a pressure that could be helpful in interrogations to make someone talk faster. But Tokiya, had known Gremory ever since he was a child, so he was immune to his tactics.
In addition, Tokiya wasn't offended by Gremory's actions. He simply saw it as Gremory trying to do a very important job. He was also calmed by the fact that he knew Gremory had a kind heart.
Despite Gremory's kind heart, he was still a very impatient man, so to see his tactic have no effect began to annoy him. His foot began to tap faster and faster, but Tokiya stood strong. He really did not want to talk, not even to someone he considered his friend.
Tokiya wondered if he was being selfish. Gremory was just trying to do his job, which was pretty important. Tokiya began to consider speak when he heard a distant crash from outside the room that made both men leave their thoughtful trances. Gremory looked towards the door.
"Tsk, those idiots. I'm gone for one second, and they start fooling around."
Gremory's annoyed statement was followed by another crash and then another. Tokiya looked up at Gremory.
"You might want to go check on them."
Gremory stood up from the stool and sighed as he fixed his cap.
"Rest up, Tokiya. I'll be back, and you better be ready when I am."
As he left the room, another crash could be heard, and Tokiya could hear Gremory mutter something under his breath. A small smile pulled at Tokiya's lips. It always seemed like Gremory was cleaning up someone's mess. As much as it annoyed him, he really did enjoy helping others.
Despite Gremory going to clean things up, the crashes continued, and as they did, they seemed to get closer. As the sounds got closer, Tokiya could make out more distinct sounds. Screams and slashes.
These crashes weren't the results of harmless tomfoolery. Something violent was happening. Suddenly, Gremory's distinct voice could be heard.
"Stop right there! I will not allow you to come any further! If you're also here for Tokiya, he's not here. We sent him somewhere far away."
Tokiya's eyes widened. There was an intruder, and they were after him. Once again, people were put in danger because of him. His head began to hurt again. He wanted to do something, not because of a deep sense of duty, but because he didn't want his existence to be the reason others got hurt. Despite his will to act, he could barely move.
Then, a sudden deep scream was heard along with the ringing slash of a blade. The victim fell to the ground, and Tokiya knew exactly who it was. Gremory had fallen.
Forcibly ignoring his pain, Tokiya staggered out of his bed. He couldn't allow his pathetic existence to kill his friend. He wouldn't allow it. With heavy steps, he made his way to the door, his bandages loosening with every step.
He placed his hand on the doorknob, relying on it a lot for support. His weak hand struggled to twist the nob, but he eventually heard a click. To his surprise, the door easily opened afterwards. He felt a sense of accomplishment, being able to open the door in his state. However, this feeling was lost once his eyes fell upon what lay before him.
Gremory lay motionlessly in front of him with his jacket covered in blood. Gremory would've hated that.
Tokiya stood there. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what he had planned to do. There's no way he could've taken on this intruder. No way in hell. What was he thinking?
He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He heard the footsteps of the intruder. Whoever it was was circling back to get Tokiya.
"Gremory, I'm sorry."
Tokiya ran away, making his way down the dimly lit narrow hallway as quickly as he could in his state. His eyes filled with tears for the second time that day. He didn't even know if he was going the right way. For him in that moment, the right way was opposite of the intruder.
The intruder must've heard Tokiya's loud steps, for his steps quickened too. There was now a chase. A chase Tokiya could not possibly win.
Tokiya found some stairs with a trail of blood already on them and climbed up. In his hurry and distress, he fell. His bandages completely unraveled, and his wounds began to open. He pushed on. The door at the top of the staircase was already open.
At the top, he was met with the unfortunate sight of countless bloodied soldiers. Some were dead, and others were wishing they were.
Tokiya took in his surroundings as his pace began to slow. He realized that he had been in the basement of the police station and was now on the ground floor. From here he felt confident he could make it to the exit.
"Why am I even running? They're going to catch up. Or I'll die of my injuries. I can't do it."
At some point, Tokiya stopped carefully weaving through the garden of corpses. His pace slowed almost to a halt. But the exit was right there. He could see it. Just a little further.
"But why..."
Footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs behind him. Suddenly a sound Tokiya had heard before entered his ears. The sound of something rocketing towards him. Closer. Closer. Closer.
Tokiya took one last step. He didn't know why. He thought he had given up. Why hadn't he given up? As he lifted his foot, it got caught on the corpse of a soldier. This caused him to trip and fall, and at the same moment a missile like figure zoomed over him with deadly speed.
The rocket crashed through the exit, tearing down a rather large chunk of the wall, and flew into the building across the street. Dust and debris flew everywhere.
Tokiya, still persisting and clinging to life, crawled to the large hole in the wall. He lay there like a seal, barely being able to lift his neck. Whatever had slammed into the building across the street wasn't an object, but a person, for Tokiya was able to make out a figure in the dust recovering from the crash.
The dust began to settle, and the figure became more clear. Tokiya's eyes widened with terror.
"Why hello there, Tokiya! I see you aren't doing so well. That's a shame. As you can see, I'm perfectly fine after your little stunt. I suppose Fate decided it simply wasn't my time to die."
How could Tokiya forget that annoying, high pitched, and frantic voice? Everything Tokiya knew about this world had been turned completely upside down. Afterall, people couldn't come back from begin torn to pieces. Yet here was Mors Fortuna, the mad cultist, standing right across the road.
Mors was completely healed, and the only thing different about him was that his bandages were missing. His cloak was also torn, showing that the only thing that had been repaired was his body.
Tokiya spoke weakly, barely audible.
"How? How are you alive?"
Mors' eyes widened and he leaned closer.
"Huh? I can't hear you. But Fate is telling me that you must be confused on how I'm still alive, so let me explain. This is all thanks to the power of my Divine Blessing."
Tokiya's heart sank. Divine Blessing? As in the power every mage sought? His eyes began to close, and a faint look of relief crossed his face. He could give up now. He didn't have to try to stay alive anymore because there was no way he'd be able to defeat Mors. It was over. He could rest.
Mors pulled out his sickle and pointed it at Tokiya.
"You have been lucky enough to witness the power of the Divine Judgement Blessing, the Divine Blessing issued by Fate itself. Now, please allow me to complete my task."
Mors bent his knees and prepared for another launch. It didn't matter. Tokiya had given up, and his eyes were completely shut by now. Although Tokiya had given up, there was still one person who hadn't.
A boot thudded next to Tokiya's head. The deep voice of a man spoke.
"Hey, you! Did you really think one slash was enough to take me down? And you had the nerve to dirty my uniform."
Tokiya felt a reassuring gaze fall on him.
"Don't worry, Tokiya. I'll take it from here."