William was limp on the ground. Tears swelled in his eyes. The pain of losing an arm wasn't the cause of it, but the loss of a comrade, someone who he deemed a friend. Regardless, both were taken away by the same individual. The one who stood before him, pointing the tip of his spear at the blacksmith's forehead.
"…"
The silence was dreadful, to the point where William could hear his racing heartbeat and the blood dripping from his shoulder. His teeth chattered as he braced himself to meet his end, but the man with the spear stood still, examining the blacksmith.
William grew impatient. He wanted it to be over quickly. Waiting for it to happen was worse than death itself.
"Just kill me dammit!"
"Why?"
The blacksmith's eyes opened wide, "What do you mean by "Why"?! Weren't you about to kill me?"
"I was."
"Then, what the hell?"
"Why are you mad about it? You're acting as if you want to die."
"I wasn't…" William gritted his teeth.
"I was planning to take you out the moment you stepped inside, but that was before I noticed you possessed an amazing gift."
"What are you talking about?"
The man lowered his weapon, "Why do you act like you don't know? Ever since you stepped in, my pets have been craving that power you have. I didn't know why, but now that I see it, that I feel its presence within you, understand."
The blacksmith felt a drop of cold sweat rolling down his face, "I… don't know what you mean."
"Don't play coy. You have a wonderful gift. This could have only been given by that being. You were chosen." The tattooed man put his palms facing forward with the index and thumb fingers touching each other, forming a triangle. He began to murmur some sort of prayer.
"This is messed up."
William slowly dragged himself backwards, away from the man until he hit a wall. He felt his hand touching a puddle. When he looked away from the man, he noticed it was a puddle of blood, specifically, Olivia's blood.
There was no corpse. The impact was so strong that it broke the body into multiple chunks of flesh. The wall was smeared in blood with fragments of scattered organs sticking to it. The blacksmith couldn't hold it in and vomited at sight.
—I'm so sorry Olivia. I'm such an incompetent human being. It's all my fault.
William's strength to push forward was gone the moment Olivia had left this world. It crushed him to see another person die by his actions.
—This is too much. I just want to die—
"Do you want to know where the boy is?"
The question caught William's breath, "Are you talking about Nicolas?"
"He's a very powerful being, although very underdeveloped. He could serve as a great appetizer if negotiations go south."
The blacksmith gritted his teeth, "Like hell you will! Tell me where he is—?!"
The spear dug deep into the blacksmith's remaining arm, "Careful, you won't want to lose the arm you have left. Impatience can get you killed, you know?"
The man screamed in agonizing pain, "Who the hell are you?!"
The man extended his arms wide, "I am the keeper of this place. If someone dares to enter, I must kill them on site. Although, I might make an exception for you, but only if you join me."
"What could make you possibly think I would join you?"
"You sensed it too, don't you? You felt its presence the moment you stepped in. Didn't you hear the voice when you were in the garden?"
The man's eyes opened wide, "I— What are you talking about? Everything that comes out of your mouth doesn't make sense!"
"I see… You keep acting coy."
The tattooed man walked around the blacksmith, "Just like you, I was chosen. I was gifted with newfound strength. It even helped me find my pets... Come out."
With the snap of his fingers, the earth trembled. The walls and the ceiling looked like it were about to close in on them, but then they came out.
"What the hell…"
Six serpents crawled in from all directions and placed themselves behind the tattooed man.
"I assume you've seen them around. These are my pets. They follow my direct orders. As you can see, with them, I have eyes everywhere. I've seen your every move. Want to or not, you don't have much of a choice unless you want to die—"
"—All this time... It was you."
The deaths the blacksmith had witnessed, even his own death, were done by none other than that person. All the running, the plans that didn't go through, the doubts that came within him about not being able to save anyone were all because of him.
"All the cuts and bruises that I've gotten, all the comrades I left behind and the ones that I've seen die. I've even manipulated people for my own gain. You brought out the worst in me. All the troubles that I had to go through these past hours have been all because of you! I've never in my life thought this about anyone, but you deserve to die!"
"Hm? Do you really mean it? Even with all the disadvantages, do you still want to face me? Isn't that a death wish?"
"I'm not afraid of death." The blacksmith stood up, "I may have become trash, but you're the worst kind of all. You need to meet your end."
William no longer felt the pain of his injuries. His skin was halfway turning gray. His right eye's iris was red, and its sclera turned black. The strands of his hair were the darkest black. Bloody red lines scattered across his body and his remaining hand developed sharp claws. At first sight, he couldn't be mistaken for anything other than a demon.
"The power that was gifted to you is beyond my expectations. No doubt about it, it couldn't have been gifted by any other besides the Devine one."
"Die, die, die!" The blacksmith repeated.
The person that was once in front of him was gone. What was rampaging towards him with bloody tears was nothing but an empty shell filled with bloodlust.
It raced towards the tattooed man, but no matter how many times it tried to dig its claws on to him, the spear would get in between them and blow him back. Despite the speed and strength that the creature held, its attacks were uncoordinated and sloppy. It was very easy for the tattooed man to dodge. It ran on the walls to get momentum, but the creature slipped on the blood and organs of the woman.
"Hm? What's this?" The tattooed man chuckled, "I see... All that strength and you can't control it."
"Die, die, die!"
"Very well, I suppose this will be your end."
The tattooed man spun around his spear and threw it towards the creature that was coming his way. The creature blocked the spear with its arms, and before it knew it, the tattooed man's fist was already on its face. The impact threw the creature back against the wall, causing a crack.
"What a waste."
The creature was on the floor unresponsive. Its body slowly returned to the human that it was before. The tattooed man took this opportunity to be done with the fight. He called out his spear and aimed at it.
"Goodbye, blessed one—hm? You're still wondering around these parts?"
A man with red hair approached him, he fixed his glasses and smirked, "—So, this is where you were. It was really troublesome to track you, Sir William."