Chapter 16: The Diary Keeper

Aries made sure that he was hiding himself well while watching the people passing by on an alleyway. He was waiting for someone that he must kill.

It was a man with a head covered by a faint dark smoke. His eyes and mouth were releasing black fumes. Those types of people were his prey. They were the hopeless ones that made people around them as horrible as they were.

Aries had to stop them before they infect other people. Getting rid of them had become his life. He was saving the world from the evil ones. It was a good life.

He had killed plenty of those humans that were worst than monsters. He was willing to kill more of them for as long as he could.

He knew he was doing something good for mankind. But after years of doing it, he felt something strange happening inside his body. And one night, while he was cleaning his bloody hands and knife on a river, he noticed that change as he caught a glimpse of his reflection on the flowing water.

He could not believe the eyes that stared back at him. It was releasing black fumes.

He had become those that he had hunted. He had become the devil.

"No…" he crawled away from the river and screamed at the heavens with disgust. "NO!!!"

Aries jerked awake from that strange nightmare.

It felt like me, but it isn't me. Those must be memories from the Aries who owned this body.

"What nightmare did you have?"

That deep voice pulled him back to his senses. He looked around and saw himself in a dimly lit room filled with towering bookshelves. He was lying on a four-poster bed with translucent black curtains. The pillows, blankets, and bed sheets were also black in color. Not far from his bed were two black couches. Leon and Sunrei were dozing side by side on one couch while Pieffer slept on the other one.

A long wooden table filled with books was placed near the towering bookshelves. A chair that looked like a throne was positioned between the desk and the shelves and an intimidating man in a black hooded overcoat was sitting comfortably in it. His waist-length hair was a mix of silver and black. His crimson eyes were staring at Aries as if probing through his soul.

"You've been sleeping for five hours," the intimidating man informed him. "Your companions had fallen asleep while watching over you."

Aries cautiously sat up and asked, "Who are you? And where is Garnet?"

"Garnet returned to where she is stationed," the intimidating man got up on his feet and closed the only open book on the table. He looked taller than six feet and he walked with elegance. He reached out a hand at Aries as he said, "I am Kiel. Beast Tamer and Guardian of Dungeons. Nice to meet you again, Aries Del Luna."

Despite his dizziness, Aries hopped out of the bed to shake the hands offered to him by the Beast Tamer.

"Thank you for letting me sleep in your bed," Aries bowed low. The guardians on the upper floors nearly killed him. The Beast Tamer could probably kill him with a blink of an eye. "I don't want to disturb you any further. I'll just take my journal and leave."

"You cannot take what is not yours," Kiel let go of his hand and returned to the table. He had taken the book that he had recently closed. "But if you want it that badly, you have to win over me."

Of course, it will never be easy.

"We cannot fight here," Aries sighed.

The Beast Tamer grinned and the scenery around them instantly changed. Everything in the room had vanished and been replaced with an empty white space.

"Why do you want that journal?" a spear materialized in the right hand of the Beast Tamer. "It doesn't have anything to do with you."

"It can answer some of my questions," Aries called on to his dual swords. "I want to know if this is hell or not. Is this truly a trial of redemption? Will I be able to send Pieffer back to the heavens? I want to keep my promise. That is all I want to do."

"If this is not a trial of redemption, will you stop saving this kingdom?" the Beast Tamer seemed enraged.

"I am an assassin," Aries answered and prepared for a powerful blow. "I am not some kind of a hero."

"Let me see if that is the truth," Kiel dashed toward Aries with his spear aimed at the chest of his target.

Aries crossed his blades and managed to catch the tip of the spear. But he could not shove it away. It was too heavy.

"I will give you a trial of redemption," the Beast Tamer drilled his spear through the crossed swords of Aries. Within only a few seconds, he had successfully shattered the blades of his prey and pierced him in the chest.

Again.

Aries did not feel any pain. There was only a cold sensation that entered his body but it instantly knocked him unconscious. When he came around, he was lying face down on an empty alleyway.

It was like at the beginning of his most recent dream. But he never had that urge to kill someone. He was confused and wondering if he had been sent to a dream or to another hell.

Entering the dungeon was like walking into the deepest part of hell and encountering the strange monsters within it felt like meeting with the Devil and his odd minions.

He was told that it was a trial of redemption.

But there was nothing on that alleyway. Only an eerie silence.

This is exhausting. Should I just lie in this place and forget redemption?

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Of course not. I have a promise to fulfill.

He got up on his knees and marched out of that place but after taking a few steps, he sensed a movement from behind him.

He was about to summon his duals blades when he heard a voice.

"Are you leaving?"

Aries turned to face the one who had spoken. It was a boy that was probably younger than ten years old. He was skinny. His clothes were tattered and as dirty as his entire body. His long hair was all over the place.

"Are you going to abandon your people?"

"Kid, I think you have the wrong person."

"I thought you are different from them!" the boy started crying. "I thought you are willing to fight for this house! But you are the same as the rest of the Zodiac Knights! You are cowards! If you will not help us, we will still fight! Even if we die!"

The boy ran but Aries quickly caught his tiny arm.

"Wait! Who do you think I am?"

"You are a Zodiac Knight! You are Sir Aries Del Luna! But that is only a name! Coward!"

The boy struggled against his grip but Aries did not let that tiny hand go.

This Zodiac Knights again. Trying to force me to be a hero. Fine. If this is what they want, I will give it to them!

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Out of that alleyway was a warzone. People whose heads were covered with black smoke attacked them upon noticing their presence. Aries thought that the boy needed a lot of protection, but the kid proved him wrong. Though young and skinny, he was fast and can wield a knife well. Aries did not have to worry about the kid. It was like fighting side by side with a reliable ally.

"You're strong. Do you really need a knight to protect you?"

"These possessed people are not as strong as those trying to break the barrier on the gates of Ram Village. They are the ones we are trying to suppress. But with all these people getting possessed, it is getting more difficult to keep the barrier strong against those monsters."

"You sound like an old person," Aries remarked.

"This war started five years ago. If I don't learn how to fight, I will never be able to survive. I have to protect my younger siblings," the kid looked away with a blush.

"Five years? What about the Zodiac Knights you had mentioned? What are they doing? Why are they not helping you protect these gates? And if the barrier is still there, how did the corrupted souls find a way to possess the people here?"

"The barrier cannot stop the weak ones from entering. The Zodiac Knights should be vanquishing those souls, but they… they stopped caring a long time ago... and I thought that you… you will also abandon us… I'm sorry… I was scared… I… I should not have doubted you…"

This Aries they know must be one exceptional being. How can an assassin like me take possession of this body? I felt like one of these corrupted souls instead of a hero. But still… I should succeed on this.

"Sir Aries!"

The kid moved in front of Aries and deflected a knife flying towards his chest. Another knife zoomed in their direction. It was now aimed at the kid who was still recovering from deflecting the previous knife. Aries quickly stepped between the kid and the knife. He deflected the blade, dashed towards the corrupted man, and slashed his dual blades at the throat of the paralyzed vessel.

Aries looked away from the dead body that dropped on the ground and glanced at the boy standing behind him. The kid was shedding silent tears. He was crying for the men that they had killed. They were still people of Ram's Village.

Aries raised his hand to tap the shoulder of the child but he was momentarily paralyzed when a knife shot out of nowhere and pierced the back of the boy, passed through his chest and would have stabbed Aries on his left leg if he did not shatter the knife with his dual blades.

Aries was mad. He wanted to chase whoever it was that hurled the knife. But he had no time for it. The boy collapsed in his arms and was bleeding profusely.

Aries hastily hid behind the shadows and searched for a hospital. Fortunately, he quickly found one. RamVille Healing House was the name carved on the big sign hanging on top of the double door entrance. As soon as he had entered, he was welcomed by another Pieffer. She was now wearing a white dress and her blue hair was in a high bun.

"Place him here," she pointed at an empty bed near the entrance.

Aries quickly complied and Pieffer instantly put her hands over the bleeding chest of the boy and magically mended his stab wound.

"Will he live?"

"Yes."

Aries was relieved and mesmerized at the Pieffer standing in front of him.

It seemed that he would be meeting Sunrei and Leon soon.

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