I had no idea what the fuck happened.
One minute I was grasping for breath as I charged headfirst towards a Dragon, the next, I found myself in front of a mysterious hooded man.
Rage instantly engulfed me.
Who was this man? Who are you to rob me of my glory?!
I rushed at him, wanting to rip his neck to pieces, but before I could even reach him, words that were incomprehensible to my own mind flowed out of him and into my ears. A stinging headache attacked my head, causing me to fall on my knees. It wss then when I found out what truly happened.
I... had died...
The fiery blaze of the Dragon's infernal breath immediately burnt my body into ashes, not even giving me enough time to realize my own demise...
And now I was here, surrounded by darkness and silence.
I glared at the hooded man, wondering who he was, and why he had brought me here.
But once again, before I could even do anything else, a sudden pain struck my head as an influx of information flooded my brain, and then—
Darkness.
*****
Kelthsermane.
How did I know this town's name?
I didn't fucking know. It probably had something to do with the shit that the hooded man did to my head. As for what else I suddenly knew, it was that there's a haunted battlefield near this damned town that's apparently haunted by a Spectre, and that hooded bastard gave me the task of dealing with it.
Together with two other people....
I looked to my sides and saw a Centaur and an old turtle man-like thing.
I honestly didn't know who or what he even was.
But all of us were given the same task.
To exorcise the Spectre.
Though I'm not sure how the fuck that's even possible for us, seeing as how none of us seem to be even capable of hitting ethereal beings. But fuck it. There's surely a priest or two in this town.
I would have disregarded this bullshit under normal circumstances, but the situation we found ourselves in now was far from being normal.
I died and got resurrected.
But above all else, there was one piece of information that the hooded man drilled into my head that I so deeply desired…
An opportunity.
An opportunity to get my revenge on that damned Dragon Empire.
*****
We went to a nearby Tavern.
We knew absolutely nothing of the current situation, or what happened on the battlefield before, so the first thing we needed to do was dig for information from the townsfolk. Once we entered though, the old turtle, Syom, immediately went to the Tavern Keeper. And seeing the odd look on the old turtle's face, he seemed to be acquainted with the owner of this place.
However, once I heard the conversation they were having, my lips couldn't help but twitch as I listened to the absurd words coming out of Syom's mouth…
I assume both of us had the same circumstances, that we died and got brought back, and yet the first thing Syom wanted to do was have sex….
This bastard…
The Centaur must've thought the same as me, as I saw him exiting the Tavern after hearing Syom's conversation with the Tavern Keeper. I wanted to do the same, but we needed information. So I asked around. Listening to the customers' bullshit, one after another. In all honesty, the shit they were spouting was mostly nonsense, theories and conspiracies that barely had any evidence supporting them. What pissed me off even more though was that a lot of the people here didn't even actually participate in battle and merely stayed at the back of the army.
Tsk.
Useless bastards.
I then exited the tavern after asking about everything I wanted to know. Oddly enough though, Old Man Syom exited shortly after I did, looking a bit dejected. I thought he would have lasted for dozens of minutes, seeing as he was so excited to have a go at it, but I guess I was wrong….
After that, we went to look for Centrus, the Centaur. It was easy to find him, as he was the only person in this town who left hoof prints wherever he went. When we found him, we saw him by a shrine, talking to an elderly man wearing cleric robes.
A cleric, huh…
After reaching them, Centrus introduced the man to us. Apparently, his name was Beni, a cleric who fought in the final battle months ago. Beni talked about what he heard from a dying soldier that he was desperately trying to save at the time. The soldier told him that just as the battle was about to reach its peak, a brilliant flash of light surrounded the enemy army before they disappeared all at once. By then though, so many humans had already died, so it was really hard for them to think of it a victory…
Still…
Beni…
I didn't know much about him, but seeing the muscles that lay underneath his robe, it was clear that he was no ordinary cleric. Actually, I found it hard to think of him as just a cleric at all. For him to reach that age and still retain that much muscle…
Beni was no ordinary man.
But just as my suspicions about him started growing, Syom, that horny old turtle, suddenly approached Beni and wrapped the back of his neck with his arm. Syom was spouting some bullshit to him, which honestly made me cringe and look at Syom with disdain. Beni must've thought the same as I did as he slowly but surely took off Syom's arm around his neck and backed away from him.
But anyways, after all that shit happened, we started talking about our next course of action. We talked about our mission, and our desire to purify the battlefield by exorcising the Spectre. Beni listened to us intensively and actually offered to help guide us on the quest and to deal with the Spectre.
We then decided to just go off by ourselves for now and make our preparations, after which we would meet up tomorrow morning at the same spot, where we would then proceed with our mission.
Going our separate ways, I decided to go into the woods and camp there. Centrus didn't seem too comfortable with lingering within the town as well, as he decided to stay with me in the woods. As for Syom, I didn't know what that old coot was thinking, but he decided to go back to the tavern to rest for the night. Though I still can't help but think he might have perverted intentions for staying there.
Tsk.
After setting up camp in the woods and eating my rations, I decided it was a good idea to build makeshift javelins with the surplus of wood around me. Centrus seemed really keen to the idea as he helped me by picking out and gathering the wood I needed. And after making a few Javelins, both of us rested in our own areas and slowly drifted to sleep.
And then morning came.
Me and Centrus made our way to the shrine, where we promised to meet. A short distance away, we saw Syom walking with Beni heading towards us. I don't know what the two of them talked about, but they seemed to be on better terms than yesterday.
Apparently, Syom went to visit Beni's place before coming here, but I didn't really bother to ask what they did or talked about there, because whatever it was, it was probably only something geezers like them could relate to.
Either way, after finally meeting up, we decided to venture to the battlefield.
It was then that Beni suggested using the path they usually took before to reach the warzone, but Centrus, being a very competent Ranger, managed to map out a far more efficient route to reach our destination.
We didn't hesitate and followed Centrus' lead.
Beni seemed a bit displeased with our decision, but I really didn't care and so did everyone in our group.
And so, with our route determined, we set off on foot. I took the lead as the sole warrior in our party. Centrus stayed at the back, acting as our navigator. While Beni was together with Syom in the middle, where they would be protected and covered from any sudden danger.
We marched at a steady pace, making sure to not overexert ourselves in our travels, so we had energy to spare once a situation demanded it. The entire time, we kept our eyes peeled for any potential danger, but then, once we reached the top of a certain hill—
Whoosh—!
—an arrow landed on the ground in front of me, stopping me from my tracks, as a group of what seemed to be like bandits jumped out of the trees and the rubble of the abandoned barracks downhill from us. It was then that Beni suddenly distanced himself from our group and drew his Quarterstaff at us.
A golden glow covering its entirety…
It didn't take us long to realize that Beni was acquainted with the ambushers in front of us.
The first one to act was unexpectedly Syom. He quickly rushed towards Beni and attempted to push him down the hill, however, it seemed like Beni was far stronger than any of us originally thought, as he easily pushed aside Syom's attempt. Syom seemed visibly surprised that his attack didn't work, and for some reason that none of us can understand, the damned old man decided to jump away to the nearby trees with surprisingly agile movements.
While I did find his movements impressive…
What the fuck was that about?!
Where are you going, you old coot?!
Frustrated, I grabbed one of my javelins and threw it towards Beni and managed to hit his sides, injuring him. Blood dripped from where the javelin poked through. It was then that Centrus drew his bow and shot an arrow towards Beni. Unfortunately, the arrow missed by a hair's breadth, allowing Beni to close the distance between them and strike Centrus with his Quarterstaff.
Taking the blow, Centrus whined and galloped downhill, towards Syom, to create some distance between him and Beni.
As for me, it was already apparent that Beni wasn't in very good shape because of the injury I gave him. So I diverted my attention away from him and focused on the approaching enemies ahead of us. Two of them, Archers, slowly advanced towards my location, one of them drawing their bow at me.
Rage immediately engulfed my entire body as I glared at these petty bastards in front of me.
And so I charged.
An arrow made its way towards me but I managed to block it with my shield. Unfortunately, however, another one came my way and punctured a hole through my shoulder. But even then, I kept rushing forth.
From the corner of my vision, I saw two bandits making their way to where Syom was, but in a blink of eye—faster than what I could perceive—Syom was already in front of them, and in one swift motion, thrusted his rapier forward, and burst a hole through the two bandits' bodies, killing them instantly.
HOLY SHIT—!!
This perverted old turtle was actually a very skilled fighter.
Whoosh—!
Another arrow was shot towards me, cutting off my thoughts. I managed to block it with my shield, however, and facing the bastard who shot it, I pulled out my rope and lassoed it around his neck as I ran past him. The bastard seemed exceptionally strong though, as he easily managed to break from his binds.
Clicking my tongue, I continued rushing forward, straight towards what seemed like their leader.
A barrage of arrows came towards me from all sides as I charged, some of them I managed to block, while the others managed to pierce my body.
The death throes of our enemies hung in the air as Centrus' arrows managed to slowly whittle down the enemy's numbers.
And then finally…
I was finally face to face with their leader.
Among those that were present here, this man was the only person I genuinely felt worried about. In my current state, I wasn't sure if I could fight him head on, but even then…
I must—!
Thrusting my spear forward, I aimed at his chest, hoping to end this fight in a single blow. The bastard managed to dodge it, however, and tried to strike me with his blade, only for it to be blocked by my shield. And just like that, we exchanged multiple blows, stabbing, slashing, thrusting, doing whatever we could to end each other's lives…
But just when I started to think I was getting the upper hand, I suddenly felt an ominous energy from behind me…
Tsk!
Beni—!
I turned around, to see what that treacherous bastard was up to, only to be surprised when I saw the torrent of Divine Energy he was pouring out.
Suddenly feeling a chill on my back, I quickly turned around and tried to raise my shield—
"Ughh..!!"
—when the leader's sword, clad in flames, slashed my chest, wounding me deeply. Dropping down to my knees, I gritted my teeth as I glared at the leader who was about to deliver a killing blow, but just as he was about to raise his sword…
Slash—!
…Syom rushed in from the darkness brought by the shadows of the forest, and parried the leader's blade. Stunned by sudden interruption, the leader staggered on his feet, and without skipping a beat, I ignored the excruciating pain I was in, and raised myself as I roared and thrusted my spear forward, impaling the leader's shoulder and cutting it off completely.
Glaring at him, I grabbed the sword he dropped and cut up his chest, even as he begged pitifully for mercy.
While I did so, however, I once again felt a powerful fluctuation of Divine Energy from atop the hill, prompting me to quickly turn my back and raise my shield, preparing for whatever bullshit Beni was about to conjure.
It seemed like my worries were for naught, however, as I saw Centrus' arrow, flying straight through the wind, and directly piercing through Beni's chest, causing him to instantly fall to the ground.
I then heard the death throes of their enemy leader as Syom slit his throat with dagger, before wiping the blood off from its blade with the leader's cloak.
I then looked around and spotted some survivors, survivors that were quickly killed by Centrus' swift arrows…
Except one.
While it was a bit annoying that one of them escaped, I couldn't find it in me to complain, seeing as how everyone did exceptionally well during this battle.
And so, surrounded by the corpses of the bastards that tried to ambush us, our party gathered up and approached the bastard that put us in this position in the first place.
Beni.
*****
A grand and visceral torture session then occured.
The subject?
The damnable Beni.
Centrus took it upon himself to push Beni's pain threshold to its very limits. The torture was so gruesome and bloody that not even, I, a Northern Barbarian, am comfortable with remembering what I witnessed.
But it was worth it…
We found out that Beni was actually an Agent of the Dragon Empire that was sent here to find some sort of relic, acting as an inside man while the Dragon Empire's army ravaged the lands and its people. Over time though, Beni grew attached to this little village, and informed the Dragon Empire that the relic they were looking for was not here, prompting them to retreat their armies after decimating the humans…
He also told us about how him and the few followers he had left had actually been collecting the corpses of dead Mages in the battlefield and giving them to a Necromancer…
We asked him more questions about this Necromancer he spoke of, but apparently, the only person that knew anything about it was the leader of the bandits, the leader that Syom unfortunately killed.
After torturing the bastard and getting the information we wanted, we were then left wondering about what to do with him…
For me though, I didn't really have to think about it much..
There was only one thing I could think of that's deserving of this bastard's sins…
Crucifixion.