Kiyotai's carriage came to a stop in the Main Passageway of the Sekoto Region.
Kiyotai had traveled for three days to the Northern Province of the Aldranza Dynasty, and returned with the same amount of days extra.
Wiping the sweat from the sides of his head, he took deep breaths, visibly anxious.
This is bad.
"Well, girl, we're back home....finally."
He directed these words to his Timberwolf at the reins, and he sighed in relief.
This is really, really bad.
"What a week. I can't believe that many carriage riders manage to do this type of long-distance travel continually. I need a good rest with my wife in my arms..."
Please be safe.
He held himself and swayed side to side in glee, while his wolf companion seemed to look back and stare at him.
"Hey, hey....don't give me that look. If you had an insanely cute partner by your side, then you would know~"
I feel sick.
He gave her a teasing look, and the latter responded with a sharp bark.
"Agree to disagree! Anyway, our final stop is very close by. Tomorrow is a free day of rest for us both, so do your best and make sure to enjoy it."
I had just survived something horrifying in Pandora City.
The final stop: The carriage shed, where a part of some Timberwolves in the area rested with a supervisor over them.
How did I make it out alive…?
His carriage slowly dragged along the road as the busy crowd swarmed around the Main Passageway like ants drawn to honey. Many families and loved ones welcomed the people who were close to them as they got off their rides. Somehow, seeing this always managed to make him smile.
…The scarlet assassin, along with my friend from hell.
In time, he was able to get to his destination, and he made the needed preparations of separating his wooden part of the carriage from the TimberWolf, after which he industriously pulled into a wooden shack. Thankfully it was much lighter than many expected, and now, only he and his partner remained.
Blood. Pain. Red. Everything hurts.
"Well, let's put you back where your friends ate, shall we?"
A whine was the response, but the TimberWolf slowly followed his steps.
As she was already tamed by Kiyotai, he had no fear of her and vice versa. As they walked for just about a minute along a side trail, a large shed containing other Wolves was in view.
The people I loved died, right in front of me.
Approaching it, Kiyotai led the Wolf into her place at the outermost right, after which he closed the metal door and patted her head. Surprisingly, the supervisor of the shed was not present, and Kiyotai became slightly more worried but tried to shake the bad thoughts that plagued his mind away. Maybe he was late for his duties or something.
I was transported to that place…
"Well....that's all for now, girl. I'll see you the day after tomorrow, alright?"
…And that devil simply smiled at me.
Suddenly leaping close to where he stood, the Wolf gave a lick to his face, covering his entire face with slop. He winked with no surprise, and then wiped it off.
"Yeah, yeah, I love you too. Be good until the supervisor arrives, and tell your friends that too, alright?"
A loud bark followed as a response.
"Good girl. I'm off."
I must return.
He left the shed and ventured further down the trail.
The next destination....
"Home."
They'd kill us all.
Suddenly, Kiyotai broke into a full sprint, his face representing full horror as he tried to reach his house as fast as humanly possible.
His heart felt like beating out of his chest, and his entire body shivered from fear.
…Just who are you, Daizen Shizaki?
His house was situated in a sloping descent, far in the trail. It was the furthest house from the bustling noise of the town, and it was also the only house in that area, located where there was no disturbance. A nice, peaceful environment where he and his family lived. It was perfect.
And now, he would meet them once more.
He had to.
Save them.
He saw the house.
You must, Sasurasaki Kiyotai.
It was at the bottom of the descending trail, and he cautiously yet briskly made his way down, thanks to the experience of accidentally tumbling down many times before.
From where he was, the house seemed darker than usual.
{ "Have you forgotten? It's just as the God of Destruction says…" }
Soon enough, he was by the front door.
{ "TIME RETURNS TO NONE." }
Finally, he had made it home.
He listened for the usual bickering between his kids or the laughter that insinuated.
Silence prevailed.
He hesitated, but then knocked on the door, and waited.
The only thing he could hear was his own heartbeat. Everything else was just silent.
"Ah, they must have gone out, of course, of course…"
He knocked again and waited, tense.
Nothing. Only the wind passed by his face, skyrocketing his anxiety.
Kiyotai looked at the door handle. Slowly stretching out his hand, he reached for it and pulled it down.
A sharp 'cling' noise came and went as the door opened.
It was not locked.
Feeling a strange sense of ethereal fear, he slowly opened the door.
As he entered, he closed the door behind him.
The room was so dark that he could not even see in front of him. No lights were on, silence prevailed, everything seemed...
Kiyotai took a step forward.
As he did, his foot slipped on something and he fell, landing hard on the ground.
He fell onto something moist.
"H-Huh?"
He immediately glanced at his right hand, trying to see what he had fallen on.
Blood.
A deep, dark coat of blood covered his hands and his fingers, his body was dressed with red now that he had made an impact on the ground covered with it.
Gasping in shock, he tried to get up but couldn't. As his eyes adjusted to the immense darkness of the room, he began to see what was in front of him.
His eyes stared at the ground in front of him.
The heads of all his family members were lined up before him.
His wife.
His two children.
The lifeless faces were all laid on the blood-ridden floor.
Their arms and legs were all severed and neatly placed beneath the heads in an X shape, making a real life skull and bones image before his eyes.
The rest of their bodies all hung from the ceiling.
In a haunting sway of left to right, they were all slowly moving in unison as the ropes from the chandeliers held them in place, slowly drifting from side to side every two or three seconds.
Left. Right. Left. Right.
His heart could barely beat as he watched on in complete agony. His breaths became deep, he held his throat as he gagged and threw up vomit. He wanted to scream, but only air and digestive juices came out. He was slowly losing his mind.
He did not reach them in time.
Sweating profusely, he fell onto his side as his vision became blurred and his heart rate quickened.
The prophecy directed to him had come true.
He managed to let out a painful whisper.
"Why..."
Blood, pain, red, death, suffering, blood, pain, red, death, suffering, blood again.
The cycle of only these images repeated in his mind as he lost all sense of sanity.
He now covered his mouth, with his face being one of absolute madness. Scratching his head extremely hard until blood began to leak out of his scalp and covered his fingers, his whispers of agony slowly turned into a full-blown scream
"Why. Why. Whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy!!!!!"
"Why, you ask?"
Staying completely still while in horror, his blood-ridden eyes immediately shifted to the corner of his sockets. He had not realised that a figure, completely shrouded in darkness, was behind him all the time.
The figure drew close to his ears, and whispered a simple sentence.
"It's all because of him, remember?"
He shuddered as he held his head in his hands, trying to block out all reality.
"No....."
"Daizen."
"No!!"
"Shizaki."
"No!!!! No!!!! No!!!! NO!!!!"
In a terror state of hellish madness, he rushed towards the heads of his family, and held them all up within his arms as he let out a maniacal smile and exhaled deeply
He still had his family. His wife, his children. They were all still alive with him. What's what he believed, no, that's what he knew.
His eyes stayed still in one fixed position, with blood and tears running down his face, unable to comprehend anything except the memories of his family.
"They....They're still...."
The figure stepped silently onto the bloody mess in front as Kiyotai turned and looked at her face.
The figure gave him a withering look and removed the black cape, revealing a feminine figure dressed in all black.
"Now you will never forget the name of the one who took this all away from you: Daizen Shizaki. And...."
She drew close to his face, showing an expression of horrifying rage and killing intent."
"Welcome to hell."
With a swift backhand attack to his neck, she knocked him out unconscious, and the decapitated heads of his family rolled out, with one of the children's heads stopping next to her foot.
With nothing more than a mere smile, she raised her right leg and just before she crushed it without mercy-
--"My contract of slaughter is now complete, (***), my dear client. .Of course, by me, Yoku Kamazaki, the one who killed them all with pleasure.
-----------------------------------------
(Chapter 40: The Carriage-Rider's Return.)
END OF ARC 1, TO BE CONTINUED.