With Julius' clothes in tatters, I took off my cloak and concealed the five artifacts we currently had in our possession.
One and a half days had passed on Earth, and the sun was directly above our heads.
"Hey wake up, they are out", the police officers tasked with guarding the rift were startled by our sudden appearance.
"Salute, Officer Banglo reporting for duty!", the one that seemed to be in charge greeted us, thinking we were part of the Rift Task Force, and the others proceeded to do the same.
"At ease soldiers", Julius took the initiative and greeted the officers with an upright posture and deep voice.
"Did the mission go well?" the one named Banglo asked.
{Devil's Voice}"As you can see we succeeded in closing the rift, but due to your negligence in guarding the rift's entrance, a teenager walked inside and lost his life"
"A-ah t-this ... the previous group abandoned its post and still hasn't contacted us. I a-apologize, it will not happen again"
"Please leave that out of the report, we beg of you!", worried that this event would prove detrimental to their precinct if it were to be found by the media, the officers begged us to cover it up.
{Devil's Speech}"Don't worry, we all work for the government right? We should help each other"
-If only they knew the truth...
"Y-yes, thank you!!", bending their backs and bowing, they showed their gratitude towards the people responsible for the disappearance of their colleagues.
{Devil's Speech}"By the way, the warrant and our identification papers got destroyed inside the rift, should I contact headquarters for confirmation of our identities?"
"No that won't be necessary"
"How come there are only two of you?", one of the other officers asked, showing a hint of doubt.
~Slap
"You dimwit, think before you speak, they obviously suffered heavy losses", Officer Banglo slapped the young officer who asked the question and reprimanded him for his words.
"Please ignore him, have a nice day"
"Indeed I will"
"By the way..."
"Y-yes?"
{Devil's Voice}"You will forget all details about us"
"yes... we will"
-Easy...
Making up the story of a dead teenager and putting the blame on them was the perfect way to erase any suspicions they had of us.
And after gaining their trust by pretending to help them, I was able to instill a hypnotic suggestion and erase any memories of our appearances.
-Humans are indeed simple creatures.
"So what now?", Julius asked me.
"Now we need to find a way to sell the Drake Sword and acquire some capital"
Despite it being rank F and having only two remaining charges left, the fact that it could be brought inside a rift would be its main selling point.
-The question is, where do I sell it? The government? No, they will undoubtedly imprison me for breaking the law.
-Is there a black market for artifacts?
"But leave that to me, you should put priority in having a long bath. You reek of sweat and blood"
"Oh yes, you have a point"
...
Safely arriving home, I hid the precious artifacts under my couch.
With the exception of the Chains of Binding, which I gave to Julius as he seemed more proficient in using them, I was now in possession of one Rank F, two Rank D, and one Rank C artifact.
Opening the fridge to fill my empty stomach, I drank a 1-liter bottle of water and indulged myself in my favorite supply of carbohydrates, instant-noodles.
A couple of minutes of absolute silence ensued which allowed me to enjoy my meal in peace, before being interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps coming from the staircase that led to my apartment.
Annoyed, I focused my sixth sense in order to try and guess the identity of the unknown visitor.
A woman with a big belly, small stature, and the distinct smell of alcohol was now standing outside of my door and was about to ring the doorbell.
"Shit, not her again...", realizing the identity of the woman outside I tried to contain my disdain and not let her ruin this beautiful day.
~Knock Knock Knock
"HEY STUPID BRAT OPE...."
"What!?"
The startled drunk person in front of me was the ambassador of our neighbor to the district meetings, meaning she was responsible for reporting any issues of the neighbor to the district authorities and also in charge of managing the distribution of the electricity and running water based on a person's needs.
Of course, that meant that she could easily fabricate a reason to limit a person's water supply or spread nasty rumors about anyone who didn't comply with her demands, labeling innocent people as criminals and turning them into social outcasts.
This form of blackmail was her main source of income and because her brother was married to the leader of the district, neither the authorities dared to stop her nor the victims had the courage to press charges.
"Boy, you should watch your tongue around me .. hic"
With no regard to me watching, she took out an empty bottle of vodka and waved it around her head in an effort to drink one last droplet of alcohol.
"Shit...hic... it's empty"
"Now pay up, everyone else has already fulfilled their quota... hic"
The disgust I felt towards her couldn't be described by mere words and my desire to kill corrupted people like her had tempted me several times to commit murder in broad daylight.
-People like you deserve to die... and now I have the means to do what I should have done years ago
{Devil's Speech}"Ah yes the rent, I will gladly pay it, please wait here while I bring the money"
With steadfast resolve, I ripped some pieces of paper from my notebook and grabbed a bottle of bleach.
-Time to try out the effect of hypnotism on intoxicated individuals
{Devil's Speech}"Here is the money, and please allow me to refill your bottle as a token of my gratitude for your years of hard work for the community"
{Devil's Speech}"This alcohol has quite a strong taste and will purge all the bad things from your body"
"Oh dear, I didn't know you were so kind, thank you!!!", a rotten smile appeared on her face as I was filling her bottle with poison.
{Devil's Speech}"But remember, don't let others see you drinking it, they may get jealous and try to steal it from you"
{Devil's Speech}"I suggest you go home, lock the door, and drink the whole bottle at once"
"Correct! It appears youngsters these days know how to appreciate good booze, goodbye!!!!"
"Have a nice day..."
-In hell...
Although not knowledgeable in poisons, I had learned the effects of consuming bleach when I was trying to find ways to murder my uncle.
Upon ingesting small amounts of bleach, the target will experience immense pain from his throat being burned by the acid and will immediately stop consuming the hazardous liquid, thus making it unfit for the task.
But, under the effect of hypnosis, the victim's nerves will cease to function correctly, enabling the hypnotized individuals to drink the whole bottle in one go, melting them from the inside and giving them a death worthy of their corrupt personality.
And given the liquid's caustic nature and lack of any signs of struggle, no one will suspect of it being murder.
-A depressed woman with no social life and suicidal tendencies... that will be their conclusion
...
Since I had taken two days off from work, I had the entire day to test the limits of my skill and do some physical training.
Locking the doors and minimizing the amount of sunlight in the room, I positioned myself above a shadow and stretched my limbs before activating [One with the Shadows], expecting to undergo a transformation similar to that of Sven's [Ghostly Figure].
I couldn't have been more wrong...
~Hoosh
In an instant, the world itself stopped and I was swallowed by the shadows.
My surroundings becoming pitch black and the sensation of falling were the last things I experienced before plunging into the world of the unseen.
...
-Where am I? How much time have I been falling?
The ocean's deepest and darkest trenches could not compare to the darkness that surrounded me, and as time flowed, so did I continue to sink deeper and deeper into the endless abyss.
...
-Wake up... wake ... up...
Partially regaining my consciousness, I bore witness to the sight of my body slowly drifting away from my soul.
I tried to regain control, but it was of no use...
The farther it went, the colder I began to feel and the more my mind desired to let go.
Until I did let go, and both my soul and body ventured further inside the dark and cold bottomless ocean...
...
-WAKE UP I SAID!!
"Huf Huf Huf... I am awake!... I am alive? What was that!?"
Upon waking up, I found my body lying on the ground back in the safety of my room.
Numerous thoughts filled my mind as I began to doubt my memories and question my sanity.
"But it felt so real... it can't be...am I going crazy? Is this even real?"
In an effort to pour cold water on my face, I placed my hand on the ground and tried to get up.
What took place afterwards answered all my questions and gave me all the proof I needed to conclude that everything that I had experienced was no hallucination.
My hand, instead of coming in contact with the floor, was able to interact with the shadow that was cast on top of the floor tiles.
As if the shadows were trying to get my attention, they were emitting an alluring dark aura and trying to make me join them.
"You seriously expect me to go back in there?"
"Hell no!"
My head being dizzy and my mind drowsy, pondering on what just happened would only worsen my condition.
-I need to go for a run and clear my thoughts
...
"Pant Pant"
My breathing was steady and my heart rate was stable, but my mind was not calm, if anything, a panic attack suddenly occurring would be a very probable scenario.
-They won't stop appearing will they?
No matter where I was, the unique black aura could be felt in any shadow, be it a tall building's, a small dog's, or even a human's.
But not in my shadow... 'It' remained lifeless... as all shadows should be.
As if they were stalking me, I realized that running away from them was not possible.
After long contemplation, I concluded that something must have changed in my body upon using the skill, allowing me to see and feel all the shadows that were in close proximity to me.
-I need to try this again, I won't be able to sleep unless I determine their nature.
...
Arriving at home without any visible signs of exhaustion from running three kilometers, I sat down on the ground and prepared myself for another trip to the place that one would only see in his worst nightmares.
-Here we go then
~Hoosh
As expected the black aura emanating from the shadow expanded and tried to engulf me.
-If it wants me to be one with the shadows to enter their world, then I will gladly become one of them...
Copying every detail I could make out, I tried my best to mimic the shadow's unique characteristics, and applied them to my own aura.
In the world's eyes, I was no different than those things that were hiding in the other world.
And so, I made my way inside the realm where only remnants of the outside world existed.
A place where no man had ever reached before.
...
Upon completely entering the black ocean, I became aware that this place was not as empty as it seemed.
A mysterious entity was undoubtedly residing inside the abyss, hiding from the outside world and existing only where there was no light.
-Strange...
Despite having all my senses heightened with my magi, only my sixth sense was functioning properly.
In a world where up and down were the same, it acted as my guide and became the anchor that tied me to reality.
By using it to peer into the outside world, it was now possible to navigate through the dark, which allowed me to stand as far away as possible from the abyss that surrounded me.
Similar to a child swimming close to the shore, for it is afraid of the monsters in the ocean, so did I, stay close to the borders of the outside world and the abyss, for fear of whatever was lurking deeper.
-I better not meddle with the other residents for now...
In the beginning, moving inside a replica of the outside world was quite confusing, as without the effect of gravity, walking along the walls and ceiling of my apartment was now my new reality.
As long as I didn't lose focus, any action I took with my body in this mirror world and thus my shadow in the real world, didn't place any significant strain on my muscles, and without the limitation of my weight, the speeds I could reach were setting a new definition in the word 'fast'.
Bewildered at my new abilities, I failed to ignore the speed at which my magi was drained while remaining there.
-Holy shit that's fast
And considering that I was also spending magi to camouflage my aura, the estimated time I could currently stay here was about 15 minutes.
Given that my max running speed was about 52 kilometers per hour, if Ι were to triple my agility, I could probably exceed the 90 kilometers per hour mark.
But now was not the time to ponder about such things.
-I need to get a hold of myself, practicing to use it in real combat is more important
Therefore I practiced moving around my small apartment, appearing and disappearing in only fractions of a second, and getting accustomed to the horizontal and inverted movement.
...
My magi being close to depleting, I decided that it was time to take a break from training and headed to relax on the couch.
On top of the small table next to it was my phone, which had a flashing light, indicating that someone had recently called me.
Alas, one of the disadvantages of being in shadow form, was that because there was no air inside the abyss, there existed no means that could transfer sound, and thus I was practically deaf while using the skill.
Grabbing my phone and looking at the missed calls, Julius' number appeared, which was definitely not something I was expecting.
Apart from that, a notification that I had received numerous messages appeared in the background but seeing that the number was unknown, I chose to ignore them.
-It's probably spam, I will check it later...
-I should call Julius and see what he wants
...
"Hey Julius, what's wrong?"
"Jay... you may want to look at the news... some serious shit happened while we were away"
-For Julius to say something like that... what could have happened?
Grabbing the remote controller and opening the old TV, the headlines that appeared caused me to forget every detail of our successful mission and bite my lips in frustration.
"This ..."
Among the numerous titles, one stood out over the rest.
[Giants have invaded the Earth]
....