Chapter 44: Minotaur Knight
Junk was on the verge of collapsing.
The lack of mana milk was getting to him again. This was a curse. This was a real punishment to be feeling like he was going to die if he didn't drink her witch's milk. The overall concept was relatively fun at first, but now it was truly a pain in the ass.
Junk was almost there. He could feel that he could make it if he kept going. Panting. Sweating his balls off. On the brink of getting a violent and fatal heart attack, he thought about everything he had accomplished in his life up to this point. Not much. Definitely not as much as I hoped to do once, but it wasn't too late. He could still make it and come back to his witch and make everything right. He just had to keep going in the dark and dusty stairs he was descending to access the crypt in the tower. At one point, the Minotaur tripped and fell down these stairs as he tried picking up in pace. A bad mistake. He ended up on his butt. And this thick armor he was wearing weighed a ton. Sure, this Minotaur was strong, but not anywhere strong enough to make it easy to be wearing and carrying this armor when he was dead tired, such as now. Still panting, Junk desperately tried getting back up on his feet. The task was much harder than he originally thought it was going to be. He tried once, fell down again. He tried again, fell down one more time. He continued panting. His heart kept beating way too much and way too fast that it should be.
So, this is what it is to have a heart attack? It hurts like hell. Well, if I am going to die now, I am at the right place at least, he thought, mentioning the fact that this place was the crypt portion of September's tower. He was almost down the stairs. Almost there. But still not quite, unfortunately. The next step would be to begin crawling to fully make his way to the crypt, but he wasn't really prepared to do something like this just yet. Although, the thought clearly traversed his mind. Would he really have to crawl?
You think to yourself that you are ready to die, yet, you didn't even completely make it to the crypt where you could rest in peace, that voice, that mysterious voice came back to him. It hadn't spoken to him in days. Yet, it was back. It came back to him.
Is that you again? You've come back to my mind? Junk asked the mysterious voice in his head. Doing so as she held his head in pain.
I never left your mind, fake Minotaur, the voice told him. That mysterious voice was not just a ghost from the past. It was an entity that was active and could fully think of its own. Yes, it was just a voice, but it knew a lot. Enough to be calling a Minotaur made of flesh and blood, a fake one. This simply enraged Junk.
"Fake Minotaur? Why would you say something like this to me?" Junk was not amused by this title; he was called inside of his own head. The word: 'fake' echoed in his mind. It tormented him.
Because you are not a true Minotaur. A real one wouldn't be thinking about crawling in the stairs to find his tomb. Crawling to go die? No Minotaur has ever done that. You are the first. The only one. If you do something this low and puny, you don't deserve to be called a member of our noble species. If you do something like this, you don't even deserve to crawl to come to die in this crypt. You are not welcomed. Go back upstairs if anything. Go die in the same bed as your precious elvish slut. Come on, do it. Oh, that's right! You can't. You can barely walk on your four. You wouldn't be able to go back upstairs to her bedroom. This means that you will never be able to see her again, the mysterious voice tormented him some more and borderline bullied him.
"What did you just say to me?" Junk said out loud on the stairs. Finally, moving a bit. Changing from the crawling, almost fetus position he had been in for the last few minutes to be sitting on his four. Painfully rising from the ground. "What did you just say about April, you fucking asshole?" Junk continued replying to the dark voice in his head. He gritted his teeth. Rose from the ground more and more, until it looked like he was doing push-ups. But he wasn't. He was rising back to the top. "I dare you to say that again to me. Say something about April. Tell me that I am never going to see her again," he said as he continued rising from the ground.
You are never going to see her again if you die in these stairs, the mysterious, but coaching and challenging voice in his head repeated to him. Telling him the truth. Pushing him farther.
"Shut the hell up! I am going to see her again!" Junk screamed at the top of his lungs, absolutely furious and savagely enraged. Becoming a berserker more than ever. He rose from the ground until he could sit on his knees again. He sat on them as he shouted in the tower. "I'm going to bash his brains in for what he's done!" he continued screaming as he rose one more time from the ground. This time, the angered Minotaur fully stood up. He had found new energy. Even though it didn't involve any mana milk, he felt strong again. The mysterious voice in his mind shut up. It was almost as if it was gone. Leaving the Minotaur alone. Junk then ran down the stairs and finally entered the crypt. He was now in the same room he was in earlier during the original showdown with the hobgoblin. When she was banged by him. The chamber was still in a pitiful and alarming state. Many tiles on the ground had been broken, and the semen scent still filled the room. The odor of the semen of the hobgoblin. Junk continued his exploration of the crypt to find the item that he had been tasked by the former Witch Queen to find. Following her instructions as much as possible.
Eventually, the Minotaur found the ring chamber within the crypt. He knew it was the right place. He could feel it in his guts when he walked inside the room and discovered that only one person had been buried here. He saw a statue. The statue represented another Minotaur. The Minotaur was wearing the same armor he was wearing on his back right now. This left Junk completely stunned.
So, you found it. It was about time, the voice in his head said.
"Found what? You were waiting for me to come here?"
I was waiting for you to find me. Well… What's left of me anyway, the voice continued communicating more things into his mind. The words echoed in his soul. Junk realized what had happened. Without knowing about it or expecting, he realized that he had ultimately come here for one reason. The Minotaur had come here to pay his respect to another Minotaur. One with a lot more history than him. One who loved long before his time. One that was long gone from this world, but still remained here, in his mind. A ghost of his former self. Lingering in the head of another Minotaur. Junk slowly walked up to the statue of the Minotaur, who was more or less about double his height. Junk knelt before him. Lowered his head. Closed his eyes. Waited a bit... Took a few seconds to recompose himself as he understood that he was here for a reason: Learning to become a better Minotaur by paying respect to the legacy that came before him. This was the place where he should have been all along.
"Did you die in multiple places or what?" Junk asked him.
What is that supposed to mean, Junk? The voice replied.
"I remember visiting your tomb in the cave ruled by the spider demon lord who is attacking us now. Were you buried there? Or here? It's difficult for me to understand," Junk was so confused.
Oh, that. I was originally supposed to be buried in the cave, but September moved my body here. She said she desired me closer to her, in her crypt. She mentioned this to me before my death, but I never actually thought she would do it. I'm not sure of the details. I'm not sure how she managed to pull this one off. Recovering my body must have been a difficult task to say the least. Especially if Araknar wanted to keep it for himself. I guess he was more preoccupied by my magical armor than my body. Hence, why she was able to recover my body and not my armor in the first place. I don't know. I haven't had the opportunity to speak to her for so long… the voice said about the witch and the aftermath of his death and. This left Junk stunned once more. He felt obliged to open his eyes and to stand up again. Looking up at the face of the ancient Minotaur who towered over him in the cold chamber of the crypt. He gritted his teeth before speaking.
"What? You knew September?" Junk demanded the voice.
I did. I was her Minotaur knight, the voice revealed to him.
"What the fuck is a Minotaur knight now?" he asked him.
It's a knight… Who also happens to be a Minotaur…
"That simple? Huh?" he said to himself.
Don't beat yourself over the head. From what I gathered, you came to this world without any guidance from any other Minotaur. You were on your own. Is that right? The ancient Minotaur asked.
"That's right. How do you know?" Junk replied to him.
I guessed. What do you know about Minotaurs outside the fact that we are beast men? The old Minotaur knight questioned him.
"Not much. I want to say almost nothing," he was honest.
I see. Minotaurs are not just beast men. We are direct descendants from ancient demons. We are actually a breed of devils. That is the reason why Minotaurs have been defending children of the Autumn for centuries at this point. That is the reason why I defended September Autumn with all of my soul. That is the reason why you have to guard her at all costs as always. Make no mistake. She is a lot more powerful than you. That's a fact. She almost always has been stronger than me as well. It's just how it is. But you have to make sure she makes the right decisions. You have to make sure that you guide her in this labyrinth that is life. The magical powers of the Autumn witches are directly linked to us and our demonic heritage. You are important, Junk. You matter. You have to protect her.
"Protect her? Dammit. She is right outside the tower. Battling on her own.
It's okay. Like I said, she can handle her own. But I remember that you've come here for a reason. She sent you here for a reason. Right? The voice asked him.
"Yes. That's right. The weapon," he was reminded.
There it is, the voice said to him, right at the exact moment a pillar of granite swiftly erupted from the floor. In front of Junk. The pillar then opened up and something was waiting for him inside. It opened up like a chest almost.
Inside, there was his weapon…
A bronze double-sided battle ax.