Choices

Even though he managed to witness one of the most bizarre things he had ever seen in his lifetime, he didn't enquire much about it. Rather, he decided to leave it at that. "Hey, running around is fine and all, but if you try saving them you'll die." He warned her.

"What do you mean?" She didn't understand his intentions. She had a sword which could possibly save people and yet he told her not to. So, she couldn't help but ask him why.

"Eurynomos placed a spell so that if someone tries to save another from the nether vines, they will suffer immense pain from it and die. He was sure a cautious guy. Well, it worked for me too when I wanted to sacrifice them. Never would've thought this day would come." He explained.

"So, that means the only one who could possibly save them is an undead—like you. Well, that's convenient." She sighed as she retracted her sword. Unbeknownst to her, a little tattoo of a silver sword was formed behind her neck as she did it.

"As if! I can still feel pain after all. And if I didn't tread carefully… Well, I won't die. But, there's a slight chance of me going in limbo. So stand back and don't go running here and there. Run too far, you won't be able to return back to the real world." He wanted to die, not go in a coma state where others could use his body for whatever they needed it for.

"Then, how are they going to return to the real world?" She asked since it seemed like they had no chance to escape on themselves as they could.

"Don't worry. If broken off the nether vines, the realm will consider them as outsiders and immediately relinquish them off the realm." He assured her.

"That's good." Tanya calmed down after hearing that.

"Okay. I'm going now." He headed over to the people as he held on to his knife. Each swing of his was so precise that the people were pushed out of the realm in an instant. However, the pain was visible in his face. And with each swing, his face grew more and more distorted. Thankfully, it ended soon due to his super-speed and he let out a groan and laid flat on the ground. "Fuck. At least it's done now."

"So, are we going now?" Tanya asked, with no chill. However, she asked it since she was concerned about her unconscious body in the dungeon.

"What? At least, let me rest a bit!" He shouted, quite surprised about her ruthless attitude. But in a way it made sense to him as well… He just didn't know why it did.

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A few minutes later. The dungeon was in a frenzy. Everyone woke up from their slumber, not knowing where they were and why they were in that place. Amidst all the confusion, Tanya and Ambrogio came back too. "Whew, finally back to the real world!" Ambrogio sighed.

"What's happening? Where are we? Why are we here? Someone please answer me!" Some random person shouted.

"Guess it's time for me to explain some stuff." Ambrogio dusted himself off and got up to a high ground where everyone could notice him. "Okay, everybody. Listen up." No one did.

"I said listen up!" He shouted once again and everyone grew silent. He continued. "Well, now that everybody's listening, I'll tell you the things that you want to know. What's happening, you ask? A big bad guy with an evil plot in his mind kidnapped you, placed you under a curse that'll kill you within eight months. And that big bad guy would be me." He laughed. He could see the disdain in some people's eyes but decided not to care about it.

He continued on with his explanation. "Now, where are we? We are in a dungeon right near the city you used to live in. You see, you were under a spell that controlled your body for all these months. I would've used that to kill you and offer you as sacrifices to Hades. But, due to some unforeseen events, I thought of changing my plans and letting you live. So, as of this moment, you are free from my control."

"How could you do this to me? I have two little kids!" A woman shouted with tears in her eyes. Again, he chose to ignore her comments.

"For some people, the ones I brought in pretty long ago, these days might be your last ones. But, one thing's for sure. Everyone here will die within the next eight months. Well, a person has to die someday, am I right?" He chuckled. No one else did. He coughed and went back to the point. "Anyway, now you have some choices. You could either go back to family and spent your last moments with them or you could go out to the world and do the things you always wanted to do. After all, some of you have already been pronounced dead after going missing for so long. Or there is the secret third option—trying to kill me and exact vengeance. Well, as much as I like the concept of death, it's just that you can't kill me. So, I'll be forced to use some of my self-defense moves." He went towards a wall nearby and with his bare fist, destroyed it in one shot.

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