The void began to become cooler as it chilled my entire body. The air began to feel tighter as it was harder to breathe. A voice came from all directions.
"Don't worry about Claire right now."
A cold hand was placed on my shoulder as I felt the pressure tighten as if a man was gripping me.
"Who are you?! Why am I here?! Is Claire okay?! Can you fucking answer me!"
Laughter pierced my ears from all sides as a familiar voice came from right in front of me.
"I just wanted to check on you Faust, I hope you didn't miss me too much. I have thought of some ideas that you may enjoy, I just wanted to run you through them."
I tried to look in front of me to find a figure, but all that was there was the colorless, dark, void.
"Baron, what do you want, and how did you get me here?"
"Well Faust, you know some people say that you are half dead when you are asleep. They aren't completely wrong with that statement. Anyways, as I said before I have some offers to give to you."
I gave a deep sigh as I closed my eyes and reopened them. I was still in the void, however, I was sitting in a chair in front of a desk with a dark-colored man with a luxurious suit and top hat and white face painting in the shape of a skull. He gave a sinister grin as he began to light up a cigar, puffing it in my direction.
"I can tell that you and Claire are having some stress being in the new world. Killing isn't meant for everyone and it may have been too much for either of you to handle. So I shall give you an option."
"What is the option, Baron?"
"I will release both of you from the death pact and you can return to your world. No more killing will be needed. You can smile and enjoy Earth yet again."
I glared at him, a little suspicious of his intentions.
"What is the catch to this, I don't think you would give this to anyone?"
"Well Faust, the catch is that Claire would be stuck in this world to fulfill the mission without you. It is an option to abandon the thing you hold most dear in exchange to return home. All of this will go away just like a bad dream."
I got up from the chair as an invisible floor held me up.
"No fucking way! I'd rather bear through everything with Claire than to ever abandon her! She is the only reason why I am okay with doing this!"
The Baron sighed as he stood up from his chair as well.
"I'm giving you a chance to cut your losses, Faust. You are a good kid, I know that you don't deserve any of this. You are a man who deserves better and I am willing to help you in the right direction for that."
"I don't care what I deserve! Claire is all I need to survive and she is the same way! We have lived together for the past three years, all in my life revolves around her! If I were to abandon her, she would crack as if her entire world would crumble. I am okay with being that tape to keep her from cracking! I don't need your offer!"
The Baron began to grin sadistically as he sat back down. He motioned for me to sit down as well, I followed his wishes.
"Are you to believe that this girl would never abandon you and see you until your mission's complete?"
"Yes. I have never been so certain about anything in my life."
The Baron took a deep inhale of his cigar before puffing it out again.
"True love."
He gave a snicker as he looked at the void.
"On another matter, I'll be making sure to check up on you after every step towards your success. Your first kill was sooner than I had expected. I do have to commemorate you on that, and so it is why I gave you this dream."
"Did you also give me the dream about the shielded gunner?"
"Of course, I wanted to test your innovation with your psychic power. You proved to have a very unique idea to solve that issue. To be fair there was no wrong answer. Your only objective was to take out the gunner. You passed your test."
"Was this just some sort of puzzle to give me a lesson to think outside of the box with my powers. The ability of pyrokinesis sounded just to be the manipulation of fire. However, it seems I can control how explosions or heat travel."
The Baron puffed once more from his cigar.
"Mhm. Anyways, that is the only lesson I'm going to give you. Do you have any questions before our meeting is done?"
"Yeah, just two if you don't mind me asking."
"Ask away Faust, can't promise I can give you a direct answer though."
"First question. Why did it seem like it was night throughout the entire day?"
The Baron shrugged.
"I am not all-knowing to this world. The night sky has been dominant in the day cycle for the past few years. At first, it freaked the denizens of the world, but they slowly became used to it. I will say, it is something that does correlate towards the apocalypse of the world. Once that starless night blanketed the entire sky, I began to detect the end of the world."
I thought more about the night sky however, I couldn't pinpoint why just yet.
"Alright, can I ask my one last question then?"
He motioned with his hand for me to go and ask.
"The way Rina worded some of her responses to us. It gave me the impression that we weren't the only ones sent by you to this world. Also, you wouldn't just have a dedicated secretary in a registry building for a one-time occurrence. Are there others from Earth in this world?"
The Baron widened his eyes as he gave a slow clap.
"It seems you are more observant than many others. To answer your question: Claire and you weren't the first ones I approached to solve this issue, nor the last ones I'll approach. I don't know how many people are required to stop an apocalyptic fate of this magnitude."
I remained seated as I processed all of this information. If multiple people other than Claire and I are in this world for the same reason, perhaps we could all work together to release our chains from the Baron.
"Anyways Faust, it was nice talking to you. I have to go. Farewell."
I then closed my eyes once more.