As the crowd surged back and forward, Norman found himself in the middle. Magic was thrown around haphazardly amongst the sea of people. Citizens, guards, and contestants alike began finding themselves hurt, if not killed.
Norman narrowly avoided a stray fireball that had been launched into the crowd. He turned back with widened eyes as scorching fragments launched everywhere when it impacted the street. Instantly, a dozen people were vaporized and many more injured.
"Ahhh!"
At the same time, a man had just walked in front of Norman as a chunk of fire was about to hit him. The man fell to the ground with a yell as he desperately clawed at his chest, trying to dig the strange fragment that hit him out.
He felt his finger's quickly charring and his consciousness fade.
Norman stood motionlessly in the sea of men and woman. His head grew dizzy and he lowered himself to the ground.
He held his head as the stranger who caught the fire fragment sat lifelessly in the cobble street, less than a foot from Norman. His lifeless eyes stared into the sky as people carelessly stepped onto his body.
"Brother?"
The street quickly grew silent and only a whisper remained.
"Brother… where are you?"
Norman looked up from the ground and saw everyone in the streets had frozen. Various small particles could be seen floating in the air, rooted in place, growing in size all the way to people hitting each other. Not a single thing was free from the eerie stillness.
"Brother?"
Past all the bodies, Norman could see a small body weaving through the crowd.
"Where are you?" The young child sang out, while searching for someone.
"Connie?" Norman muttered in fear.
"Brother?! W-where are you!" When she heard her name, her lips trembled and she raised her voice, desperately calling for him again.
Norman raised himself hesitantly before quickly turning. He shoved himself past the bodies urgently, running from his sister.
"Brother!" Connie saw the fleeing Norman and began chasing after him with a smile.
Norman saw this and quickened his pace, his heart pounding against his chest. He squeezed through more bodies, but they were getting more and more packed.
"Brother! It's me! I'm here!" Connie yelled, her voice slightly quivering.
Norman frowned deeply to stop himself from crying.
"Why don't you love me?" Connie whimpered as her steps came to a stop.
Norman looked behind him to find his little sister crying, staring him deeply in his eyes. Norman opened his mouth to try to speak, but his throat closed.
He couldn't get the words out he desperately wanted to say, so he pursed his lips in shame. He turned and started fleeing again.
"Please don't leave me. Not again. Please, please don't! Brother! Please!" She quickly chased after him, her pleading getting louder as the tears freely flowed down her cheeks.
Norman found the people's bodies closing, the gaps getting smaller and smaller. He continued pushing through, but his sister nimbly cut through them.
As she got closer and closer, Norman pushed harder and harder. That's when he saw him.
He never understood this place. But he could always feel the escape instinctively in his mind. He wasn't sure why, but it always gave him the answer he needed. Whenever he found the answer, he'd be back in the real world.
But the answer this time was that contestant from before. A pale man, with an undercut and slicked back hair. His clothes were old, and he had two paper tags hanging from his ears.
He didn't even know his name, but he needed to get to that man.
He pushed the bodies apart, even though they didn't want to move.
Just as he reached out to the man, he hesitated. He looked back to find his sister slumped onto the ground with a pale face, with a hint of blue in it. Her eyes stared at Norman and she tried reaching out to him.
A small trail of crimson trickled from her nose as she whispered, "I miss you."
"I'm sorry." Norman whispered back as he grabbed onto the man's shoulder.
Death was something Auclair was very familiar with. Despite being the god of it, he himself had come close to it on a number of occasions. It was a rule that he had made a long time ago with the god of life.
No living creature shall exist once it's passed onto the next realm. Not even gods were free from the possibility of death.
But Auclair felt death right behind him. It was just as he had created it, nothing more, nothing less. If he let it touch him, he'd die at his current strength.
Auclair's instincts took over and he turned, grabbing the arm of whatever was about to touch him. He yanked it forward and gripped its head before slamming it onto the ground with the intent of crushing it completely.
However, right before he killed them, he noticed the face of that other contestant, the one who he kicked. He couldn't stop himself completely from slamming them against the street, but he did lessen the blow.
The result was the kid getting knocked out instantly. Auclair frowned.
Despite briefly knowing the person, he would've killed them had their threads of fate not continued. It meant his purpose had yet to be fulfilled and fate said that the kid still had good karma.
'Damn rules.' Auclair clicked his tongue in annoyance.
He was a god, he was supposed to keep the rules in check. He hated breaking them, but fate was a fickle thing sometimes. He usually only broke them in anger and it always brought repercussions.
Auclair thought for a moment as the chaos from nearby still roared on.
'The kid'll be trampled if I don't at least move him.' He groaned before picking Norman up.
As he did so, he began making his way to the tower in the distance.
'Soon, all the contestants will subdue the guards and citizens. Once that happens, they'll be free to chase after the king. Although undoubtedly, many have already begun the chase.'
As he thought that, a loud horn blew in the distance, then another, and another. Then dozens of the golden soldiers came rushing into the city square.
'This keeps getting better and better.' Auclair sarcastically thought.
Auclair weighed his optioned before slinging Norman over his shoulder and sprinting towards the tower.
Everybody in his way had their threads cut, causing Auclair to smile. He'd get there even quicker now.
He tore through contestants, guards, and citizens alike, arriving very quickly to the tower with a path of destruction in his wake.
The tower was in running distance, but there were at least two dozen soldier's stationed outside.
"Halt!"
"Freeze!"
Auclair saw the soldiers, but he had been preparing. Beyond just killing the guards last night for their hearts, he took any of the small knives they had.
He had a neat trick that most of the god's shared.
The body he was conjuring up wasn't his real one. It was just a fabrication, and as such, he didn't need it to function exactly the same way as a regular human's body would. He created two separate tracts in his body, one to digest hearts, which was the only thing he ate, and the other was to store things.
At that point, what better use is there for your stomach other than storage? His body also had some additional modifications.
A handful of soldiers pointed their spears at him from a distance and three broke off to arrest him.
The other soldiers guarding the entrance had to deal with the other contestants finally ending their fight and heading to the tower.
Auclair smiled as he reached into his mouth with his hand. The soldier's stepped back in confusion and fright, while Auclair kept his eyes staring at them.
A moment later, he grabbed three knives and showed a toothy grin.
'The reactions never grow old.'
He tossed the knives into their skulls and the three soldiers instantly collapsed to the floor. However Auclair's mood soured quickly as a thought rose to his head again.
'I'm still forgetting something.'
Auclair clenched his fist and strode forwards. The guards who saw the display of power resolved their wills and slowly approached Auclair, ready to strike with their spears.
Auclair rolled his eyes and started digging a knife out of one of the dead soldiers. He licked the blood.
"You're all disgusting." He spit the blood out that tasted like sewage with a contorted face.
"Completely inedible."
They ignored his words and one stabbed at him with a spear. Auclair grabbed it with an iron grip and yanked it from the soldier's hands. He twirled it before swinging it at their heads.
The soldier's collapsed to the ground with mushy stumps where their faces used to be.
'Much easier than my original fight with the guards. Weapons do seem to have their purposes, maybe warfare has changed too much since I've been gone.'
As he thought that he chuckled.
It didn't matter to him, he preferred killing with his hands, so he'd do it even if it was inefficient. He tossed the spear to the ground.
"Sis?"
Auclair heard a mumble from his back. He dropped Norman without a second thought and slapped him awake.
"H-huh?!" Norman's eyes widened and Auclair grabbed his face by the cheeks.
"What was that?"
"W-what?!" Norman was absolutely confused, one moment he's in the crowd and now he's being slapped by this guy.
"Answer me. What was that thing? I felt it on you, it had the strength to kill me."
"I don't know what you're talking about!"
"Then figure it out." Auclair said as he began squeezing Norman's head. Although fate was a pain in the ass, he was feeling rather heated.
'I'll deal with the problem later.'
"W-wait!" Norman groaned, he felt like his head was going to explode. "I remember!"
Auclair eased up slightly.
"It's my sister, I don't know anything more than that!"
"Your sister?" Auclair frowned.
"Yeah, its been happening since-"
"I don't care." Auclair cut him off and stood up. 'If its just that, its probably just a Regret, although I don't know of any that are that strong.'
"Make amends with her." Auclair said resolutely before turning and leaving. 'What a waste of my time.'
Norman watched Auclair with wide eyes as he walked away from him and headed into the tower.
"Make amends?" He muttered. Then he realized the apparent answer to all his questions was rapidly leaving him.
Norman jumped up from the ground with a splitting headache, but he pushed through it and chased after the man who he still didn't even know the name of.