Chapter 118: Chapter 118: The Deadman’s Price

There he was.

He stood on what seems to be an endless field of sand and desert. He saw a ragged cloak flapping about, drowned in this quiet silence.

He stood in the sands.

Watching the stars shift and the skies turn into this spiral of changes.

From swords to guns.

To planet-busting weapons that put a crack on the planet. To creatures that shook the world and then a knight holding back creatures of the night.

Twisted creatures.

And so the spirals of the galaxy clashed upon one another. He who stood at the edges of the universe. He watches upon eternity, every nameless soul in his retinue, the nameless hero, the civilian that died protecting the hero, the soldier who shielded an important person from a bullet. A group of warriors holding back the tide, so those who have strength can save the world.

He moved forward and then heard litanies sung by ethereal voices. Voices that have no sound, but can be heard with or without ears. He turned to the sky where these ‘voices’ come from.

HE IS NAMELESS.

HE IS UNSUNG.

THEY ARE NAMELESS.

THEY ARE UNSUNG.

THE NAMELESS WHO FIGHTS THE SONGS OF LIFE.

THE UNSUNG HEROES WHO HOLDS BACK THE TIDE.

HEAR THE NAMES OF THE BLEAK WALKERS.

Kato walks on a hill with flowers on them. Unlike the reflected mirrors, this one was different. Everything felt so real he wondered if he was spirited away to a different universe again.

“Welcome,” the man said. “Or do you prefer these?”

Kato pointed. “That’s a spaceship?”

“It is. There are technologies in the world you can never truly fathom. Imagine it. A war between galaxies. Systems launching their weapons to destroy one another. An unfathomable being. And worlds twisted. Stuck into time bubbles.”

Kato nodded. “So why am I here?”

“Do you like this dream, Deadman?”

“What?”

“This dream of yours.”

“What dream?”

“Being with the person you care the most. I do sympathize with it. Unable to stop your person from being in the front of trouble. It is not rare. A woman who can scorn the world isn’t as rare as you might think it is. Dictators and fascists are always in every bubble of the world.”

Kato looked down. “She isn’t one. I think at least.”

“Perhaps. I can tell you why you were here.”

“Then tell me.”

“Accident.”

“What?”

“The right moment in time. Your lost soul was dragged forcibly into a causality conjunction. A soul lost in time and space. The body you had was in the right ritual and you were in the wrong place in time. It dragged you. The catalyst for it is the caster of the ritual. Your partner.”

“Her heart has you,” he pointed out. “And so with that wish you were dragged into this world.”

“Can that really be true?”

“You underestimate what a soul can do. A soul itself is an anomaly. Proper use of it can lead to certain effects. In your partner’s case she had accidentally dragged you here.”

“What’s my purpose here?”

“That I can’t tell. The universe is hard enough to understand and even my age… I can’t comprehend it.”

“No, what is your purpose for helping me twice?”

“I need a vessel.”

“Oh… you want to possess me?”

“Yes.”

“For what reason?”

“One day a being that has reached a certain connection to the highest power of the world, at the level below a god would come. This creature cannot be killed, only banished. The creature is strong enough. Many enough that it warrants a creature like me to chase after it perpetually. At least, until I can banish it and remove this existence called magic here.”

“Will that be really the case? Just like that? No magic? It’ll be gone?”

“Perhaps not.  Think of this world as a lamp in the darkness. Floating in space and time, burning brightly. And creatures are attracted to the light and this creature, knowing that there is this existence called magic in this world. It seeks the lamp and tries to open it, take the lamp for itself and then find more lamps. It is a creature that is by no means evil, but nonetheless it seeks the lamp for its own purpose.”

Kato made an exasperated sigh. “It’s hard… to think of all this. I am just some bloke who run missions to get paid. This scale is beyond me. I can’t do this.”

“I understand that. It’s simply because you have been remade by me. Your body has grown enough to become my vessel. A momentary one.”

“This is bigger than me. I am not fit for this.”

“Don’t misunderstand, Kato Lores. You are simply in this position because of an accident, and you are unfortunate to possess a body. Although this body is made from your soul. It is your debt to me, who has recreated it to become strong, to repay me. I simply only ask this: When the time comes. You will lend me your body so I can take down the creature and get rid of this world’s magic.”

“Can you really seal all this magic?”

“I can’t. Remnants will appear and the traces of it will remain, albeit diminished to the point that long complicated runes and chanting will be needed. Magic itself is a form of interference, a plea to causality to do its bidding. It is like trying to get rid of all the blood inside a human’s body. It’ll simply be less than more.”

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“It’ll become restrictive. People will lean on technology. If that happens, what will we do if demons invade?”

“I will close it. And in a way it will block the wish of your partner. She will not be able to open a rift across time and space. You will be the person to block her dreams. Not because you choose to, but because I will make you.”

Kato looked away and laughed. “That is a cruel price to pay, Sir.”

“I know. It is simply the price you must pay. One should not think of your chances as simply… a price you can just put on debt forever.”

“I didn’t ask for it.”

“You do.”

“None in this world doesn’t want to live. Even those who want to die secretly long for someone to just reach a helping hand and save them.”

“Save me.”

“Rescue me.”

“I’ve seen it all.”

He pointed his sigil-filled eyes to Kato.

Staring deeply into it feels like an uncountable set of eyes was looking back. Staring him down, telling Kato what he was saying was a life.

“And you wished for it. Will is power. And through this that your body lives on in this world. It is through this will that I can remake you. Through this will that you walk this earth. And through the will to be with your partner that keeps you from pointing a gun to your head.”

Kato felt restrained. He looked at how the Deadman was moving his hand and realized he had attached strings on him.

“What will happen to me after this?”

“It is not the right time. But once it is time the pale shine will be summoned and you shall wield the obsidian sword. I shall wield you like a sword.”

Kato felt an intense heat on the back of his left hand. Branded on his hand was a mark, a symbol of a sword.

“What is this?”

“It is the brand I carry. When the time comes the sword shall come out of your hand and will signal me. I shall turn you into my weapon. For that is the only choice that I can make.”

Kato snorted. “I think you are powerful enough. I think you don’t need this kind at all.”

“I do. Unfortunately, I need this. Do you face a world-ending threat using such a poor vessel with little talent in magic? To manifest into the material realm one would need the right body and through me remaking your body that you can be useful to me.”

Like a vessel he needed to wear to fight.  Kato felt trapped. He knows it well that whatever the power is of this being in front of him. It goes beyond anything that he has seen so far.

“My business is with the creature. That creature has eaten the magic in a hundred years ago and now it comes again. If I allow it to eat more, then this world will cease to exist. I do not expect you to understand. I do not wish for understanding. I only wish to be repaid by using your vessel.”

“Why me?”

“Because you were simply the one that I found. And to these people and to this world you are an outsider as well. A lost soul that came here by accident. You and your partner are simply the rock that disturbed the quiet pond. Everything has a price and in a way think of this as the consequence of coming here into this world. Yes, you two did not ask to be here. I think… you two are fortunate enough to be reunited.”

Kato sat on the sand. He looked around, and then groaned as if accepting his fate. “This place… what is this?”

“A homeland. A place that is close to me and my brothers who have walked the bleak path once.”

“I see.”

There was a silence between the two.

“Do you hate me?”

“I do not know. I am grateful for the chances given. But I am not fit for this.”

“Do you like this dream?”

“Again?”

“Yes. Do you like this short dream of yours, Lores?”

“Maybe. I guess I was hoping that I could avoid it all. Still, I would have appreciated it if you didn’t give me this kind of nightmare while she’s around.”

“There is no time, unfortunately. The world continues on with or without your intervention. I needed a nail to break this world you live in and I shall be the hammer that breaks it.”

Kato raised his hands and then clenched it frustratingly. He held onto the despair and kept his eyes focused. He could feel the stare of the Deadman and yet he also knew that there was no way he could repay the Deadman other than this.

Was this always his faith? To be collared by forces he has no power and control off? He didn’t understand. He didn’t want to understand at all.

Kato laid down on the sand with limbs spread. He stared at the myriads of galaxies and spirals of stars that dotted his vision.

“Tell me. You lived long enough. What keeps you continuing?”

The Deadman did not answer for a second. “I only know that it is to stop the creatures. Do you ask why the wind blows? Or why does the sun shine and dies out? I was made into this creature and all I know is that this is what I must do. Just as I have robbed you a chance to refuse. I was also robbed of what I wanted to do. You may take pleasure that we are nothing but cogs in this universe.”

“Will this help the world?”

“Who knows?”

“I wish I had some sort of talent.”

“Do not underestimate yourself. It is not everyday that one can have many chances at life. You may not be remembered. You may be hated by your peers and treated like the devil. But do not forget that my legion. The Unsung will forever remember you.”

Kato looked at the Deadman. He finally saw emotions in the Deadman’s face. And on that face he saw an exhaustion that Kato could never dare to bear.

“The nameless fool shall walk the lands,” he sang. “Bleakly yet determined to finish the job no one will remember him for.”

“One day the bleak shall find their places.

And when that time comes, the one who walked the farthest may find his peace in the stars.”

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