Rewind to about an hour prior or so, Lenier was waking up from his nap.
He refreshingly stretched his arms and yawned, hopping off the bed to start the new day.
"Oh right, today's the day that Nile's doing his thingy or whatever. If I remember correctly, he told me to wreck shit up and free everyone."
Lenier grinned, excited to get to work.
He spent around five minutes doing a morning warm up, bending his knees, swinging his body from side to side, making sure all his muscles were ready to go!
Now he was ready to cause some chaos.
His cell was locked by a massive and thick steel door, but Lenier just walked through it like a ghost.
As Lenier was contemplating what to destroy first, he suddenly remembered something important.
"I almost forgot! I need to free Lyla and I guess everyone else as well. If I don't, they might get hurt when I start breaking things."
Lenier glanced around, locating Lyla's location, and went in a straight line directly towards it.
Lenier popped his head into a small room that looked to be some kind of fancy technological room.
Screens plastered the walls, machines and tools and tubes were scattered throughout the room.
In the corner of the room, was a large glass capsule filled with a strange dark liquid… and submerged inside of that liquid, was Lyla.
There were big metallic tubes roughly stabbed into her body and were connected to some other machinery that Lenier didn't care about.
Her body seemed like it was being weakened and becoming increasingly frail as the energy was forced out of her body.
Her eyes were slightly open as her mind was in a state of half consciousness, unable to rest due to the chemicals in the liquid, but also unable to function properly due to exhaustion.
Lenier flicked his finger, shattering the glass and caused the liquid inside to burst out in an instant.
Lyla immediately flopped down and fell straight into Lenier's arms.
Her body twitched as the sudden shock seemed to startle her brain back awake.
A dark miasma abruptly burst from her body and tried to suffocate Lenier.
It seemed to have been an uncontrolled automatic reaction from the cursed powers inside of her, trying to harm everyone around.
But obviously, to Lenier, it was nothing more than a puff of smoke.
"There, there… I know you've been through a lot, but don't worry, you're safe now."
Lenier spoke in a gentle voice, softer than he had spoken before, soothing the girl in his arms as he stroked her hair.
Lyla's entire body trembled as she somehow managed to tilt her head upwards to stare at the one holding her.
Her dull murky black eyes stared up at him, devoid of any and all life.
"From now on, you're free. You won't be trapped here anymore."
She had been tortured her entire life by everyone she had ever met, Lenier didn't expect her to believe him with a few mere words.
But unexpectedly, something seemed to flicker in her eyes as she stared up at him.
Lenier tilted his head.
"Hm. I'm suddenly getting a feeling of déjà vu, have I done this before?"
He didn't exactly remember the details, but he had a feeling that this had already happened before, or at least something similar.
He shrugged.
"Let's get you out of here, shall we?"
Even though Lenier had healed her, Lyla still wasn't in a condition to be able to walk on her own, so he carried her.
While in Lenier's arms, Lyla felt her consciousness start to slip into a more comfortable place, as her eyes grew heavy and slowly closed.
For the first time in a long time, Lyla naturally and peacefully fell into a deep sleep.
Lenier made sure to not to make any big movements as to not wake her up.
He intended to carry her outside to somewhere safe, before heading back inside and continuing his job.
However, as he walked down the corridor, Lenier suddenly spoke aloud.
"I don't mind if you try to kill me, but can't you see she's sleeping? Would be quite rude to wake her up. Can it wait until later?"
Lenier continued walking for a bit in silence until several assassins appeared around him.
They were wearing the same uniform as Nile, implying that they were of the same rank as him.
"If I had nickel for every time it looked like I was alone, but when I spoke up and assassins suddenly appeared from the darkness, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice."
The assassins ignored Lenier's remark.
"Orders from higher ups, we're here to stop you."
"We can't talk this out?"
"Too late for that."
The assassins stealthily readied their weapons, hidden but ready to use.
They were originally going to ambush Lenier but didn't expect him to notice their presence.
However, they were confident even in a direct confrontation.
Lenier used some of his magic to allow Lyla to gently float in the air beside him so she wouldn't be bothered by the fight.
With that taken care of, Lenier took a step forward towards the assassin to initiate combat.
He didn't move quickly, just at an average walking pace, and when he felt close enough, Lenier raised his hand and swung it at the nearest assassin.
The assassin reacted immediately by leaning back, causing Lenier's hand to fly through the empty air.
"You think such a slow attack would do anything?"
Lenier giggled and raised something up.
"I got your nose! Haha!"
He wiggled something in between his fingers.
"Why are you joking dur-"
The assassin stopped halfway through his sentence when he felt… strange.
For some reason, he had difficulty breathing.
Like something was obstructing his breathing hole…
The assassin slowly brought his hand up to his face and touched it.
It was completely smooth.
Almost like his nose was gone.
Staring back at Lenier, the assassin realized what was being waved around in his hand... it was a severed nose.
"You wanna see a magic trick?"
Lenier asked but he didn't wait for a response.
He clenched the nose in one of his hands, and wiggled his other hand in the air randomly as if he was doing a magician's trick.
"Poof! Tada!"
As Lenier opened up his hand, the nose was gone!
But to replace the nose, there was now a fresh beating heart in his hand.
Ba-bump.
Ba-bump.
Ba-bump.
The heart pulsated inside of Lenier's hand.
The assassins stared at it in confusion...
And then one of the assassins dropped lifelessly to the ground.
Without any warning, the other assassins pounced forward.
They were the highest class of assassins; they could sense the danger that Lenier posed.
They needed to take him out while he was unprepared.
"!!!"
One of the assassins abruptly stopped as he felt something and yelled out to the others.
"STOP!"
But it was too late for the others.
It was barely noticeable at first, but the closer the assassins got to Lenier, their bodies would melt.
Their flesh and meat liquified.
And as the assassins got too close to Lenier, their bodies couldn't maintain its solid form anymore and melted onto the ground like paint splattering the floor.
Their bones and clothing fell on top of their liquid flesh.
Only the one assassin who had realized something was wrong, and had stopped before getting too close, now remained.
The assassin did not move, nor say anything.
He didn't know what to do or what to say.
Within literally just a few seconds of the fight starting, all the other assassins were dead.
He didn't know what happened, he just knew he was outmatched. Severely.
Even as Lenier started walking towards him, the assassin remained frozen.
With each step Lenier made, the assassin felt death inching closer and closer.
I'm going to die.
The assassin thought to himself.
But to his surprise, Lenier just walked straight past him.
"I'm not gonna kill you if you don't try to kill me, ya know."
And Lenier continued walking.
It was as simple as that.
But even given the chance to escape, the chance to live and survive, the assassin had no other choice.
He had spent his entire life in the organization.
Unlike Nile, he could feel pain.
Subjected to years of torture and mind control, he was already fully brainwashed.
He couldn't disobey his orders even if it meant death.
Even if he was afraid.
Even if he knew this was suicide.
Even if he wanted to live.
The assassin knew what he was, and he knew what he must do.
The assassin turned around to face Lenier.
He ran forward and swung his dagger…
"Connor! What are you doing with that knife!"
Suddenly, a big hand came from above and ripped the weapon out of his hand.
He immediately jumped back and stared up.
In front of him, stood a large woman.
He stared in disbelief as he had not sensed this person this entire time.
Where did she come from?
She looked to be about twice his size, wearing a large apron, and oddly enough… she seemed familiar to him.
"What are you doing Connor? Stop fooling around and set up the table, dinner's ready."
The woman turned away from him and walked into another room, presumably the kitchen.
The kitchen?
The assassin frantically looked around him, realizing he was suddenly in a foreign location.
It was a living room.
A house.
A small, cozy, warm, house.
One that he recognizes.
It was no ordinary house… it was home.
He looked at himself, his small childlike hands and his feet dirty playing in the mud with his friends at school.
He slowly walked to the kitchen, where a nostalgic smell of food rushed into his nose.
He sat down, along with the women, and together, they ate dinner.
Mother.
That's who the woman was.
And the food she made for dinner… it was delicious.
He was stuffed.
It was the best thing he ever had.
After dinner, his mother let him sit on her lap, giving him a spoonful of ice cream to lick.
He felt warm as he buried himself in her lap.
Together, they watched the sun outside the window dipped below the horizon.
In this moment, it felt like all those years being tortured, being brainwashed and working mindlessly as an assassin, it felt like a distant foggy dream.
It was no more than a passing nightmare.
A nightmare that won't scare him in the embrace of his mother.
He felt sleepy.
He felt warm.
He was happy.
And he closed his eyes to sleep.
"Good night Connor."
Lenier whispered into the assassin's ear.
Lenier stared at the assassin's dead body for a moment, wishing him a happy eternal rest before standing up and leaving.
He moved a large distance away from the organization, finding a safe location and placed Lyla on the ground.
After applying a barrier around Lyla, Lenier travelled back to the organization base to finish what's been started.
It would be extremely easy for Lenier to destroy the organization in one single attack, but he had to release everyone who wanted to escape first.
Lenier slowly took his time and destroyed most of the cages and walls, allowing the captured orphans and assassin trainees to escape.
Some of them though had already been fully brainwashed and were fully fledged assassins, so Lenier "liberated" them of their duties.
There were also a few traps here and there and a couple dozen more assassins trying to kill him, but overall, there wasn't any difficulties worth mentioning.
In fact, this was his second time destroying the organization base, so he had experience in doing this too!
Lenier stood there, in front of the rubble that was formerly a massive and highly funded organization base and felt proud of himself.
"Now that that's done, I guess I should check out how Nile's doing."
Lenier raised both his hands 90 degrees, forming a t shaped pose with his arms.
His entire body started to rotate, spinning faster and faster until a circular force of wind was created.
His outstretched arms acted like helicopter blades, spiraling around and around and around, until he was propelled into the air.
Lenier continued spinning and flying until he reached the city where he felt Nile's presence.
After elegantly landing in the streets, he walked straight into the castle.
Some guards tried to stop him, but Lenier just buried them underground like potatoes, leaving only their heads above to breathe since Nile had told him not to kill unnecessarily.
Well, a few of them did try to resist so Lenier had to confiscate a few of their limbs to ensure they didn't do anything stupid, but don't worry, none of them died.
"And so that's how I got here," Lenier said as he finished up his explanation.
"You expect me to believe that nonsensical story you just told?"
Maxwell was in disbelief.
However, after checking his mental connection to his assassins, he realized that they were all severed, meaning they were all dead.
Not only that, but he also read Lenier's mind and there were no lies.
"Nile, what are you doing on the floor?" Lenier ignored the situation and started walking towards Nile.
'You succeeded in destroying the base…'
"Yes, I did Nile. You don't seem so good though."
'I… failed. I couldn't complete my part of the plan…'
"That's okay. You tried your best, and I'm here now. Don't worry."
'I was tricked. These people I thought were my frien-… my compatriots, they turned out to be my enemies. Everything I've done…'
"Nile. It's fine. Don't forget our deal. I will make sure your plan succeeds. Tell me what to do."
'It's them, the organization, everything is because of them… because of Maxwell…'
Lenier crouched down in front of Nile lying on the ground and stared right into his eyes.
"Nile, I will do anything you ask. What do you want. Just say it."
'I…'
Nile tightly closed his eyes.
His body was still unresponsive, but he mustered every ounce of energy left to forcefully move his mouth.
"Kill… kill them all."
Lenier smile.
"Your wish is my command."
And the room went dark.
All the lights disappeared.
The sun went black, almost as if it were extinguished.
The door was forcefully shut and the windows were suddenly closed.
"W-wha? Hey! Magic squad, light up the room!" Maxwell shouted out.
But it didn't work.
When the wizards tried using their light magic, it just fizzled out.
It was almost as if something was suffocating the light itself.
"Kill the kid then!" Maxwell shouted out.
As the assassins moved forward, Lenier said one last thing to Nile.
"Nile, I'll only do this once, so pay attention."
At the exact moment a blade was about to touch him, Lenier's body melted into the ground.
Then, total silence.
Not because everyone was remaining silent, but something was stopping all noise.
And then slowly, darkness began to rise from the ground.
It did not have a physical form, it didn't feel like anything, nor did it even obstruct movement, but it looked like a pitch-black liquid that was filling up the room.
No matter what was done, it continued rising.
First, it covered their legs, then their bodies, then their head, and then their entire bodies.
Strangely though, they could see their own bodies clearly.
Maxwell looked around, and he could see everyone in the room as if they were properly illuminated.
But the room and everything else was pure black.
"What the hell is this…?"
A pair of glowing white eyes stared at Maxwell from the darkness.
"You!"
Maxwell swung his sword with all his might, but the floating eyes were just a bit too far away.
As Maxwell took a step forward and swung his sword again, the eyes moved away at the exact speed and distance that Maxwell moved.
Frustrated that he couldn't hit anything, he dashed forward, running as fast as he could.
Yet no matter how far he traveled, the eyes remained the same exact distance away from him.
Just narrowly out of reach.
"Damn it! Men, come help me with this!"
When he looked around though, he realized the number of soldiers and assassins in the room was a lot lower than he expected.
"Where did everyone go?"
Maxwell looked around, carefully examining the remaining people.
Then Maxwell blinked.
"Huh? Where'd that guy go?"
The soldier he was staring at suddenly disappeared, almost as if he never existed.
Maxwell blinked again.
Another person had disappeared.
Maxwell frantically looked around, trying to find at least a body or trace of the person who just vanished.
There was nothing.
Maxwell blinked again.
Another person had disappeared.
Maxwell blinked again.
Another person had disappeared.
Maxwell blinked again.
Another person had disappeared.
Eventually, there was no one left.
Only Maxwell, alone in the infinitely dark abyss with the glowing pair of eyes staring back at him.
Maxwell tightly gripped his sword, uncertain of what was going to happen.
He was prepared to attack anything that came out at him… even though he wasn't sure if that would even change anything in this situation.
"Come on out, stop hiding."
Maxwell said this out loud, not expecting anything to happen.
To his surprise though, the floating eyes came out of the darkness into view, revealing Lenier's dark shadowy body.
In his hands, were a pair of pitch-black daggers, the same type as the ones the organization assassins typically used.
Maxwell could just feel the irony creeping up on him, being killed by the type of weapons that he had trained his minions to use.
"You actually came out, are you going to kill me now?"
"Yes. Are you afraid?"
"Haha… not even going to lie, I am. But I'm not going to just stand here and let you kill me though, I'll struggle."
"That is to be expected."
As Lenier spoke, his words were cold and sharp like a blade's edge, unlike the casual tone that he spoke earlier.
He felt like a completely different person from before.
If not for his physical appearance, Maxwell would've believed that this wasn't the same being as the kid he spoke to moments ago.
Lenier took a step forward, not even bothering to raise his daggers, letting it rest by his sides.
"Bring it!"
Maxwell roared, unleashing his internal energy and focusing it into his blade as he charged forward!!!
Lenier swung his dagger.
At that moment, Maxwell's burst of energy completely disappeared.
Lenier remained in front of him, but for some reason, Maxwell felt an unusual calmness inside of him.
He felt peaceful.
All of his motivations, his ambitions, it all felt meaningless now.
All he felt was tranquility.
Why was he trying so hard to create an army of assassins?
Why was he trying so hard to control Nile?
Why did he care about creating the ultimate assassin?
Even as Lenier finally took a step forward, raising his dagger up in front of Maxwell's eyes, he felt no reason to resist.
"I'm going to kill you now."
Those words felt so soothing to Maxwell.
In the face of death, Maxwell felt nothing but subtle excitement for what was to come.
And as the dagger inched closer and closer to him, it finally dawned onto Maxwell.
"I see what happened now. You… you're even more of a monster then Nile. I know what you did there. You cut through my spirit. You sliced apart my motivation and will to live. No easier target to kill than one who doesn't care enough to live… Ah, damn. Why was I trying so hard to create the ultimate assassin… when you already exist?"
And then Lenier swung his dagger down, slicing Maxwell into two pieces.
Lenier wasn't done just yet.
He kept on slashing at Maxwell's body with his daggers.
1 slash.
2 slashes.
4 slashes.
8 slashes.
16 slashes.
32 slashes… 64 slashe… 128 slash… 256 slas… 512 sla… 1,024 sl… 2,048 s… 4,096… 8,192… 16,384… 32,768… 65,536… 131,072… 262,144… 524,288…
One million slashes in a single second.
Maxwell's body was separated into millions of tiny evenly cut pieces of meat and flesh.
Each piece fell into the darkness, and dissolved into nothingness.
The darkness that had engulfed the room also disappeared as well, returning to normal, except now, there were no traces of the missing assassins and army of soldiers.
Nile, who was watching this entire thing unfold, was simply dumbfounded.
To him, this was the second biggest shock in his life, first being when he was betrayed by Maxwell a few minutes ago, and now as he witnessed this.
'That… that was my technique! Except, much more potent, and more deadly…'
As Nile was watching Lenier fight, it was almost as if he was looking at himself… an older, more mature and more powerful version of himself…
Lenier turned around and coldly stared at Nile.
Nile couldn't help but feel fear as Lenier slowly started walking towards him.
'Is this how it's like to be on the receiving end of an assassination?'
And almost as if Lenier didn't just do anything, he smiled, completely removing all tension and seriousness.
"It's done! You did it Nile! Your plan has succeeded!"
Lenier grabbed Nile's arm and lifted him into the air.
Suddenly, Nile was able to move again as if he had never been paralyzed or poisoned in the first place.
"What was that just now? It… looked like my ability."
"Yep, yep! Spot on! It was the same ability you used on me when you fought me, so I thought it was fitting to use it here as well. I figured it might be good to show you now, so you'll know what you're capable of in the future."
"I see… so I'll be that strong in the future…"
"That's right! Now that you've finished this up, you have a whole future ahead of you. I wonder how much stronger you'll become. You'll definitely become stronger than you were in my previous life, maybe you'll become even stronger than me!"
Despite Lenier's excitement, Nile remained silent and just slowly walked towards the window.
He stared out and watched the chaos outside.
Despite the king being dead and everything was now resolved, the people outside didn't know this.
They were still fighting.
Soldiers were arresting and shoving down protesters.
"…"
Nile just stood there, unmoving.
"Nile? Is something wrong?"
Lenier asked, wondering why Nile didn't seem happy after achieving his life goal.
Nile just responded with a question.
"What am I supposed to do now?"
"You can do anything!"
"No… that's not it. I don't even know anymore. I thought… I believed, that once I destroyed the organization, I would be able to do anything, but that was a lie. It turns out, everything I wanted was actually set up. My goal was planned by Maxwell, designed to motivate me, only to later crush me. I trusted him. I believed him. But apparently, my life has always been controlled by someone else. Nothing I did was of my own free will. Did destroying the organization even change anything? Did I do all of this for nothing? This plan I've worked so hard for, my ambitions, my goal, the people I trusted and even my own life… it's all meaningless."
Nile turned his head, his teary eyes staring at Lenier.
"So what should I do now?"
Lenier didn't say anything.
Nile felt something build up in his throat as he awaited an answer.
He desperately needed an answer.
It didn't matter what.
He just needed someone to tell him what to do, how to live his life from now on.
But Lenier remained silent.
He just walked towards Nile.
Lenier gently raised his arm and put it on Nile's shoulder, with a soft smile on his face.
"Nile, it's time for you to fulfill your part of the deal."
And then a sharp pain rushed through Nile's body.
"?!??!?!?!?!?!?!"
Every single nerve in Nile's body suddenly was forced awake, as an overwhelming amount of new information started flooding his brain.
He was feeling new sensations he had never felt before and to the very extreme.
His clothing felt like sandpaper that was scraping apart his skin.
His wounds from the previous battle felt like they were being torn open by metal claws and had lava poured into them.
Every heartbeat sent a pulsating wave of pain throughout his body, his lungs struggling to breath as the air inside of him felt both scorching and freezing simultaneously.
Any movement he made only further stimulated the pain.
It was too much for him to process.
Nile dropped to his knees, which felt like his kneecaps had exploded under his weight.
Unable to handle it anymore, Nile dropped onto the floor, falling unconscious, the final thing he saw... was Lenier waving at him.
'…'
Pitch black.
Nile was surrounded by a familiar darkness, which felt comforting.
This darkness was where he had spent most of his time, the only place where he was ever able to truly relax.
As he was about to close his eyes and let himself melt into the dark, he suddenly saw a small light in the distance.
That was strange.
There isn't supposed to be any light in this endless void.
Nile was curious what this light was, and started paddling his arms and swam towards it.
The closer he got to it, the bigger the light became until it eventually filled up his vision and all he could see was this white light.
Nile stared deep into the light, almost mesmerized by it.
And then suddenly, from the light, a vision started to form.
At first, it was very blurry. Just a muddle of a bunch of colors.
But he could hear noises and sounds coming from it.
It was faint and soft, but he could just barely hear someone talking.
"Nile… we'll name him Nile, our precious baby boy."
The image in the light became clearer, and in the vision was a man's face.
Nile didn't recognize the man, but he looked familiar.
Suddenly, the vision shifted to a green field, filled with flowers and trees.
There were a lot of people around, children running around playing, adults sitting on benches and people eating food in the distance.
Once again, this vision seemed familiar to Nile somehow.
The blurry silhouettes of a man and women shouted out Nile's name from the side, calling out to him while waving a sandwich in the air.
But then the vision shifted again, this time, to a not so pleasant scene.
Fire.
Screams.
Explosions.
There was blood being spilled everywhere.
Soldiers rushed through the destroyed city streets, stabbing other soldiers and fought against some sort of enemy.
This was something Nile remembered. It was a long time ago, but it was not something he could easily forget.
'Ah. I see now, these are my memories. I'm watching a recap of my life. Is this what people mean when they say their life flashes before my eyes?'
This was his memories during the war as a child.
The Nile in the vision wandered the burning streets, searching for his parents.
He could hear screams from all around him.
People were in so much pain.
And yet, Nile felt fine.
When the vision looked down though, it showed Nile's body covered in blood and wounds, with pieces of wood stuck into his body.
He didn't feel anything though, so he continued looking for his parents.
Spoiler alert: he never found them.
The vision changed again.
Several robed figures discovered Nile in the wreckage and aftermaths of the war.
They took him into the organization, and he didn't resist.
He never resisted, no matter what they did to him.
Inhumane torture.
Experiments.
Extreme training.
Most orphans and kids died during this phase, but Nile breezed through everything.
There was no pain holding him back after all.
The vision fast forwarded several more years.
Nile was now older, stronger, and more capable.
He was also now more rebellious.
He wanted to destroy the organization.
But he alone would not be able to do it.
So sought out others with the same goal… a rebellion group.
Nile heard gossip of a group of people wanting to revolt against the king.
Exactly what he needed.
He found the location of the rebels, and he joined them.
There, he met Maxwell for the first time.
The current Nile watching this clenched his fist as he saw Maxwell enter the vision.
He hated how naïve he was.
He wanted to scream at himself in the vision, telling him that it was all a trap.
The vision once again fast forwards.
Years pass, Nile and Maxwell work together to plan the perfect rebellion.
Gathering people, destroying kingdom property, weakening the organization forces from the shadows.
Then, the time comes to put the plan in action.
The time to finally take down the king and destroy the organization!
And so, Nile, Maxwell and the rebel force begin their plan…
'Wait a second, something's wrong here.'
The current Nile frowned as he watched the vision. Something wasn't adding up.
'Wasn't it around this time that I met Lenier? Why did the vision skip my entire conversation with him? That was extremely important and memorable… why'd the vision skip that?'
As the current Nile continued watching, things only became more and more distorted.
The Nile in the vision never went to the castle.
Maxwell and the rebels went to the castle to take down the king themselves, while Nile was tasked with holding back the assassins and destroying the organization base.
This was because he could not find anyone that was capable of doing this aside from himself.
Nile in the vision killed dozens of assassins as he dashed through the organization base.
He needed to make sure to destroy everything from the inside to the outside.
However, as he continued his rampage, he noticed someone standing there blocking his path.
A child.
A child that the current Nile watching recognized, but the Nile in the vision did not.
'Oh fuck. Stop…. I don't think you wanna fight that kid Nile… Nile! STOPP!!!!'
That kid was Lenier.
And then vision faded to black.
After a moment, the vision started to show a dungeon room.
The Nile in the vision looked around slowly and saw that his entire body was bounded and chained.
He was in a dark room, filled with corpses of rebels and civilians… and in the corner of the room, was Maxwell.
Maxwell proceeded to explain everything to Nile.
This time, no one came to save him.
And Nile was destroyed.
From here on, it was easy for Maxwell to dominate and mind control Nile.
He was a broken man after all.
The vision shifted to a different scene.
In this scene, it showed a man kneeling on the ground in front of Nile.
Maxwell was in the corner.
"Go on Nile, kill him."
"Give me a weapon then, it'd be faster with a dagger then if I use my bare fists."
But Maxwell laughed at Nile's request.
"No. I want you to beat him to death specifically. Go on, do it."
Nile was confused, but he did it anyways since he had no choice.
He raised his fist and punched it down with extreme force.
The man flew back and smashed into the floor, injured but not dead.
Nile took a step forward and was about to throw another punch when suddenly the man started begging for his life.
"P-please! Don't kill me! I'll do anything! Please… I have a wife… she's pregnant and I'm expecting a baby boy… I… I can't die yet!"
Nile froze.
He didn't know why he was hesitating.
He was an assassin who always killed his targets with ease.
He's done this hundreds of times.
So why was he now hesitating?
The answer is that he was too skilled of an assassin.
He always killed his target in a single instant.
Painlessly, and effortlessly.
The target didn't even know they had died.
That meant Nile never experienced his targets begging for their lives.
Never experienced true desperation of the human life.
He never watched someone suffer intense pain at his own hands.
So seeing someone, in such pain, on their knees desperately trying to survive… it frightened Nile.
He was shaken.
And this was what Maxwell wanted.
"Don't worry. You'll be joining your wife and baby boy soon enough."
Maxwell said as he tossed something onto the ground.
It was a bloody fetus.
"Say hello to your child, you're a father! Congrats. Although it's too bad the mother didn't survive the process, truly a pity."
The man stared at the fetus on the floor.
"Ah… ah…. AHHHHHHH!!!!!"
"Nile. Kill him."
Nile's body visibly shook.
"NILE. KILL HIM. THIS IS AN ORDER."
And Nile's body moved against his will.
He raised his fist and swung downwards.
The vision dipped to black.
Then silence.
Even after the vision returned, the silence remained.
More time passed.
The Nile in the vision looked around, and there was rubble everywhere.
Everything was destroyed.
At this point, he was already fully under Maxwell's controls, so he wasn't restrained.
Nile stood up and walked out where the door used to be.
The entire organization base was… in ruins.
Dead bloody bodies were scattered everywhere.
Nile didn't have a single thought in his head.
A puppet like him didn't need to have his own will.
He just roamed the wreckage, looking for his master.
And in a few minutes, he found his master.
Maxwell was laying against a wall.
Well, what remained of Maxwell that is.
It was just a pile of meat.
Nile knew that the flesh pile was Maxwell because of his mental connection to it.
That thing used to be his master.
And now it was dead.
Someone must've gone on a rampage and destroyed everything, killing everyone that stopped it.
A very powerful someone.
Nile sat down.
He didn't do anything.
He wasn't trained to think for himself.
So, he just sat there.
Days passed.
Weeks passed.
Some more time passed.
He remained there.
One day, robed figures appeared next to him.
They tried speaking to him, asking him things, but Nile did not answer.
They were not his master.
Nile had no reason to interact with them.
These robed figures revealed their identities.
They were also part of the organization. Members of the other branches of the organization.
However, Maxwell specifically only trained Nile to be loyal and obey him and only him.
This did not extend to anyone else.
Upon realizing this, the assassins resorted to force.
But the moments they pulled out their weapons, their heads went flying.
Despite everything, Maxwell extremely valued Nile and one of the many things that were commanded of him was to "never die, no matter the cost."
Even now, Nile was still obeying what his master instructed of him.
He had to survive no matter the cost.
Not because he possessed his own will, nor felt the instinct to survive, but merely because it was an order to not die.
That meant he can't stay here.
More organization assassins will no doubt come and check up on the situation.
Nile would be in danger.
So he left.
Didn't know where to go or what to do, he just simply walked like a machine, following what commands had been left to him by his master.
He didn't even bother hiding himself.
It wasn't long before the organization tracked him down and sent more assassins towards him.
They too were killed by Nile.
After being targeted several times, Nile realized that he would continue to be in danger so long as the organization existed.
The next day, the organization was destroyed.
In the several years that Nile had been trained by Maxwell, he truly became the ultimate assassin.
No one could stop him.
In fact, no one even knew he was coming.
With the organization gone, no one posed a threat to Nile anymore.
Nile was now truly lost.
No where to go.
No will of his own.
A puppet with no master.
A tool with no wielder.
Until one day, a man arrived and found Nile within the ruins of the organization that he had destroyed.
This man had no malicious intent and did not intend on harming Nile.
As such, Nile did not attack or respond.
The man did, however, grab Nile and bring him to another location.
Nile was brought to a massive church and was given an extremely grand and lavish room to reside in.
Everyday, he was served the best of the best royal food, they gave him the most expensive and comfortable clothing.
He was treated like a king.
Nile did not know what was going on.
But since he was not harmed, he went along with it.
Then one day, the man who took him came back and spoke to Nile.
"My name is Duras. Paladin Duras of the divine holy church of the gods. I request for you to use your blade in our name."
Nile was a weapon.
He did not possess a will of his own.
But in the right hands, he can be an extremely powerful tool.
One that can be used for good, or for evil.
The grand popes of the divine holy church wanted to kill Nile, as he was too dangerous and risks of him causing chaos was too high, but Paladin Duras, one of the legendary heroes, was the sole entity that voted against this.
Duras wanted to protect Nile.
He did not know of Nile's backstory, nor his hardships, nor anything about him, but Duras trusted his own judgment.
And that was enough for Duras to go against the entire holy church.
Using his authority and power of his position, he overrode the vote to put down Nile, and instead, placed Nile under his care.
Duras had employed Nile, giving him a purpose and becoming his new master.
Upon Dura's orders, Nile would assassinate cult leaders, rampaging monsters, necromancers, corrupt officials and the like.
There was even one time where a former god in the heavens went on a rampage, causing chaos and went into hiding.
Nile was tasked with subduing that god, and the next day, that god no longer existed.
He was the holy church's hidden blade, one that uses his strengths for the forces of good.
Make no mistake though, he did not do good because he wanted to, but only because he was ordered to.
He would've done anything that was ordered of him.
More years passed, and Nile continued his duty as a divine assassin on behalf of Duras.
No mortal on the planet knew of his name as he was too good of an assassin, but he was feared by those few who did know of him.
It seemed that he would continue this job for the rest of his life, until…
The vision exploded.
An epileptic flash of light burst from the vision, shaking the entire space.
Explosion after explosion, waves of energy pulsated throughout the entire planet.
On a peaceful afternoon, at around 2:13pm, in less than a split second, the entire sky collapsed onto the surface of the planet.
Nile was relaxing in his room during this time when everything around him combusted.
He was able to immediately react to the danger and get himself to safety, but the same could not be said for everyone else.
Everything was destroyed.
Nile extended his senses forward, searching for the culprit, when he saw a familiar face.
That figure.
That overwhelming strength.
He looked significantly different from when he last saw him in the organization base, but Nile could never forget that face.
Amidst all the chaos, stepping out of the carnage, was demon lord Lenier.
Nile hadn't felt anything in a long time, be it physical or mental.
He was supposed to be a tool, something that didn't need to think or feel, only do what his wielder commands of him.
So why is it now, after so long, Nile felt something stir in his head upon seeing that man?
He didn't understand this foreign feeling.
What was this feeling trying to tell him?
What did he… want?
Lenier did not stay in one spot for long, he disappeared and continued his chaos elsewhere, leaving Nile alone in the rubble.
After a while, Duras showed up looking for Nile.
"Thank the gods you're okay Nile. That destruction and power, it was dangerous even for me. I don't think this is the behavior of the usual demon lord, it seems to be a different one, a second demon lord? I do not know, but I shall get the god's guidance, and will likely require your assistance. This is not a task I can complete on my own."
Duras grabbed Nile and a bright light flashed from the sky, enveloping the both of them.
Suddenly, they were surround by unknown entities.
Duras dropped to one knee.
"Oh great gods, I apologize for the rudeness and swiftness of my arrival, but this is an urgent matter."
Nile remained next to Duras, and listened to this entire conversation, but his mind was elsewhere.
He was in a state of confusion.
Demon lord Lenier's image remained stuck in Nile's head.
It was extremely subtle, but the shadows beneath him slightly trembled.
Was it fear?
Was it excitement?
Anticipation?
Hatred?
He didn't know as he forgot what it felt like to feel emotions.
"Nile. Are you okay?"
Duras shook Nile's shoulder, snapping his mind back to reality.
"I've finished speaking to the gods. The situation is severe, the gods have given me a list of chosen ones. Heroes, you can call them. We are included in this list. We must find the others and work together to take down this threat."
Nile stared at Duras as the thought of fighting Lenier entered his brain.
The last time they fought, Nile was defeated before the fight even started.
But now, Nile has gotten so much stronger.
He couldn't imagine himself losing.
And yet at the time, he couldn't imagine himself winning either.
Regardless, Nile was sent to find the other named heroes chosen by the gods.
These individuals are those who possessed high enough power to be noticed and kept track of by even the gods.
They were the pinnacle of humanity, stepping into the realm of godhood.
The ones chosen to fight the greatest threat.
Upon his travels, Nile saw destruction and ruin.
It was an unbelievable sight.
The planet's landscape looked like it was torn apart like tissues.
To think such a thing happened in such a short span of time.
Nile went as fast as he could, appearing before every hero, giving them the message of an alliance.
Some of them were a bit stubborn and didn't want to cooperate, but upon seeing Lenier's destruction beforehand, they knew teamwork would be the best option here.
Meanwhile, the gods in the heavens contacted leaders and individuals all over, forming a grand unified army.
A meeting was held, the strongest people on the planet showed up and discussed the threat.
Nile did not contribute to the meeting.
Nile was just a tool after all, and tools don't participate in conversations.
But during the meeting, the face of a certain female caught Nile's attention.
He had seen her before, Hex Mania Lyla.
Though, it seemed she did not recognize him.
No surprise though, since she spent most of her time being tortured while unaware of her surroundings.
At this moment, Nile had a single thought.
'…I'm glad she survived…'
And without even noticing he had this thought, he forgot about it and his mentality returned to that of a tool.
The meeting was concluded after some time and a plan was created.
The plan was straightforward, launch a pincer attack on Lenier, one side being the unified army and the other being the party of the 17 heroes.
Thus began the assault on the great demon lord.
The rest of the story, you already know.
The army was wiped out.
The heroes fought the demon lord after teleporting to the underworld.
Chaos ensued.
Nile was not worried, he was surrounded by the greatest warriors combined with his own skills which had never failed him.
No one, not even a god, could do anything aside from instantly die in this situation.
And yet…
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Nile felt real physical pain for the first time in his life.
The battle was completely one sided, not one sided against Lenier as the heroes had assumed, but Lenier was the one who was one-sidedly shitting on the heroes.
Nile was the first to break down.
He was now a tool that felt extreme pain at even the most subtle touch.
He writhed in pain for a long time, as the heroes continued fighting without him.
His face distorted as it felt like the world was doing horrible things to his body.
But the battle lasted so long, that even Nile was able to slowly adjust to his new senses.
The fight just dragged on and on and on and on for so excruciatingly long.
Why won't Lenier die?
Just DIE!
DIIEEEE ALREADYYYY!
But he would only die when he's satisfied, and he wasn't nearly satisfied just yet.
Nile had no choice but to pick up his dagger again and continue aiding the other heroes, fear now corroding his mind.
His skills and abilities became sloppy, but due to the other hero's buffs, he became stronger.
Nile wanted to curl up and die, just to give up.
A tool wasn't meant to feel pain.
A tool isn't supposed to fear every time he's used.
Nile didn't want to be a tool anymore.
He wanted to be anything or anywhere else aside from here.
This was the common thought of all the heroes.
It's been said before and it's going to be said once more, the battle was painfully long.
But not even the heroes, with all their fancy buff and cheats, can last forever.
Mentally, they were completely exhausted, and the battle was stopped.
Luckily for them, Lenier was already satisfied by then.
After giving them all a gift, Lenier died, giving the heroes the peace they finally wanted… along with the injuries they will now permanently have.
Nile had shrivelled up.
He had gone far beyond his physical and mental limits.
His body curled up into a ball as he just trembled in the corner, burying himself into the ground.
Everything was a blur from there.
He wasn't sure what happened.
One day he opened his eyes, and he was in a bed.
A lady slowly staggered over to him with a bowl of soup in her trembling hand.
Upon seeing that Nile had woken up, she grabbed a piece of paper and wrote something down, showing it to Nile.
[ Hello Nile. I'm glad to see you're awake. I can't speak anymore, so I'll have to write everything. In case you forgot, I'm Mary Sue. ]
Nile recognized her from the fight against… Lenier.
The moment the memory of Lenier popped into Nile's head, he immediately started screaming and convulsing in the bed.
Mary panicked and quickly scribbled something along the lines of 'don't cry! It'll be okay', but upon seeing Nile break down, Mary Sue also started breaking down as well.
They both cried for hours.
This continued until they became exhausted and fell asleep.
Nile woke up again.
Looking over, Mary Sue was sitting nearby, feeding someone else in another bed.
And just like before, the memory of fighting Lenier entered his head, and he started screaming out.
Mary Sue immediately rushed over to him and calmed him down, this time, successfully.
[ Lenier is DEAD. Dead! Gone! Not coming back. So please don't cry. ]
Nile took deep breaths as he stared at the ceiling.
Lenier is gone.
Lenier is no more.
Lenier is le'not here.
Nile fell asleep again.
He didn't know how long he spent his time here.
Days passed, and nights passed, and more days passed.
Nile never felt more empty.
He had felt empty before, but now, it felt more than just simply empty, almost as if there were something sucking everything in his chest.
Nile was no longer even qualified to be a tool anymore.
He's just a broken tool now.
And he just wanted it to be over.
One night, as Nile was drifting to sleep, through the cracks of his eyes, he saw a woman sitting next to him.
Black hair and murky eyes…
He recognized her as Hex Mania Lyla.
She seemed to be saying something, but Nile couldn't hear everything properly as his mind drifted back and forth between consciousness and unconsciousness.
"…pitiful… I remember… organization… trying to help… crying for… but… if only you weren't so hasty… your plan, then he would've saved you too… L… n… i… r… would've saved you…. just like me…"
When Nile woke up, he just assumed that it was a dream.
On that same day though, Mary Sue came to Nile and asked something.
[ Nile, do you want to die. ]
Nile just stared back.
Although he did not speak, Mary already knew the answer.
She smiled.
[ Don't worry, I'll end it. Then we can finally rest. ]
That night, the building burned down.
Even until the last moment, Mary remained smiling, staying side by side with Nile and Niji (who was also there) the whole time, to make sure they remained comfortable.
The burning fire hurt, but it felt so calming at the same time.
It was finally time to rest…
From the corner of his eye, Nile saw a black figure, with a familiar messy black hair who had appeared last time.
Lyla was watching from outside.
As Nile's eyes momentarily widened, his life came to an end shortly after.
And that's where the vision stopped, leaving the current Nile speechless.
"What the fuck did I just watch?"
And then Nile woke up, eyes slowly opening to see Lenier staring down at him.
"…"
'…'
As Nile tried sitting up, he suddenly felt sharp pain all over his body.
The grass under him felt like daggers stabbing into his flesh.
The sun's rays felt like fire burning his skin.
The wind's breeze felt like it was slicing his skin.
But those pain were temporary.
Nile closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
'I've been through worse. Or, at least, a version of me has. I'm okay. I'm fine. The pain will go away.'
And it did.
The grass under him suddenly felt soft to the skin.
The sun's rays felt warm and comforting.
The wind's breeze felt cool and nice.
Nile felt good.
'Wow, so this is how it feels to… feel.'
Nile took a deep breath in, feeling his mind go blank as if he were snorting a line of delicious white powder.
"How you feeling big boy?" Lenier asked from the side.
Nile glared over at Lenier.
"You're a monster."
Lenier smiled and laughed.
"If I hadn't already been called that hundreds of times already, I might've been hurt by that!"
Despite everything that happened, Nile couldn't help but laugh as well.
He laughed so much that his stomach started to hurt, but he just kept laughing.
It was also the first time he laughed in his life, so it lasted a long time before he finally stopped.
"Haaaa… oh man. Wow. I can't believe you were telling the truth about being a demon lord from the future."
"Oh! Did you regain your memories?"
Nile shook his head.
"I didn't 'regain' it per say, more like I just watched the memories of a different Nile as a spectator. I didn't experience those memories firsthand. If I had regained my memories, I don't think I'd be able to talk to you like this."
Nile looked at his hands and then looked at Lenier before staring back at himself.
"This feels so surreal. I still feel like I'm in a dream right now, like, this can't be real. Everything that's happened is just so outlandish, it can't be real. But now that I can feel, it confirms that this is in fact real. And it's all because of you. I don't know whether to thank you… or to fear you, knowing what you did."
"I won't blame you if you hate me. Although I don't really understand why, I know that other people don't like pain. I knew that and still did what I did."
Nile remained silent to sort up his thoughts and emotions.
He wanted to fully understand how he felt in order to give a confident response.
Nile took another deep breath in as he rubbed the ground under him, feeling the individual grass in between his fingers.
He could feel these new sensations.
This was proof that he was still alive.
That the current Nile, was a different Nile from the one he had seen in the vision.
"You're not wrong, but… I just can't hate you. I know what you did, but I never experienced it myself. The Nile that you hurt… that isn't me. I don't intend on letting myself become a tool. I won't become like that. I don't care what you did in another timeline, the fact is that you helped me now."
Even though there were bumps, Nile's plan was still a success.
The organization was destroyed, and the king is gone.
He felt bad for what the Nile in the vision went through, but that Nile was gone and this Nile is a different man, going down a different path.
With the plan's success, his future is already going to be vastly different from that of the vision.
Nile clenched his fist, determined to not go through what the Nile did in the vision.
"Lenier, thank you. Without you, I couldn't have done this."
This time when Lenier smiled, Nile was able to properly smile back.
"By the way, where are we? The last thing I remember was being inside of the castle."
"There were some people that were storming the castle, so I just brought you somewhere safe."
Lenier said as he pointed over to an unconscious girl on the floor.
"Is that… Lyla?"
Lenier nodded as he sheepishly scratched his head.
"I kind of, didn't think this far ahead… I rescued her, but I don't think she can survive out here on her own. And I don't think it's safe for her to be with me honestly. What do you plan on doing in the future? If you could… do me another favor and um… ya know, take care of Lyla, that'd be great."
Nile burst out laughing again.
"Yeah! I can do that. Well… I'll probably leave her somewhere for a few weeks since I still have some unfinished business… I still need to destroy the entire organization. I saw through my memories that this base we destroyed was only one single branch of the organization, I need to finish them off from the roots."
"If you want, I can destroy it for you. Won't take much longer than a couple minutes."
Nile shook his head and refused Lenier's offer.
"No, this is something I need to finish myself. Thanks for the help until now, but I want to grow stronger… I want to surpass my previous self, this time, with my mind fully intact."
A single tear rolled down Lenier's face.
"Children grow up so fast…" Lenier said as he wiped his face.
Lenier was so proud of Nile, he felt like a dad watching his kid take his first step.
"After I destroy the organization, I plan on travelling the world with Lyla. I don't know what I want to do yet, but I want to make a change… I… want to be a hero."
Nile's face turned slightly red saying this, almost embarrassed.
"That's an amazing dream, nothing to be shy about. Though, I thought you would've chosen to retire instead. You've been through so much, you don't need to do more."
"That's true, but it's because of what we've been through that we can't settle down. We can try for a while, but I don't think we can live a permanent ordinary life. Not after everything we've seen and have had done to us… especially Lyla."
Nile turned over to the child on the ground.
He felt something weighing down on him.
Nile had known what the organization was doing to Lyla for a long time, and he didn't do anything this entire time.
What she went through was significantly worse than him.
And he just watched.
It was partially his fault that she became like this.
"Lenier, rest easy. I'll make sure she's happy. She's one of the heroes too, isn't she?"
"Yep. Same reason why I owe you both a massive debt."
"She'll likely become a hero even without my assistance then. But I want to make up for my negligence all these years to her. We'll both become heroes you can be proud of, that make the heroes of your past life pale in comparison!"
Nile finally gathered up the strength in his body and stood up from the ground, body still a little shaky.
He took a big step forward towards Lenier and with confidence and determination in his voice, he declared:
"You are an evil demon lord, and I will become a hero that will destroy evil! Watch your back, because one day, I will assassinate you!"
"Haha, if you think you can… I'd like to see you try."
Then they both laughed again.
"I'm serious though, I'm going to try to kill you when you least expect it."
"Good luck. You'll need it. You could even get Lyla to help you."
"Yeah…"
Nile looked over and stared at Lyla.
Still a bit unfamiliar with his new senses, he took a few shaky steps forward but managed to stabilize himself.
Nile kneeled down in front of her.
'…'
It was pretty awkward looking at Lyla like this.
Nile slowly and gently grabbed her shoulder and tried shaking her awake.
"How long has she been asleep? She's okay right?"
"Yeah, she's okay. I made sure of it. She'll probably wake up in a week or so."
"A week?! That long?"
"Yeah. She hasn't had a proper rest in a long time so I'd say about a week or two and she'll be fine."
"…"
Nile was sort of relieved upon hearing this.
Truth be told, he was scared.
Nile was scared because he didn't know if Lyla would hate him or not.
After all, Nile is an assassin in the same organization that tortured her.
Would she blame him for not saving her?
At least, this gave Nile a week or so to mentally prepare himself to greet Lyla when she wakes up.
"Well, a week then… that's the deadline for me to destroy the organization. I'll destroy the entire organization before she wakes up, and then I'll meet her."
Nile grabbed Lyla and put her over his shoulders.
"Lenier, once again, thank you for everything. I only have a week so I'm going to leave now, but one day I will return much stronger, and I will assassinate you. Look forward to it."
"I sure am excited for that day... one final thing before you go though."
Lenier raised his hand and stuck out his index finger.
With his other hand, he grabbed the finger and then… snapped the finger off.
Lenier tossed his severed finger over to Nile.
"Wha- what? What is this? Why did you give me this?"
"It's my finger (duh). Just keep it on you, it'll give you strength in times of need, and if you're ever in danger, it'll save you."
"You didn't have to remove your finger though…"
But upon glancing at Lenier's hands, Nile saw that he still has 10 fingers.
Nile immediately shut up and smiled.
He knew it was pointless to try and understand that thing of a person and decided not to ask.
"Stay safe Nile."
"I'm the assassin who's going to kill you, and you want me to stay safe? Weirdo."
Nile waved his hand and turned away without looking back.
Lenier giggled before also turning away, ready to go on his own way.
He took a few steps forward before stopping as several daggers were suddenly thrown towards his head.
Lenier easily dodged these and turned around again to stare at Nile.
"Already?"
Nile shrugged.
"It was worth a shot."
This time, for real, both Nile and Lenier turned away, going their separate paths and going on their own different adventures.