Death will always exist as long as there is life in the world.
The fear of losing bonds, the fear of hurt, and the fear of the unknown, makes them afraid of death once they face it.
Standing in front of a large cave, Kaiser remembered his chat with his master.
"Master, have you ever worried about passing away?"
His master laughed upon hearing that question. "You are asking that question to the wrong person! I am old and sick. My daughter and my wife have already left me first. It would be strange if I still cared about anything in this world."
Kaiser understood his Master's meaning in silence. From the beginning, he was not someone too attached to the mortal world. The reason why he was in that village, the reason why he taught Kaiser, was because the Master did not care.
He no longer cared about secret techniques. He no longer cared about the way of the sword. He no longer cared because everything he cared about was no longer in this world.
"You are a talented lad. If I had met you in my youth, I am sure my past self would have disliked you, my Disciple."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. I am just an old man who knows only a little about martial arts now. My life as a warrior is a mere past that I have left behind."
The Master's gaze softened as his eyes turned toward the bright blue sky. His lips widened into a smile the moments his memories of the past surfaced.
"If it were the old me, I would say I will never let anyone kill me and will bring greatness to the Central Plains. But now, I am happy because I can be with them again."
Like the last embers, his spirit, too, has been carried away by the winds of the past.
Still with his smile, his Master turned his face.
"But you are not me, my disciple. At the same age, you are better than I was. More mature, stronger, more talented … I know you can learn ten from one thing I teach you. You're born to be great."
"...." Kaiser only gave a silent speech.
But his master never bothered, or, he always knew Kaiser never the most talkative person.
"I may regret unable to save my wife when she's giving birth to our beloved daughter. I may regret unable to kill the monster that killed my daughter. However, that is but a remains of the past. I no longer blame the world for what had happened. Instead, I am grateful because they did not have to feel the cruelty of this world any further … as I experienced."
His gentle eyes glance at Kaiser.
"... I am grateful because someone is waiting for me when I die later."
His master was ready to die at any time. He no longer had regrets, happiness, or grudges over anything in this world.
He had broken free from the bonds of the mortal world.
"May master reach Nirvana."
Kaiser poured his hope for his master to be with his family in heaven. He's the most respected person in Kaiser's life.
"Thank you, my disciple. I hope you find a reason to live in this world after I die, not just a necessary survival. Now go, let my daughter and wife pick me up."
Kaiser only gave one last thin smile before closed the door. Kaiser leave him breath his last under the golden-leaved tree. Same kind that had witness his master's growth, relationships, and happiness in the past.
He was glad at that time, the tree was blooming with golden leaves to say goodbye to his master.
Kaiser took a deep breath, calming himself as his mind returned to the present.
Was he afraid of death? He still didn't know.
He had experienced it once, but it felt only hollow and shallow. There was only a silence that appeared when his life was gone.
Every moment he swing his sword, death was never in his thought, it's inability to protect people he cared for.
The cool air from the giant dense trees around filled his lungs. Strengthening his resolve once again in front of the cave in the middle of the forest.
His master no longer had any ambition or reason to be in this world. He also had no reason to send Kaiser to avenge his grudge. From the beginning, being in this place was Kaiser's own decision.
The death of his master's daughter was due to a natural disaster ….
A living disaster that had erased a castle from the map and turned that place into a swamp of blinding darkness.
He has searching this living disaster for several months. And its final trail in a remote cave under a mountain in the middle of an untouched forest.
It was only a rumor, no certainty that the creature was there. But Kaiser checked it anyway, and he won the bet.
Oppressive magical wave surged from inside the cave. Driving away every being that tried to approach with the fear of the unknown.
His Evil Eyes read the difference in the density of Ether in the air. It was very different from the forest environment around the cave. At this level, ordinary humans would not be able to breathe. Like difference in air pressure on the top of mountain compared to a regular plain.
—Tick.
The sound of water dripping from the cave ceiling was the only thing that welcomed Kaiser. With each step, Kaiser descend further into the cave. Darkness swallowed him without a trace.
A moment later, glass-like cracks appeared in the empty air. The space of the dark cave shattered, crumbled without a trace like glass. Beyond the darkness, there's a world with bright blue sky and cotton white clouds. Even Kaiser could feel the soft breeze against his skin as if were in the middle of a plain.
Kaiser stood in a place that was the polar opposite of the dark, and silent cave. A bright grassy plain in the day.
It was a beautiful place, but Kaiser's focus at the moment was the figure standing few meters in front of him.
"What do you desire, visitor, O' Brave Nous?" The voice was calm, but held power and understanding.
Kaiser stood staring at the figure of the Living Disaster. The figure is said to manifest darkness to the world by the order of Vierra, the Maiden of White Moon. They were Ormr Simulacra.
Kaiser's golden Evil Eyes fixed to the enchanting figure of Ormr Simulacra. An unclad silver-haired and blue-eyed woman with a body that is flawless by any scars or impurities.
But in this world, a beautiful woman is a red flag that never to be believe once or forever. If they are not monsters, they are demons, or temptresses who can destroy a kingdom with their charm.
In the past, human worship Sacred Beasts like gods. They became protectors and also guardians of one place.
The sky, the earth, and also the sea.
Ormr Simulacra was one of those Sacred Beasts. The creature that brought the darkness of the world. Giving night and also rest to all living creatures.
The calm stare from the blue eyes directed to Kaiser. No fluctuations. anger, confusion, or interest, not one could be found. There was only pure tranquility built from the millennia of life.
Sacred Beasts were not mindless monsters. Kaiser had just found this out.
From all the stories about Sacred Beasts he knew, it was always humans who started everything; they only gave punishment to humans had committed evil.
In those stories, Sacred Beasts was a punishment from the gods for human negligence.
"To challenge you," Kaiser answered.
"I see … restless ambition to the point of blinding rationality … such is the nature of an intelligent being." Her gaze fluctuated, changing from the previous calm into a weak disappointment.
"If that is the case. Then may you demise as you wish."
Ormr Simulacra manipulate Kaiser's shadow, it moved on its own, binding Kaiser's body and wrapping his body like a dark cocoon. But before reaching his head, the shadow stopped and returned to being an ordinary shadow. Releasing Kaiser's body from the binding.
"... Oh?"
Ormr Simulacra, now found herself with a slight of interest.
"... You are quite different from other Nous." Ormr Simulacra commented as Kaiser stepped towards her.
"Is that so?" Kaiser offer a thin smile as he drew his sword and continued to approach Ormr Simulacra.
"Indeed, you are a strong individual." That was the last sentence Ormr Simulacra uttered, before her head detached from her own neck.
Blood gushed, like a fountain from the neck. Yet, Kaiser stabbed Ormr Simulacra's heart with sword and burst her heart from the inside.
"... Interesting." Ormr Simulacra's head, watch Kaiser explode her heart from the grassy ground. "You can cut my flesh." She was in human form indeed, but it never meant her flesh is like human's.
Kaiser's hand pulled the sword out from the chest of Ormr Simulacra's corpse. He turned to look at Ormr Simulacra's head. "Now, it's time to show your true self, Ormr Simulacra."
His word followed by the sword coated with magical energy that turned the silver blade into a bright blue. His hand swung the sword to the right side. The swing is slow, but it cut through the false world into fragments of silver pieces.
The false bright world disappeared, turning back into a cave that was very dark without light. However, Kaiser's eyes were able to see the interior of the cave without any problems. A substance that had a form like an unnatural lightless purple fire burned in the corners of the cave.
A loud and heavy slithering sound appear behind Kaiser. The man turned around and swung his sword without hesitation as the wide mouth of a large snake lunging at him.
Slashing projectile flew from Kaiser's blade and wounded the mouth of Ormr Simulacra.
Kaiser's attack made the giant snake's head close its mouth and flinch back into the shadows.
A burst of purple fire came out from the right side, extending from the purple fire like a snake tongue, and made Kaiser step back.
Another fire attack targeted the spot where Kaiser was standing now and he used his sword to parry.
His eyes read the sword for a brief moment.
"...." Realizing something was wrong, Kaiser moved to the cave ceiling with a leap equal to teleportation.
'My sword corroded.' He thought.
Even when in an inverted position, the attacks from the giant snake and the purple fire did not stop at all. Ormr Simulacra took the opportunity of Kaiser's silence to attack.
The snake's tail attack from the right side parried, and avoiding the following fire attacks from four sides with shifting steps. Kaiser made a counter-attack, but the snake managed to disappear into the darkness.
The exchange of hit and runs continued many times. Kaiser kept running to various sides and corners to avoid every attack like a mouse. If Kaiser did not change the flow soon, it was only a matter of time before he ran out of energy and made a fatal mistake.
'In that case ….'
As Hi coated the sword, Kaiser's sword blade changed color to blue. This time Kaiser's Hi overflowed like big waves in the ocean that blast through the coast.
He jumped and pushed the air toward the exit. He stabbed his sword into the cave ceiling and collapsed the cave.
The roar of the earth could be heard through the forest. The earthquake makes every animals run away from the location. The structure of the cave collapsed into a landslide, destroying trees like matchstick.
Appearing at the edge of the cave's remains, Kaiser scrutinized the dark smoke coming out of the rock crevices. The dark smoke moved as if alive, becoming flat like a ribbon, darting toward Kaiser at high speed.
Kaiser avoided every attack with ease. Stepping left and right, Kaiser slashing every smoke with his sword, before the giant gaping mouth of an obsidian-scaled monster came out from under the rocks, lung towards him.
Kaiser jumped back to avoid the attack, but the snake spat out purple fire out. When the purple fire and Kaiser made contact, an explosion occurred and threw Kaiser far back. Even though he had protected his body, second-degree burns were unavoidable on Kaiser's hands after holding the explosion.
The giant snake emerged from under the ruins without any visible wounds on its body.
"To be able to do all this alone … who are you, human?"
"I am but nobody."
Ormr Simulacra stopped the small talk and lunged toward Kaiser with tendrils of darkness on all sides.
Huff—
Kaiser took a deep breath. His eyes pierced Ormr Simulacra. Hi coat his sword for the umpteenth time. For the Sacred Beast it was nothing but futile efforts and kept advancing.
Kaiser quelled his breath along with one vertical slash from his position.
"—What?!"
There was no trace of energy. An ordinary sword that should not have been able to touch her at that distance severed her in two. The giant snake could no longer move and exploded into black smoke in its defeat.
Kaiser changed his grip and swung the flat side of his sword to clear the black smoke.
Behind the smoke, half-human form of Ormr Simulacra already in front of Kaiser with obsidian scale claws, ready to grab him with one hand.
Ormr Simulacra's lower body had become a black-scaled snake tail. With her speed in Lamia form, Kaiser's sword that swept the smoke would not be ready for use.
Kaiser parried that hand with a dagger drawn from his waist and cut Ormr Simulacra's fingers.
With her other hand, Ormr Simulacra aimed for Kaiser's neck with a cut, but Kaiser was ready and spun his sword, cutting off the Beast's entire arm.
"... Alright, nice to meet you, Darkness." Kaiser stepped forward and drove the dagger in his left hand into her neck, sever it.
He dropped his sword, and that same hand pierced Ormr Simulacra's chest and eviscerated her heart.
With a bare hand, the heart crushed into splatters of blood.
"You are truly extraordinary. Three times … you have killed me three times now."
Kaiser turned back.
Ormr Simulacra in a completely human form stood calmly, uninjured.
"In that case, let's see how many more times I can kill you."
Kaiser raised his sword again and moved forward.