Chapter 5 - Life after Death

Gabriel was stabbed in the chest many times before being tossed off a cliff. Unfortunately, he had died before he was even tossed. Even as he was being stabbed, again and again, his vision turned dark, and his breathing stopped entirely.

The entire world turned dark for Gabriel... He never expected to see the moon's beauty again... He couldn't see Maya ever... He was going to leave this world.

Even as he died, there was only one thought in his head. It was how his words had come true. He had spoken about this being their last dinner together. Those words couldn't be truer since this was his last day on earth, or so he thought.

The world, which had turned dark again, started gaining some light. All the pain was gone as well. Gabriel opened his eyes, noticing he was at the bottom of the cliff.

However, as he gazed down, his expression changed. He could see his dead body lying in the distance in his own blood.

He raised his hands, noticing they were see-through now.

"I am a spirit..." He said, soon realizing what had happened. His dead body was right before his eyes. If he was looking at it, that could only mean he was dead.

He noticed a stream of his blood moving toward a black book in the distance. Curious, he tried stepping closer to the book to see what it was, only to be forced back by some mysterious force. It was as if there was some Mysterious Barrier around the book which prevented him from closing in.

At the same time, he heard some strange noises coming from the back, breaking the eternal silence of this place.

He slowly turned around, wondering if there was another person there. Unfortunately, it wasn't a person who stood behind him.

As soon as he turned back, Gabriel noticed a ghastly figure that appeared to be made purely of Darkness. It was like a hooded figure which had no face at all.

The strange Spector was holding a pitch-black scythe in his hand, observing the Spirit of Gabriel.

Gabriel couldn't help but take a step back in fear as soon as he saw the figure. It was like the Grim Reaper had arrived to take his spirit back to the nether.

The Spector floated closer and closer to Gabriel, carrying his scythe. Before long, Gabriel found his movement to be restricted again. He couldn't move anymore. Instead, it was as if something was pulling his body toward the Spector.

As the Dark Spector reached within arm's reach of Gabriel, it raised its scythe and swung it.

Gabriel closed his eyes, horrified. Unfortunately, even as he waited for the tormenting pain of his soul being destroyed, nothing happened.

The link between him and the book was completed through the blood bond. Heavy winds started flowing as soon as the bond was completed.

The Spector turned to the pitch-black book before turning to the Spirit of Gabriel. It slowly disappeared as if it was never there.

Gabriel waited for a few seconds for his head to be sliced, but nothing happened. He slowly opened his eyes, only to find the Spector was nowhere to be seen.

Abruptly, his body started being pulled back by some Mysterious Force.

He turned around in fear, believing the Dark Spector was behind him. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case either. His body wasn't being pulled by any Spector. Instead, his body was being pulled toward his body.

He didn't know what was happening, but he trusted his gut feeling and stopped resisting. His spirit was pulled back into his body.

****

An unknown amount of time had passed before Gabriel finally made some movement. If there were anyone else here, they would've been horrified to see a dead person move, who was stabbed multiple times in the chest and was tossed a thousand meters off a cliff.

Anyone would've been long dead by now, so it seems absurd, even the thought that someone could've survived the fall.

The bright sun had started rising in the sky, filling the world with much-needed warmth and light.

As the light fell on the body of Gabriel, it revealed a wonderful young man who seemed like he was sleeping peacefully. There was no wound on his body. If his bloodied clothes were to be ignored, no one could have guessed that he was ever hurt, let alone killed.

The only difference he had now compared to before was that he seemed a little paler now.

Gabriel came to his senses. His headache was gone. He could also feel his body perfectly fine. There was no pain anywhere. Gentle winds brushed against his skin.

"Was I dreaming everything?" He slowly opened his eyes, giving his blurry vision a chance to recover.

Unfortunately, he didn't even need to completely open his eyes to realize that this wasn't a dream. If it were a dream, he would've been on his soft bed right now, but he could feel some stones stabbing against his body. He was on a rough surface.

Opening his eyes, he noticed the top of the cliff. He remembered everything and realized it wasn't a dream. He was actually killed and tossed off a cliff. "Did that mean the Dark Spector I saw was also...?"

"How am I still alive then?" He observed his chest and saw the holes in his shirt, but there was not a single wound on his body.

To hide his eyes from the direct sunlight, he raised his right hand and tried to give some cover to his eyes. However, as he did that, the back of his right hand came into his view, surprising him.

He could see a strange new mark on the back of his hand. It was the mark of two black scythes, making a cross. Even though he didn't understand what this mark implied significantly, the dark color of the mark was evident of what element it was.

"I've seen the Dark Element Markings in the books. This isn't how they look. But the color... It's undoubtedly black. What..."

He observed his left hand. His old Symbol of the Holy Element of Light was still there. "Impossible! Two elements? Light and Darkness? This doesn't make sense. Light and Darkness are even more conflicting than water and fire! Moreover, no one has two Elements, as far as I know! So how is this possible?"

He also appeared somewhat disappointed. If there were anyone who had awakened two elements, they would've been ecstatic. Even he would've been happy if the second Element was anything other than the Element of Darkness.

The ones who awakened the Element of Darkness were said to be the ones selected by the Devil himself to bring ruin to the world. They were hated all over the world. The Churches of Elements joined hands to destroy the Church of Dark Magic centuries ago, and since then, the Dark Magicians were hunted openly whenever one was discovered.

The Church of Holy Light also awarded citizens massively if they gave them the information about Dark Mages! This Element! It was a nightmare for him.

He couldn't believe he had awakened the dark element that was hated all around the world! If someone found out, he was going to be killed... Again.

Moreover, with this Element, even if he went to someone and told them what was done to him at night, not only were people not going to believe him, but they were also going to try to kill him if they saw his new Element!

" Both these Elements are contradictory to each other! How can they both exist with the same person? And why me?"