27 No Escape: Thorns of Death

27 No Escape: Thorns of Death

I hit him hard in the head. Yet he didn’t stop laughing himself out as he kept mumbling ‘his successful creation’, multiple times even though he kept bleeding. I still remembered how I did it. How my hands trembled in fear.

Trembled in shame.

I just hurt my father. I just hurt him.

I just hurt him. Yet, why doesn’t he feel no pain?

I cried. And screamed silently. Why did he come to this?

Why did we end up like this?

“I surely killed him.”

"And fed him to them,"

Funny how the secrets that had been burnt and brought to grave resurfaces just like that. Indeed, Physical Body will rot, and the soul will bring all the sin created with their connection.

"He came back to life — just like this poor student in front of you…” I bit my lips, preventing more gasps from leaving.

“ Clenching his teeth, staring at you with starving, devouring eyes. Even your beloved mother, twisted into something cruel and unrecognizable, looked at you the same way. And your friends... over time, their strength only grew as their hunger deepened."

He leaned closer, his voice like a blade.

"What did you really lose back then, Azilan?"

What did I truly lose? Myself?

No.

My friends?... How ironic I’ve been calling them friends when I was the cause of their death and doom.

My family?... How can I even deserve that when I killed them?

I lost everything…

I couldn't hold it back anymore. Tears streamed down my face. I just cried — broken, helpless.

He wiped the tears from my eyes almost gently, only to force me to watch as he hurled the fire from his hand straight at the student.

She went up in flames.

“Witness how painful the fire is.”

In front of me, their eyes asked me to spare them from more pain as I burnt them. They didn’t feel physical pain, even their bodies were engulfed with flames. But as I watched the poor student being burnt in front of me the same as what I thought as a solution, I looked at her eyes. Then the same image flash in my eyes, the image of how I saw their eyes came back to life and dropped their tears.

At first, I refused to believe it. But I saw it clearly — the way their lips moved, forming my name.

"Stop it," I screamed, but I couldn't move.

Just like before, I stood frozen, forced to watch them die, too cowardly to stay and see it through to the end.

“Have you ever asked yourself if you didn’t end up in that decision, Can you still find the cure?” I quickly pulled my grip and pulled his tie tightly.

"What the hell are you trying to point out?!" He didn’t respond to me, instead he added more flames to her. My eyes widened in shock. And then he looked at me with a gloomy face expression.

“She wanted to live, but the past that you seek to forget, caused her to end up like this.” My grip slightly loosen as he said that.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit unfair?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“You were given a second life, but what did you do? You are just a foolish scum who is just waiting for a second death. A TRASH.” I clenched my fist. Anger is residing in my system yet I hate myself because it is the fact.

“She wants second chances! Do you know how hard it is for her to witness how she accepts her forceful death? She has plenty of things to do. Yet, she just died in a traumatic way… What if the people you just left before have regained their consciousness and begged you to stop that fire?”

“There is no what if—”

“Because death said so? Azilan! Wake up, even death is already in front of you, don't just wait while wasting your life…It’s pathetic I’m giving you a damn advice that you wouldn’t even do.” He grabbed my hand and pushed it off as I loosen my grip.

He walked towards her. And mention his name before he pulled out her soul. I couldn’t even bring myself to look at her soul. But then, she moved. She walked toward me and gently touched my face.

Her touch was like a soft, cold breeze, brushing against my skin.

She guided my gaze to meet hers, and when I looked into her eyes, I saw it — my old self staring back at me.

The hopeless, broken, and pathetic Azilan.

She caressed my face once more, pulling me back to reality.

Then, without a word, she turned and walked through the door of death.

And yet... her touch still lingers on my skin.

“Azilan, brace yourself, because that will never be the last you will witness this.”

He extinguished the flames and cleared the air, washing away the heavy, burnt stench that still clung to the ground.

"There are a lot more like her," he said, his voice low. "Hiding. Terrified, they'll be killed if anyone ever sees what they've become."

I wiped my tears, my voice trembling as I looked at him. "What do you mean?"

He met my gaze, cold and steady.

"Just like I said earlier," he continued, "they’re your father’s creations. But time... time changed them. Mutated them. They learned to hide — to live among us — until the thirst took over, and madness finally devoured them." My eyes widened.

"Is that also the reason why both of you showed up that day?"

The day of the time reversal.

The guardians of death never reveal themselves unless someone is dying. There should only be one guardian assigned to a place — yet that day, he appeared with another guardian.

"Stopping the one behind the time reversal... that wasn’t the only reason you exposed yourself," I said, my voice trembling. "Why did you come back so injured?"

He looked at me, his expression unreadable.

"We, the guardians of death, are the reapers of souls," he said quietly. "But we don't wish for a massacre.

It’s true — the time reversal saved those who were supposed to die... but it doesn't erase the fact that they already died once."

I swallowed hard. "Are there many of them... hiding?"

He lifted the corner of his lips in a half-smirk, half-pity.

"You should be asking why no one even notices it’s already everywhere."

My eyes widened as the truth crashed into me.

"The barrier..." I mumbled under my breath.

He nodded grimly.

"People have witnessed it," he said. "But as long as they remain inside the barrier’s reach, everything they see — every memory of it — vanishes into thin air."

The realization struck me like a blow.

The feud between the Mortal Guardians and the Guardians of Death... it wasn't as simple as everyone believed. Over time, their conflict had grown so deep, so bitter, that there was no longer any space left for peace.

"How could they do that!" I shouted, the anger burning in my chest.

"My presence here is already a thorn in their side," he said in a cold voice. “ As more death shows up, they can’t hide it anymore." His words hit me like a punch. Was he truly asking for more death to sweep through this place? Was he provoking it?

"Are you insane?" I demanded, my voice shaking with disbelief. "You’ll just leave them to die like that? Just like that?"

“You are not a hero, Azilan. Just what I said, brace yourself to witness everything, like you did before…easy-peasy.” His words cut deep. His tone was so detached, like nothing mattered — not the lives, not the consequences.

But my karma.