It felt like I was drowning, like water choking me and flowing into my lungs. It felt like I was lost in a bottomless pit. My breath was being stolen the moment I took in the air. It was all hell of all things imaginable. A never ending torment, no moment of respite. Deprived of the ability to take in air, my body being ripped apart. No, my body was whole. No, I couldn’t understand. Perhaps I was being ripped and restored. Whatever the case, I was being torn apart.
But that was not even the worst thing. The agony never ended there, for even my soul was not safe from suffering. It was hard to describe… what they did to me, to my soul. All that I knew was pain. My soul felt like it was being clawed through, pulled and stretched like rubber but never tearing, crushed like a pincushion, stabbed, burned, skinned, cleaved — pain, pain, pain, pain, pain, pain, pain… They were toying me.
Heartless, cruel, all things evil. They were evil incarnate. Monsters. Abominations. Like those that threw me into the bottomless abyss of constant torment. I grew insane, lost my mind. I laughed and cried in my agony, but then I returned to sanity. But after a while, I became insane again, and sometime after that, I returned to being sane.
It felt like a thousand years — no, it felt like an eternity. I knew nothing but suffering.
Why couldn’t they just have killed me? Everyone. Everyone that I have ever met. People, my classmates, even these monsters. What did I ever do to deserve this? I was never cruel. I tried to be kind, generous, and compassionate.
I was never cruel. I was… normal. Indeed, everything was normal. I could read my books, play my video games, go out… Just normal things. That was until we were brought to this world. I only wanted to go home. Who would throw themselves in danger? For a world they never belonged in? But yet, I did, followed what needed to be done. Everyone was doing it, so I must do it. As heroes, help people, I could do that, as long as I could live in the end.
I had a lot of things to live for. The curiosity of life. Don’t you ever wonder what you’d end up becoming? I wondered that about myself. What will I become in five years, or ten? I wondered, and I was looking forward to it. I wanted to see it.
But my future… was no more.
In this perpetual suffering and endless time, countless thoughts came into my mind. Countless emotions — sadness, longing, even weirdly enough, joy. But at the end of it, what filled me was smoldering anger and indescribable hatred.
It was all because of them. Their cowardice, their selfishness. It was because of them I was here. They didn’t listen. We could have had a chance. They didn’t listen!
They threw me into hell — but I will get out of it.
I’d make them pay. They too shall endure hell. Yes, I shall bring hell with me.
Blinded by my emotions, I resisted my suffering. It caused even more pain, but I didn’t care. All that mattered was for me to be free from this prison and have my revenge.
And thus, eventually, I consumed my captors.
I pushed myself to the cavern doors and used all my might to open it. But I was weak. I needed nourishment. I couldn’t understand it completely, but it was almost by instinct. I knew what I needed to do.
I must absorb life force. Their soul.
I needed souls.
And so, I got them. And instantly I felt a lot better. I was vitalized. And I realized I was finally outside. I was in awe of the beauty of it all. This sensation, the air, the warmth, too familiar, very pleasant. It was ecstatic. I was finally free.
Although, my relishing in my liberation was cut short when I noticed some people. They seemed intent on killing me. So I must take care of them. Go after my life, then I shall go after you as well. I used the abilities I just suddenly learned upon devouring those wraiths. They were quite powerful, deadly. Utterly deadly. It was convenient that I could easily use their abilities, like the knowledge just got shoved into my brain.
But I had to admit, these knights were quite competent. They’d be useful. So once they died, I cast unto them one of the foulest of spells. One that revives the dead, but not in a good way. They would be absolutely bound to me, and they would serve me until they are released from this world, or by me.
“Arrogation of Continuance.”
I cast the spell. For a moment, black smoke engulfed the three corpses before they seeped into the bodies. I didn’t consume their soul. However, I have taken control over it. Absolute control. Bounds that could never be broken. They were mine.
The corpses flinched, startling the remaining soldiers, watching the dead knights they once looked up to in admiration with widened eyes. The three knights, despite having died already, slowly got up. Momentarily, their eyes glowed blue before they returned to their normal colors. They groaned as their skin turned a bit paler.
Once their transformation had settled down, they looked at themselves. It must have been confusing.
“Pick up your weapons.” The three death knights flinched and slowly turned towards me. “And swear your allegiance to me.”
The three knights picked up their weapons.
The man kneeled on one knee and lowered his head. “I, Gavin Osonia, swear my allegiance to the Mistress.”
Then he was followed by one young woman. “I, Elyscia Lilise Milisent, swear my allegiance to the Mistress, and serve your every whim.”
The youngest stared at the two for a moment, she looked confused rather than conflicted. Well, she just woke up after dying, and her nature just changed, so something like this should be expected. But in the end, the girl knelt before me.
“I, Avelyn Eluca Ismena, swear my allegiance to my new master.”
I smiled. “Splendid.” I pointed at the remaining soldiers. “Go and slaughter them all. No one lives.”
The death knights rose, turning and walking towards the human soldiers, their weapons in hand.
“Sir Gavin! What are you doing?”
The remaining soldiers were utterly confused, conflicted about what to do. They couldn’t comprehend what was going on. I quite understood it a little bit. It would be weird and heartbreaking, and confusing, to see your commanding officers come at you with the intent of killing you after rising from the dead.
“Snap out of it you guys!”
“We’re your men!”
I noticed the one named Elyscia stopped for a moment. I narrowed my eyes.
Conflicted, huh?
But then she continued her approach. The first to strike and kill a human was the youngest girl, Avelyn. The soldiers fell into disarray, yelling and squealing in confusion. They were still hesitant about attacking their knights, or perhaps because they knew they couldn’t beat them. Truth be told, if they couldn’t beat them when they were human, there was no way they could beat them now.
These death knights were more powerful than how they were before.
Still, quite amazing that Avelyn didn’t hesitate at all to kill these guys. She must have some grudges there. At any rate, my death knights began the engagement against the humans — and the latter stood no chance at all. They hesitated, while others fought back, knowing their commanders were lost. But all forms of resistance would be futile.
I held out my hand and beckoned the souls from the dead. White misty balls streaked in the air from the corpses into my hand. I felt that pleasant warmth as I absorbed the soul, my nourishment. Like how you would feel so good when you get to eat delicious cuisine after a long time of hunger.
A moment later, the souls stopped coming, all the humans were slaughtered.
“Finally got to shut those guys up!” the youngest knight, Avelyn, spat with audible condescension. She even lightly kicked one corpse.
“You should not treat your former colleagues like that,” Elyscia said.
“I heard this bastard talk behind my back. I have wanted to punch him ever since that day. Called me a brat.”
Elyscia could only sigh. “Well, you got what you wanted. But color me impressed by your self-control. You didn’t lash out before.”
“You think I don’t have self-control?”
Elyscia shrugged.
Hm, it would seem their personality was not quite affected. Which would be good. I would prefer them to have retained their rationality, but of course, their allegiance completely switched.
“Rise of Undeath.” I snapped my finger.
The dead, without souls, rose from the ground.
Should they be called Undead Soldiers? Guess that works.
I disregarded them for a moment and took a deep breath. I realized I didn’t need oxygen anymore. Was I already technically dead? It was a weird feeling. Still, my breathing was involuntary, being used to how it was when I was a normal human. My appearance did change, although it was not up to me. But this appearance was fine. I was quite missing my black hair already, though.
I looked up at the sky. The outside truly was beautiful. And finally, I was at peace. Indeed, it was peaceful. Finally, free from suffering. I could now finally walk wherever I wanted. I could finally make them pay.
I can finally go and kill them. What a day!
That said, I still had no idea about anything.
“They really posted a guard post to this place, huh?” I asked. And the death knights quickly rushed towards me.
The man, Gavin, was the one who answered. “Yes. It was an order from the Hero Emperor Kiran himself.”
My ears perked. “Did you just say Emperor?”
“Yes.”
I was quite surprised. Last I remembered, there was no empire nearby. “What happened to the Aspila Kingdom?”
“After the demon king’s defeat, the old king relinquished his throne and gave it to the current emperor. And thus, the once Aspila Kingdom was renamed to the Alaion Empire.”
How narcissistic are you to rename a nation after your own name?
“I see. The demon king has been defeated.” Then that could mean the heroes were already at their full potential. But still, that didn’t mean they hadn’t improved even after that. “How many years has it been since the demon king’s defeat?”
“He was defeated three years ago.”
“Wait, what year is it?”
“... Actually, the calendar was changed and reset by the emperor after his coronation. Now it’s year 4 of the Alaion Calendar. The Demon King was defeated in the Continental Year of 218, also the year the calendar was changed.”
We were summoned in the year 215, and I was also sacrificed in the same year. It was only like a couple of months since the summon and I was already killed. But it took them three years to defeat the demon king, huh?
“So I’ve been trapped in that cave for six years?”
“So it would seem, Mistress.”
“What really happened in there, master, if I may ask?” Avelyn said.
“... They sacrificed me to save themselves. As I saved their lives, it is my right to take it back.” I walked towards one of the buildings, it would be nice to hide under the shade of a decent place for shelter. “Tell me more about the heroes. How many are left here in this world?” It was certain that some of my classmates died during the war.
“Twenty six heroes survived after the war,” Gavin answered.
“Are they all still in this new empire?”
“I’m aware of some, yes. The rest left for the other nations, or went independent.”
I paused. “We were promised that we could come back home once we defeat the demon king. Is there no one that returned home? To our original world.”
The three looked at each other.
“None to our knowledge, Mistress,” Gavin answered. “There was no grand ceremony for any departure, but I’m quite certain that some of the surviving heroes left the empire. Elyscia, do you know anything about it?”
Elyscia shook her head. “There was no event such as returning the heroes to their world. If it did, my family should have known about it. Returning the heroes home would be a major event.”
That was strange… Were we lied to? That we could come back? I mean, that’s how it goes in tv shows and stories we got back on Earth. Because it turned out it was impossible to come back or too difficult. Or perhaps the answer was simpler as to why they remained here. They simply liked it here. Who wouldn’t? They have power. And back on Earth they’d be normal, insignificant people.
I was hoping that the war was still going on, to make it easier for me. But this works too, as they were still here. Would have been embarrassing if I wanted revenge and they were no longer here. But then again, I had already expected some wouldn’t leave, not with all the power they have. Besides, if they left the world, I’d chase them down to the other.
“I see. I would like to learn more about the state of affairs.” I looked at Gavin. He was the eldest and was in the highest position among the knights. He might be the most reliable in this type of thing.
“Certainly, Mistress.”