(Eve Solaris)

“Amelia, we need to leave now.”

Without waiting for a response, I grabbed her wrist and began running towards the large metal door.

“W-what happe-”

Before she could finish, an immobilizing pressure descended upon us.

“Now, now, what’s the rush, ladies? You’ve only just got here.” An eloquent male voice said, seemingly resounding throughout the entire room.

The pressure brought us to our knees, halfway to the exit. It came from every direction and was all encompassing like we were submerged into the deep depths of the ocean. I was unable to move and it was getting harder and harder to breathe. The mysterious force was increasing the density of the very air around us.

My vision grew dark as the pressure overwhelmed me. All feeling in my limbs were gone, I wasn’t even sure if I was still holding onto Amelia anymore.

This energy was easily on the level of Kalan’s, but unlike his that felt angelic and full of life, this one felt so dark, so sinister... so grotesque. It was like they were complete opposites. If Kalan was an Angel, this man was a Demon.

I struggled with all my might to turn my head, hoping to at least get a glimpse. However, everywhere I looked, there was only an empty room.

“W-who are you?!” I demanded, my voice coming out meek.

The pressure vanished as if it was never there, leaving us gasping for breath, sprawled out on the marble floor. Amelia seemed to have been more severely hurt by it as she lay there near unconscious with blood dripping out of her mouth.

A cloaked figure popped into existence in the central dome, or perhaps he had always been there. His form seemed to be one with the natural darkness of the room, only his jet black cloak visible from where I lay.

“I’m sorry. I sometimes forget the effect my pressure can have on the weak. But nevertheless, I am glad you’re here. I require your help.”

To say I was confused would be an understatement.

‘He needs our help? What the hell is he talking about?’

Clearly having picked up on the confusion, the man chuckled a little to himself and nodded.

“Your confusion is understandable, especially taking into consideration what they have told you about us. You may not know much about us, but we know all about you. Eve Solaris, the sole survivor.”

It didn't take a genius to understand what the man was talking about, yet my mouth remained shut, not a single sound escaping.

"You've been around them for months now and you've noticed nothing. You eat up their words and allow yourself to be shaped by them. Tell me, girl, do you know who destroyed your old life?"

On wobbly legs, I stood back up using a nearby ladder for support.

"No…" I said. Not in answer, but in denial of where this was heading. It couldn't be…

"Yes." He declared while extending out his arms theatricality.

My breath shuddered under the weight of his words. I wanted to hide- to run away. I didn’t want to listen to what he had to say, but my legs just wouldn’t move and my mind couldn’t act fast enough.

"The Church." He beamed.

'No… No. No. No. N-'

"Pfft.."

I looked back at the man who was now covering his mouth with both hands, trying to hold it in, but now that the gig was up, he let it all out.

He laughed and laughed. He even grabbed a damn chair to sit in so he wouldn’t fall over. Only after what seemed like a couple of minutes did he seem to have gained a little control over himself.

He wiped a tear from his eye and tried to say something but broke out into even more laughter.

"I can't… haha… you actually believed me! Did you not just see our own assassination order for you? Is a few words from a total stranger all it takes to convince you?"

Anger grew and overtook the initial fear I had. Anger that was pointed at this person for his little 'joke,' but more so at myself for being so gullible.

"Who the hell are you?" Amelia asked, waking up at some moment I could not recall.

“Who am I, you ask? Hmm… an interesting question with many answers. These days I'm known as the first Conqueror. A bit annoying to be honest. No one truly appreciates the value of a name.”

“I’m also the reason you're here. Well, I guess Eddy is the reason you're here, but I am the reason he sent you here. I have some very fun things planned for us." He finished with a sweep of his eyes up our bodies.

“What do you mean? Eddy… Archbishop Edwards?!” I asked, trying to ignore the creeps the guy was giving me.

“Oh no, it's stupid.” I could feel the pitiful look, like I was a deer that ran head first into a tree.

“We’ve been getting played this entire time, haven’t we?” Amelia said .

“How marvelous! So one of you is intelligent after all. Maybe this game will be more enjoyable than I first thought.” He applauded.

Ignoring the still cackling man, I turned to Amelia to check on her. Whatever he wanted, he didn't seem to be in a rush.

‘Might as well take advantage of it.’

Amelia apparently had the same idea as she beat me to the line.

“He could be lying again… but this seems to be the actual truth, " Amelia began. "Archbi- no, Edwards… he was also the one that sent Ryla away. That bastard."

I wanted to argue, say he was lying, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense.

I had thought about it a couple times during the mission. I mean, why pick two new recruits for an important mission like this… and why did it seem like everything was so easy? I shouldn’t have been so naive.

“Yes, that’s good. Realize your own naivety and let the despair settle into your very core.”

“How about you come down here and say that to my face.”

Flaring my own aura to try and dispel my twisting thoughts. Every word he said got to me even though I knew it shouldn't have.

“Oh? That’s quite a beautiful aura you have there…" The man turned his head to the side like he was listening to someone. After a few moments he nodded and whispered something.

"However, it’s pitifully weak and filled with fear. If you’re going to make threats or act big like that, you need to learn to at least hide your emotions.”

I suddenly felt his pressure increase, feeling like it was wrapping itself around my lungs as Amelia and I both started coughing.

Then, as quickly as it had been applied, it was gone.

“You’ll need to learn your place in this world. Both of you are as weak as they come. You're nothing more than dirt beneath my feet, but worry not for your role doesn't require strength. Now, let us begin the second act”

Instantly, I heard the sounds of footsteps running towards the door. I quickly got up as I attempted to suck in air. Drawing my bow, I took steps back against the wall.

“Amelia, are you okay? Can you fight?”

“I can fight, but as soon as we see an opening we need to leave. We’ve got to get back to the capital, back to Kalan and Ryla.”

Before anyone arrived through the door, I checked on the man to see if he was going to stop us from fighting. He had pulled another desk over and put his feet up, a bag of sweet bread now in his hand. His head was turned away, still hidden behind the shadows.

I waited with my bow pointing directly at the door, passively imbuing mana into the arrow I had nocked. I could feel my heart beating so rapidly that it seemed it would burst at any moment.

I took a moment to glance over at Amelia and noticed her visibly shaking as she held her Kunai in hand.

Then suddenly, the relative calm was shattered as the door burst open.

Not taking even a second to think about it, I let the arrow go. I watched as the wind from the arrow caused some of the files around the room to start flying. Then, as it carried on directly into the unlucky first soldier's chest, the doors shot backwards from the force causing the soldiers behind them to get sent flying into the wall.

Without wasting a moment, four soldiers burst into the room. They were all covered head to toe in leather armor, basic iron helmets, and armed with short swords and a wooden shield.

Noticing there wasn’t enough time to draw another arrow, I quickly turned the bow into its blade form and dashed forward as the soldiers split into teams of two.

I attempted a side swing with the blade, but noticed he was trying to bring his shield up in an attempt to parry.

I called on the wind around my blade to make it travel just a little faster. It answered and the blade skidded along the top of his shield sending out sparks, barely making it in time.

There was little resistance as my blade cut clean through the soldier's torso. I watched blood trickle out of his mouth before his body split in half.

Nausea hit me hard at the sight of his intestines wriggling out of his body. I swallowed hard to hold everything back just as a battle cry came from behind, a fresh wave of killing intent along with it.

I quickly spun around and watched the other man's flaming shortsword rapidly descend towards my head.

I dashed backwards, the blade barely missing my face as I felt the heat burn against my skin.

Refocusing myself, I darted back in, looking for any openings I could use.

As I was getting closer, he swung his blade back up to catch me.

I reacted, swinging my blade downward to parry.

Not wanting to give him any time to bring his shield up to block, I spun around, bringing my blade with me as I quickly cut through his neck, nearly chopping his head off save for a small patch of skin in the back

I watched his head roll off his shoulders, the last patch of skin eerily stretching before it slowly ripped. His blood sprayed onto me, covering my face. Before I could react, however, I heard someone scream from across the room.

Fearing Amelia had gotten hurt, I quickly turned, but all I saw was Amelia also covered in blood with a soldier in front of her that had shards of ice where his eye balls should be.

“Let’s go! Now!” She screamed, immediately running towards the door, not waiting for my response.

“Oh my, you two truly are something else! Brutal and efficient. Now run with all your heart's content, I'll even give you a headstart. Make this game even more fun!”

Amelia and I quickly ran through the hallways we had come from, making turn after turn until we reached the door we had entered from.

We both burst through the door, but as we made our way outside, we saw at least twenty soldiers making their way towards us.

Knowing this wasn’t a fight we could win, we quickly ran, trying our best to put distance between us.

We ran and ran. I pushed myself forward with the wind while thinning the air in my path. Amelia changed something in the air, maybe something to do with its temperature, while icing the ground beneath her feet. We were making great progress, but everytime it seemed we might be able to escape, a group of soldiers would appear and we’d have to change direction.

I felt the adrenaline pump through my body as we ran continuously for what felt like eternity.

But even with the adrenaline and mana pumping through my body, I could feel myself gradually wearing down. And I could tell Amelia was feeling it as well.

We kept running and running, refusing to give in to our bodies pleads for us to stop. We suddenly saw a village off in the distance.

We both looked at each other and nodded. It was a dangerous gamble considering this village could be another satanist base, but it was our only hope of possibly escaping.

After about fifteen more minutes of running, we reached the village and immediately began searching around.

However, the village seemed to be completely abandoned for a long time. Unsure if it was a good thing or not, we proceeded in.

All the old, gray-stone buildings had moss growing on them and were starting to crumble. Wooden doors and accents were completely rotted, falling apart to my touch. The well in the center of the village was long since dry with no trace of water.

After giving ourselves a little bit to calm down, we turned our attention back outside. We expected to see a squad or two nearly upon us, but, to our surprise, there was no one. Even the sounds of the soldiers chasing us had stopped.

I felt my legs give out from under me as my body started shaking and I gasped for air.

“D-do you think we made it out?”

“T-t-there’s no telling, but we should at least take this moment to rest, even if it’s for a second.”

Being in full agreement, we both sat against one of the abandoned buildings, feeling the soothing chill of the cold stone soaking into my sore muscles.

Finally, having a moment to think, I thought back on everything that had just happened. The image of the man I’d cut in half and the other's head rolling across the ground replaying in my mind caused me to throw up.

“Hey hey, are you okay?!” Amelia asked, concerned, her hand rubbing my back.

“I thought I was alright with killing after the first guards, but how it happened now was just too much.”

I looked back at her and could see a solemn expression flash across her face before it changed into an understanding smile.

“Eve. It’s not easy on me either. I figured this is something we’d have to do one day, but it doesn’t make the fact we did it any easier. If anything, take solace in the fact that, if we hadn’t, we would have been the ones killed. ”

“I know we did what we had to do, but I just… I don't know, I think I just need time. What do we do now, though?”

“Well, first we need to figure out where we are, somehow, then we need to-”

“You act like you’re already safe.”

I felt all the fatigue in my body instantly disappear and become replaced with adrenaline as I stood up, immediately drawing my bow and nocking an arrow.

“How did you find us?!”

“Finding you would require having lost you. No, I've been with you the whole time. Didn’t you hear me earlier? This game was just beginning.”

As if poofing into existence, I watched as a man walked out from behind one of the buildings we had passed earlier covered in an all black robe that hid his face and body.

I let the arrow I had nocked loose as soon as I saw him, but as it approached him, he immediately grabbed it out of the air, the arrowhead between his fingers, before snapping it in half.

“Now this won’t do. You’ll have to try much harder than this. It's no fun if you don't struggle. Although you can try as hard as you want, you’ll never be able to even leave a scratch on me. If I wanted, I could snap your little necks in an instant.”

“Then why haven’t you?” Feeling Amelia tense up next to me.

“Why? Because what would be the fun in jumping right to the end? It’s way more fun to watch your expressions of hope turn into despair as you beg me to spare you. Just the thought of it makes my spine tingle.”

I felt my blood turn cold with every word he spoke. Even without releasing his aura again, I could still feel all the wickedness behind it.

‘This man truly is a demon…’ I thought, my grip tightening.

“Let me ask you, why did you have a map of my village in that office?”

“Oh? You really think you’re in a position to ask me questions?”

He let out a maniacal laugh before continuing.

“I’ll tell you what, I can admit you have guts at least. You’re extremely foolish, but I’ll humor you. If you can inflict a single wound on me, I’ll tell you.”

“I’ll make you tell me, before I kill you.”

I could feel my blood boil at his taunts. My anger raging against my conscious mind.

“You just complained like a child about killing back there, but now threaten to kill me with such conviction.” He laughed uncontrollably as he finished the sentence.

“Well, whatever.” He suddenly became sober and ritualistically pulled out two axes from behind his back, with two human skulls tied to the top of them. I watched as they seemed to come to life as blood started swirling around his axes.

Then, he released his aura, his real aura. The one we felt before seemed like child's play compared to this one. All I could feel was pure, unbridled fear as the world around him turned a reddish black.

“It’s time for the fun to begin.”