Chapter 134 - Parasite

A set of footsteps echoed out from behind me. Then, a loud horn blared.

"IN THE ALLEYWAYS."

A guard had shouted at the top of his lungs, alerting the other guards. Several other guards repeated that statement, one after another, almost like it was echoing.

And now, countless faint footsteps reverberated around me along with the clanking of armor.

I clicked my tongue. Although this outcome lingered in the back of my mind and was the most expected, it still left a bad taste in my mouth.

I immediately ducked to the side, entering a different alleyway. However, I was greeted by the sight of two guards making their way towards this alleyway. The guards noticed my presence.

"Halt! Identify yourself!"

Without hesitation, I ducked back in and continued running through the alleyways.

Although the alleyways were long and winding, there shouldn't be too many of them. After all, it would be kinda strange for them to take on the form of something like a labyrinth. The only way that would happen is if there were several houses in the middle. At that point, it would be intentional bad design, and if it wasn't...

Then that would just be stupid.

...Wait a minute, why were there houses in the middle of the alleyway?

To my surprise, the bad design I mentioned earlier was right in front of me. The houses were small and one story tall. They were made out of very dark colored wood and had nearly seamless walls. They looked quite ominous due to the lack of windows, though having windows for these houses seemed a bit pointless.

As for the doors, they would be very easy to miss. The doorframe blended in with the rest of the wall, becoming rather unassuming.

I furrowed my brows.

Did I not notice this before? Or was this some kind of secret place?

Regardless, I wouldn't be able to figure it out now. The last time I traversed this place, I was in a panic, thus these details wouldn't have been caught by me.

The situation was strange, yes.

But it only played out to my advantage, so there was no need to think too much about it now.

After taking a few turns, I began to hear faint footsteps from both behind me and to my left.

From what I could tell, if I continued forward, then those footsteps to the left would reach me. Thus I decided to go right, as that was the logical decision. However, sometimes logic would lead you down the wrong road.

In other words, be a bunch of bullshit.

The path to the right was empty, but further down it branched into its own separate paths. And from one of those paths, came several guards.

The moment they appeared in my vision, I attempted to turn back. However, I was only greeted with more guards.

They had their iron swords out and pointed them at me.

"What are you doing here?"

"Identify yourself!"

"You are the murderer, aren't you?"

Despite my less than ideal situation, there was no sense of panic. In fact, there was even a bit of playfulness that seeped into me. As for why this happened, I wasn't entirely sure.

But I decided to embrace it.

A small smile began to form on my face.

"Looks like you caught me!"

I clasped my hands together, letting out a clear clapping sound.

"To answer about my identity, I am the killer!"

I shrugged helplessly.

"As for whether or not I am the murderer, that is resounding yes!"

I pointed towards the guards and winked.

"Whoever got that, good on you!"

The guards shifted uncomfortably.

"I-It's really the killer!"

They hesitated despite having overwhelming numbers, unable to decide if they wanted to retreat or come closer.

Though in the end, I was still cornered.

The guards were slowly realizing this fact and gaining the courage to move forward.

I was helpless.

...But that was only if I didn't want to use any of my abilities.

As for the spells I knew, they wouldn't help much in breaking through a large crowd of guards. The best I could think of was either the firebolt spell, or healing spell.

Perhaps if there were only a few guards, I would totally consider brute forcing my way through with a few firebolts, or with my body in combination with the healing spell.

But still, there was my ability to teleport.

The only issue with that would be how easy it was to mess up. Or in other words, teleport into the wall.

The only real way to escape was teleporting past the wall and into a new empty alleyway. But not only would I not have a line of sight, I couldn't be completely sure of how far exactly I would have to teleport.

It was a long time in the past, but I had an experience similar to that. In particular, it was teleporting with my hand within the eagle. The end result was the eagle exploded, while my hand disappeared entirely, along with monumental amounts of pain.

Although controlling the length of my teleportation was instinctual to me, this kind of pressure made me feel fear.

...Well, it would've made me feel fear, if I was normal.

But now, I exaggeratedly moved my arms around with a wide smile on my face.

"What are you so afraid of? It's just one person!"

The guards trembled slightly.

"W-We know that!"

I rolled my head around as though it was a ball, then stopped when it was twisted to the side.

"Even if I am somehow stronger than one of you, look at your numbers!"

The guards seemed to gain a little confidence, as though they only realized this fact after it was said by me.

"Haha... exactly!"

The smile on my face widened unnaturally, splitting my lips apart.

"Not to mention I am completely unarmed without so much as a single plate of armor. Then look at you all with your swords and protective metal."

With that, one guard got the courage to step forward, prompting the rest to go as well. Their swords pierced forth, coming straight for my body and face. Yet, despite being in a precarious situation, I began to chuckle as though laughing at a funny joke.

I began contorting my body as though it was involuntary from something like an electric shock, or in pain.

For some reason, that was my priority, rather than hurrying to teleport, or even prepare for that matter.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Oops, I forgot one thing..."

In just a few seconds, the swords nearly reached me. I directly looked at a sword coming straight for my eye with a wide smile.

A small chuckle escaped me.

"I am a little frightening."

The swords got so close, that the wind from them brushed by my eye.

Then, a tight feeling wrapped around me..

Strangely enough, my mind only focused on activating teleportation after the wind brushed by my eye.

But what was even stranger, was the fact I teleported right into the middle of an empty alleyway, hitting the bullseye.

Even if the alleyway was considerably smaller, I would've been fine.

But still, the rush of adrenaline was overwhelming. For the first time, I experienced the pure thrill of voluntarily dancing on the blade of a dagger. In the back of my mind, I couldn't believe I was doing this.

Not to mention how familiar it felt, as though I had done it many times before. Yet, as far as I could remember, I had never done something like this.

...Wait, that's not entirely true.

I recalled those visions. When I fought, every moment was one where I brushed right past death. The two-horned demon would swing at me, and I would recklessly evade by just barely enough.

Almost like dodging a little more to be safe was below me.

I immediately came to an understanding.

The person was in the vision, whether it was myself or someone else...

Was influencing me.

As though they were a parasite, slowly eating away at my mind.

They might just be memories naturally influencing, or a person trying to take over me. But regardless, it meant they were stealing away me.

Who I was as a person.

Like a cold bucket of water, a chill swept through me. The wide smile on my face washed away into a small frown, while my entire demeanor changed.

There was a part of me that wanted to give in to that strange side of me, as it seemed frighteningly capable.

However, I knew what I had been through.

As weak as I was, nothing could take away what I experienced or overcame.

Perhaps my past self was stronger, maybe even far stronger.

But at the very least, I was going to do this my own way.

That much is something I could promise myself.

A chill swept past me, but a familiar one.