Chapter 60: Death again?
The moment Kiel realised that the number of people still alive and the number of deceased people didn't match up, a sudden chill ran down his spine.
For a moment it felt like his still tingling instincts were not because of excitement but because something was wrong with the situation here. And it didn't take a genius to figure something was wrong here if you are just even a little observant.
Kiel gulped for a moment. Maybe it was time to run away? But the moment he considered running away, he could feel a whisper consoling him. 'No don't run away! Feel the excitement running through your spine! Feel your real self after so long!'
His heart skipped a beat. It was definitely strange. There was no sound or voice yet it definitely felt like one. However, it felt like the voice was his. And it felt damn creepy to feel your own voice.
And what was even more strange was it didn't even feel like a voice at all, just some random thoughts? Pure creepiness!
But whatever it was, it stirred up an unknown feeling within him. Something that he has forgotten after a cozy time of five years. A familiar feeling of excitement and liberation?
And amidst the excitement, the fear of the unknown seemed to be simulating his nerves for excitement even more. His whole body was trembling. Excitement or trauma?
But whatever it was, it felt like Kiel could get away from this situation. It was like power was oozing from his very self and he could achieve anything.
A fireball came hurling down at him with great speed amidst his contemplation. But Kiel's perception seemed to have been enhanced a lot in his current state. Although the heat was scorching and could be felt before reaching its objective, the direction and trajectory of the spell were quite easy to predict. Not only that, Kiel could feel a lot of information gathering inside his head about the possible ways to avoid the attack.
Kiel's mind seemed to be in a state of overload Tranquility from the moment he entered he killed his first person. He could process all the information accurately without a need for any time delay making him almost like a mini-computer?
However, the sudden influx of so much information was still extremely disorientating for him. So it was not all that of a good thing.
{A/N: Changed the name of Tranquil State to Tranquility}
All of this seemed to be going on for too long, however, Kiel just needed a moment to process such large amounts of thoughts as he simultaneously gauged the leader.
He was no idiot. He knew that he was mostly relying on the magic tool of the leader. If he really turned it off, he would lose a portion of his edge. So he had to finish it really quickly.
Seeing the approaching fireball he felt like he just had to choose the outcome he desired and he would get it. It was such a powerful feeling.
Though he felt powerful, the same power seemed to be telling him to stay away from the fireballs as even one could wreck him apart.
Following his instincts, Kiel just influenced his weight, gravity to a tree closely on his right hoping to get across the danger.
*thud*
But unlike expected, he just collided with the tree after experiencing a roller coaster ride in a blink.
Obviously knowing what to do and doing it were two different things. And with so much information, sorting out the really important ones was a hefty task.
'Hehe… that hurt. Looks like I can work better in control. But nonetheless, it was thrilling and interesting very interesting! This feeling! I have not felt anything like this after my death."
Kiel knew it felt like a maniac to utter these words. But it was genuinely how he was feeling. He could feel his mind spin for a bit. But instead of feeling pain, it felt more like a stimulus for excitement. Even the hairs on his body we're standing up all along. The weird grin had actually never left his face.
But that was not all. The first fireball was just an outset. A cannonade of fireballs continued on after the first one that came after him. But Kiel was still unfazed. He dodged it again. With just two tries he had assessed the way much better than his first try.
'Looks like this one is a tough nutshell. But these mages can't do a thing in close combat fight. So if I get closer, this one would have the same outcome'
And evading only was never going to be enough. If the shadow mage or the other emissary joined in the fight it would truly get out of his hands. However they had still not joined in, so he had to finish this one quickly too.
So he had to think of an even crazier idea to get him quick. And craziness was what he was best at. Shifting his gravity around the fireball to use the momentum of the easily predictable balls of glowing ember, he manoeuvred around them.
And again and again, he shifted to just around the ember and accelerated again. The moment he would change positions, a fireball would scorch the ground he was at previously. A moment late and Kiel would have been scorched. Luckily he was not.
It felt like playing a computer programmed game with his life on the line. Compared to how cautious he had been acting in this life, this somehow felt like him from his past life.
He easily passed the dead fire zones calculating the trajectories skillfully. Even though it was his first time doing something like this, Kiel felt like he had a second brain or something like that helping him do all the calculations.
"What are you doing? Rip that fucking brat to pieces! That trash couldn't even defeat a little brat and they call themselves Blood Orchid! If you can't kill him, don't think about living live too"
Kiel could hear the angry leader. But that was the last thing he would concentrate on now.
In the eyes of the emissary, Kiel was missing everything by a lucky dodge. But too much of luck was impossible. So even the emissary was astounded. And every dodge seemed to be more accurate than the previous ones. The boss was totally angry and it seemed that the little boy was learning with every step he took.
"Damn this kid! Are all the kids becoming such tough nuts now?"
The emissary also figured out that he should go all out and not underestimate the kid. Otherwise, he too would be like his two colleagues.
Just in two or three seconds, Kiel covered the distance between him and the emissary who had been barraging him with fireballs. He could see the shocked gaze of the person as he tried to conjure more mana to strike down Kiel.
However, Kiel didn't give any chance at all. He influenced his own gravity to be pulled towards the emissary to have a very high-speed, much faster acceleration like before. And just in a blink, he appeared before the emissary. It was really amazing to see such speeds. Even Kiel felt a little dizzy after using this for so many times.
But people are still people. They are not idiots. They learn from failures and have a very high adaptation rate. Kiel thought that he got the emissary as he pointed his Stinger at his neck, however, at that moment he saw a wide grin on the emissary's face. And seeing that he knew…
Before even processing his whole thought, fire suddenly burst out from his chest propelling him out of Kiel's way. It was so fast and close that Kiel could only stare blankly at it. Even with his fast reactions, it was totally impossible to dodge.
He then cast another fireball towards Kiel instantly which he seemed to have previously prepared.
Kiel was stunned for a moment. He never predicted things to be like this. He would have finished this man here and used this gap of thoughts to attack the leader. But the man actually evaded it.
If the man just dodged Kiel would have counteracted with his heightened reflexes. However, the strong glare of fire hit him straight on the face, as he was too close to the man, dazing him in the process. But if it was a simple stun it would be not much and he would be prepared for the next move. However, the strong fire burnt the heck out of his face.
The man didn't seem to be a fighting expert, but it just seemed that he had already prepared the move in advance and Kiel just fell into the trap.
Kiel's face was totally charred due to the sudden strong fire. Usually, it would have hurt a lot. But for some reason, his pain receptors seemed to have not been working properly. Maybe because of the Battle Asura? Was that what the system called it?
Kiel thought that magic can only be cast with hands. Even in the Academy, no one taught him this way to use magic. So he was totally caught off-guard. Or it may seem, he didn't have much combat experience with magic. Awenasa had only taught him the sword. Not magic.
But if this was all, it would not have been much as the pain was not disturbing him. However, just as he came back to his senses, a fireball just hit him square in the chest. Even in the heightened sense, Kiel failed to perceive what just happened, as he felt a sudden force drill straight into his ribcage.
It was not possible to dodge anything like that without any prior reacting time. Kiel bore the full brunt of that attack and flew straight back crashing into a tree behind.
Such an attack came with even more devastating consequences. His skin and cloth melted together as it stuck closely to his skin prickling his senses to the extreme. It was one thing if it was just a wound. However, it felt like his whole body was burning even with the pain stopper.
His whole body seemed to be charred black. The whole thing looked so grotesque that looking at Kiel now seemed like looking at a human-shaped lump of meat. And to add salt to his cooked self…
[Beep… Internal injuries detected. Ribs numbered 3,4,5 broke down due to the sudden impact. Shrapnels of bones detected in lungs causing minor internal injuries. Liver impact detected. the heart is relatively unharmed.
Detecting Fourth-degree burns on the skin surface. Health is critical. Pain receptors on skin burnt to a critical degree. Unable to receive accurate details of the wounds.
Warning: Immediate medical attention is required!]
"Huh? What was that?"
Opening his eyes after the sudden smash, Kiel could feel his bones crack literally. And this time there was no more pain. He literally could not feel anything. He tried to stand up, but his body denied him the urge to move.
"Ya, that's the way! Burn the imbecile to ashes. Hehe! That felt amazing. Nice!"
Kiel heard the taunts of the leader, but it didn't matter now too. He was all fried up and when the skin is fried to more than 3-degree burn, sensation disappears causing irrecoverable injuries. Is this the state where it was in?
Was this the end?
Despite his body not reacting much to his thoughts, everything else seemed totally fine. His mind was still in high speed processing the lots of negative thoughts. Even his internals didn't feel much like something was suppressing his pain as a last resort to not lose consciousness. The sudden burst in his strength seemed foolish now.
Kiel felt like a broken kite whose string has just been caught. For a moment he felt like he could change the situation but it seems life doesn't always work in your way. And with the loss of ability came all the negative thoughts.
Wasn't it safer to just cooperate with the assassins? Maybe they were bluffing and if he cooperated they would just let him be. He could also provide them with enough new innovations. So why did he make such a foolish choice?
And now that he looked, isn't his whole life till now fluctuating? His choices, his life and even his mood seemed so volatile that it changed so every now and then. He based them on hormones. But was that really it?
If it was so why was he feeling such excitement now? Why the sudden feeling of liberation?
And how long has it been since he felt such liberation? In his past life, he had always been an adventurous fella. Not the travelling type though.
Betting his life even for the most minor experiments. But this life, after experiencing a happy go lucky life, a cosy family… Did he feel dull and stupid? How did he even become stupid? Did he just regress?
Who as a three-year kid visits the forest due to some provocations? Ain't he an adult mentally? The attraction to his family can be blamed on blood. But saving the princess stuff? Now that he was thinking about it, no matter how he looked it was definitely not a correct choice.
Why would he poke his nose into someone else's business? A general? Can the little girl really be one? Or is it fate deciding such actions? He could definitely get someone better. And is the little girl even worth it with all the trouble? It was more like foolishness than being adventurous.
He had always been crazy. If he had not been so, why would he play with a planet itself? But after being born although he was still the same, something felt totally different now.
Although it felt totally natural previously, now that he was in this weird state, Kiel was feeling that his previous self was just a fake. Like he was locked up in a cage and this was the first time he was really being him. Kiel felt that even if the past him was still him, somehow it was still not. Explaining was really a hassle as he himself didn't understand anything yet.
However, he could feel that the moment he could explain himself this queerness he was feeling, that day would be a real shock.
However, why was it feeling such now? Was it the effect of Battle Asura? Or was it the effect of near-death?
He could not get the real way out, but now he didn't care about death and any higher danger lurking around him.
[Beep… Hidden quest God's Challenge activated.
Reason: Battle Asura's activation sequence!
Details: … ↓
Requirements: Secure your PL-Soul Structure from the ??? effect. Gain more clues about ???
Penalty: Complete restructure of PL- Soul Structure. Curse of the Intruder will activate! ]
"Huh??"
This time he heard it quite clearly. Although he didn't understand most stuff, the words 'God's challenge' brought forth a set of hidden memories out of him. And with the hidden memories, some kind of fog seems to have disappeared from his consciousness.
"Hehe… so that was it? It was all a challenge? Hehe… you should never underestimate a God it seems! Sigh!"
Seeing the slow approaching steps of the incoming emissary, Kiel just felt like laughing. The system made it clear all his life was not hormones or his body compatibility that made himself into such a volatile idiot! It was that damn fucking challenge! And he literally had to blame someone now to get his grip.
Kiel just sat down there. No amount of urge to stand up helped at the moment. Not like the novels where willpower helped one stand. His neuron seemed to be unable to respond. However, he felt totally unresigned.
Why was it happening like this? Even if he made some wrong choices did he have to go through death?
The footsteps stopped. He couldn't even move his eyelids to look at the man, but he could feel his mocking gaze. For a moment he even thought of confronting the lurking danger. However, he could not even defeat a measly emissary, let's not talk about some higher-level being. It's death time!
.
.
.
The brain is a very unrealistic and impractical object proved by the science of the 22nd century. When the body is at its breaking point, does it work to its fullest?
Kiel also felt a similar rush. The adrenaline seemed to have not expired within him. Seeing death he got an even crazier idea. Why not take everyone with him if he was going to die?
'If this challenge cost me my life, I should at least take the challenge apart with me! That's fair too, isn't it?'
The gravity around him was way too concentrated. Although Kiel could not move, his mind was working. So he started compressing all the gravity around him. A mini compressed gravity well at the cost of his life. Didn't that sound like a fair trade?