Elijah walked up to the commander of the Thalorian advance force, he used his left hand to grip the man's neck.
Raising him into the air, Elijah clutched the rose dagger with his right hand.
Just as he was about to strike, a familiar chime echoed in his mind.
[NOTICE]
Secondary Objective Failed.
Sarah Elfin has perished.
Penalty, Triggered.
Elijah froze, his grip on rose faltering as the systems emotionless cold voice whispered into his ear.
Verayth, became impatient and stepped into the tent, she immediately hissed under her breath.
"Elijah, what are you doing? Finish it!"
But Elijah couldn't move. His vision flickered as the system message expanded, His pulse quickened, the world around him dimming as dread coiled in his gut.
[NOTICE]
You have died.
Triggering, revive point.
...
Elijah's back arched as he slammed his hands onto the table, startling the high ranking officers.
Elijah's eyes bulged unnaturally, his guts tightened till he couldn't breath, he felt this death particularly painful, it was almost like he was being intentional tortured.
The veins in Elijah's neck swelled, his teeth chattering till he couldn't hold back his scream anymore, finally. His lips parted.
"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuucckk".
The high ranking officers froze, but the next second, expressions of anger replaced their astonishment.
First Lieutenant Darvik rose to his feet, his chair clattering away.
"What is the meaning of this, how dare you disrespect your superior officers to this degree".
The commander, a man with zabra stripes stretched across his whole body also began to rise to his feet, but the Major clapped his shoulder before he did.
The Major turned to Verayth.
"Young friend Elijah is clearly in immense pain, please escort him to his tent".
Verayth nodded without hesitation, she grabbed Elijah's wrist and dragged him out of the tent.
The other high ranking officers finally sat back down, they all simultaneously turned their attention back to the Major.
The Major released the Commander's shoulder and said calmly.
"Please remember that young friend Elijah was just a normal civilian the previous day, and today. He distinguished himself in battle, even our best sing praises of his name... the pressure clearly caught up to him".
Major glanced down at the commander, the commander coughed lightly, and began to recount Elijah's notoriety.
... ...
The camp was bathed in an eerie silence, the loss of the dey still weighing heavily on the Umbral kins.
Verayth was still pulling Elijah in the direction of his tent, but as if someone that just awoke from a nightmare.
Elijah yanked his hand from her grip, his voice unsually cold.
"That's enough, I'm back to normal now".
Verayth turned and faced Elijah, his eyes were sunken, almost like someone that just experienced the worst the world could offer.
He was still breathing softly, yet his neck showed no sign of strangulation, the veins on his head looked purple from the amount of pain he just experienced.
Verayth frowned lightly, there was something Elijah wasn't telling her. But before she could ask, he spoke up, his voice horse and cold.
"You need to go back, you can't miss the Major's briefing, also... the Vampire Elf by the name of Sarah Elfin, last I saw her she wore a maid gown and she also gave me a dagger, I believe I can assume she's your maid?".
Verayth nodded lightly. "Something like that".
"Good". Elijah said, but paused to catch his breath before continuing...."She has to join us for tomorrow's mission".
Verayth frowned lightly. "What mission?... you're not making much sense Elijah".
Elijah gently shook his head. "Don't try to make sense of what I'm telling you, you just need to trust me".
Verayth still confused, but she maintained her silence and allowed Elijah to finish talking.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and carried on. "For our suicidal mission, you'll need to bring Sarah Elfin, the master swordsman, Vornak Ziek, the boy with the flame affinity as our sniper, Ferik Aelar, our medic, Taelia Wave, our bomb expert, Ardyn Sylros... and oh, that guy from you squad, his not really that important, but I get the feeling he will find a way to get himself into the team".
Elijah clutched his gut and took a steady step forward.
"Now go back to the tent, I still need you to convince the Major to let me join the team, the last time I was sent in without my consent, but now I get the feeling he might waver, so make sure I join the team aswell... now go back, you'll understand everything after hearing what plans the Major has for tomorrow and the day after".
Elijah dragged his pained body away, leaving Verayth in stunned silence, the look of helpless desperation on Elijah's face was familiar to her, infact... not too long ago, she had the same look in her eyes.
Verayth didn't dwell too much and returned to the Major's tent, she got the feeling that whatever the Major had to say will trigger a series of events that will change Erevos for all of time.
...
Elijah returned to his tent and laid down on his bed, the pain finally started to subside, his breath became normal again, but Elijah simply maintained his stillness.
"This just proves that the Demon Lord Revival System has two types of penalties, the first one resets my revival point each day till I complete all missions granted to me, and the second penalty punishes me for failing to complete a mission".
Elijah opened his closed eyes.
"The Demon lord revival system seems to have a tendency to be unintentionally discreet, it doesn't go out of it's way to give information that wasn't asked, and it definitely doesn't lend it's assistance when trouble is encountered... almost like an observer...
Elijah grabbed a water sack and poured the contents into his mouth, he didn't even bother sitting up before dousing himself and the bed with water that leaves a bitter after taste, a painful reminder from Erevos you might call it.
Elijah flung the water sack and closed his eyes once more.
... I can only learn by example, a painful reality I have to accept".