Chapter 235: I'M BACK

Belphegor snapped his fingers,

Making the monster attack Ken with their might.

The demon also released his other summons,

Sending them to eat the human knights.

Martha felt shocked at the arrival of new opponents,

They had been dodging bullets and now new monsters showed up.

The exhaustion she had been ignoring had started to surface.

Even with great numbers of allies, she felt vulnerable to death.

Deltha showed up in time,

Using his teleportation to dodge the guns.

The demons at the back felt rather surprised,

Since this certain Celestial spirit rarely land.

"I'll cover the bullets for you,

You handle the monsters.

They have two types.

One is made by Azazel, extremely agile and strong.

You need to target its head,

or you won't live for long.

Belphegor's summons however,

You need to be more aware of.

Their weaknesses varies greatly on which head they belong.

Try everything you could, to figure out how they'd lose."

With that, Deltha vanished quickly,

Splitting his body in eight,

Protecting the angels and human knights.

His extreme speed felt like a blur,

And Martha couldn't help but momentarily froze.

She then slapped herself to refocus,

Hoping that she would be of use.

The monsters then breached Deltha's defenses,

And soon, the real fight happens.

Martha's team helped each other counter and dodge,

But because of the monsters' mixed abilities,

They felt quite overwhelmed.

Ken heard the loud screams coming from Martha's position,

And saw that many of her allies had already lost hope.

His eyes widened after seeing many lost limbs,

And than focus on Belphegor,

To that same direction, he shot multiple blasts and beams.

The impact of the explosions caused Martha's ears to bleed.

And the moment she opened her eyes again,

She realized she was deaf.

The explosions continued on and about,

And yet, she couldn't hear a sound.

She could only stand up as she try to not get affected,

Despite her friends' smelling corpses.

Their bodies laid on the ground with open wounds,

Making Martha almost hope it was not true.

Bad memories kept nagging on her head,

Reminding her of whenever wars end.

She pursed her lips, and hoped her tears won't fall,

Since it would only blur her vision,

Something she can't afford.

Martha then firmly gripped her sword,

And tried her best to attack the running monsters.

She jumped and dodge, and slash and jabbed,

But even a single monster felt too tough.

...

Death saw the chances of winning getting lower.

It was simply too much for the humans to win the war.

They are filled with too much emotions,

Too much vulnerability to ignore all the loss.

She broke her nail by biting it too hard,

As she read the scroll of the souls who passed.

She couldn't help but cry.

Knowing well that they'd only multiply.

She had never felt so useless.

While her allies are sacrificing themselves,

She was only sitting and hoping,

That somehow no more good souls would be leaving.

Just then she looked at the mirror,

Reminding her who she was, before.

A reaper, named Tara. A protecter of souls,

Even with the new responsibility, she knew how much they matter.

"Should I break the rules?"

New set of tears finally fell from her eyes,

Reading the young people, who had died from the war.

"I have lived for a thousand of years.

I have enjoyed what I had, haven't I?

But...these souls, more would follow their steps,

If I don't do nothing, and simply wait."

She wiped her tears away,

Praying that the demons wouldn't win today.

She then decided to make the hardest choice,

Just to ensure humanity's fate.

Death gathered the reapers who by then felt intrigued,

What else should they be of service?

Confusion and fear were painted in their faces,

Hoping that they wouldn't be treated as mere pawns.

After all, Deltha is gone.

They wouldn't be recieving more energy to fight along.

"Listen here, you would all not die the moment you resurface.

Instead, every pain you felt will be felt by me.

Every death you'll apparently have will be my own.

And the moment the war is over, I will be nothing but smoke.

You would all be deathless, in this war.

So use all your power, to help our precious humans.

Make sure everyone have the chance,

To live their lives fulfilled, happy, loved."

Death said as she rose her hand,

Making it evident that it was a deal from her heart.

Her forehead was suddenly covered in black thorns,

Telling the reapers that the plan was in order.

While Death led them with no hint of fear for herself,

The reapers were trying their damn hardest-

To make sure their tears and sobbings weren't too evident,

After all, Tara was once one of them.

...

Deltha felt shocked seeing his allies aid him in repelling the bullets.

But seeing the mark of Death on their palms, he switch to feeling saddened.

"That damn woman, she cheated.

Tsk, knowing I won't see her back,

Makes fighting harder than it was."

Deltha fought back tears as he continued to attack,

Reminding himself that everyone has their time.

Realizing it was the demons that drove her to her choice,

His wrath doubled, and thus released more power.

His incomparable wrath, soon made the devils shiver.

.

.

.

"You seem distracted,

Like you're not taking me seriously,"

Belphegor reminded Ken,

As he refused to look at him directly.

The monsters suddenly neared Ken,

Who was shocked of how fast they all were.

His scythe and enhanced abilities however, made him cut them all with ease,

But it was as though, Belphegor was expecting him to do this.

Before Ken knew it,

Belphegor appeared from behind,

He was surprisingly fast and unpredictible than most.

His fluid movement making it hard for Ken to use his peering abilities.

It was fatal to even blink.

Soon, Ken felt dizzy trying to catch Belphegor,

Who quickly used more of his summons, he had been saving for the war.

And while Ken was occupied cutting them up again,

Belphegor quickly tackled him and was able to touch his head.

Ken's nightmares were soon extracted,

Making his former vision finally happen.

He saw his mother, his brother, all in monstrous forms.

As his other abusers, tried to wrap him with their arms.

They were too strong for him to even get away from,

Despite thinking they were just merely humans.

Belphegor grinned, knowing Ken was so clueless,

The monsters are as strong as how they are in one's nightmares.

Ken tried to escape but failed,

And his pain was doubled when the bodies clinging to him released thorns.

He felt his arms and legs get torn,

While he kept yelling for Belphegor to come close.

Ken's voice became raspy, became desperate.

Wondering why he couldn't do anything else.

His hands do not shoot anything at all,

Almost all of him is covered with thorns.

Soon, the monsters overwhelming him began to say insults,

Not exactly as what's in his vision, but much worse.

Whatever he's currently feeling about himself,

It was what they speak off, as if they could read his mind while they abuse his flesh.

Belphegor laughed as he snapped his fingers.

Making the monsters snuggle Ken harder.

The extreme pain felt too difficult to endure,

And soon, Ken lost his senses, and slept with no care in the world.

Belphegor smiled as he snapped the creatures to go away,

To cause more turmoil, while he laughs at Ken's face.

"God intrusted the fate of the world to no hero.

Perhaps, my message could finally come across?

That even God makes stupid decisions,

Like sending a dear friend of mine,

To a state of no return.

You deserve it all, who thinks He's truly perfect.

You don't know what it's like, living under His wing."

...

(Ken's POV)

I quickly opened my eyes,

Screaming "No!" at the top of my lungs.

I swear I felt myself died.

But when I looked around,

I was in my room, and it's already dark.

I rubbed my eyes to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

And I sure wasn't, when I heard some crickets chirping.

I felt confused, not sure if I should be relieved I wasn't hurt.

Not sure if I should be sad or happy when I realized I wasn't a hero any longer.

I could smell this familiar scent I loathe a lot,

The smell of my room, the thickening dust.

I always..always tell myself I'll clean it after I wake up,

But...I never did.

I never had the motivation to get things done.

I stood, looking around this small space I own.

My computer, which was always on.

My story, it was unfinished as ever.

But like doing my room,

I don't have any motivation.

I sighed. Reality sucks.

And I pinched myself time and time again,

Hoping I was sleeping, and I'd eventually wake up.

I hated this.

Even if I was safe.

Even if there's no demons,

There's no zombies,

There's no monster on rampage.

I...felt...empty.

Blinking a few times didn't even helped me.

I continued to touch everything in my room,

Hoping that this wasn't true.

I can't be back to the same 'me'.

The same guy that everyone ignore and dismiss.

But how much realism should I ask for?

I knew it was true the moment I felt hunger.

And thus, I hesitantly opened the door,

Waiting for a zombie, a monster,

But I was alone.

I slowly opened the fridge,

Surprised to see a lack of chips.

I felt confused.

Until I heard another voice.

"Oi! Sorry! I couldn't wait any longer,

Felt hungry too, man. Here. I prepared your bowl.

I'll pour the chips for ya, so just sit here.

So how's your rest, lil' sleeping beauty?"

"Why are you here?"

I asked, puzzled again.

For I couldn't believe,

How my brother was there.

"What do you mean?

You invited me for a sleepover.

You told me you'd look for the movie you were talking about,

But when you took long, I checked, and you were just sleeping,

So I didn't disturbed you and just ate whatever's here."

I felt shocked. I don't recall calling my brother before.

And thus I quickly fished for my phone.

And was even more surprised when I saw my message,

Asking for him to come at my home.

I looked at my brother,

Looking bewildered.

"You, okay, lil' bro?"

He softly spoke.

"Ah. Well, sorry.

Maybe I was just really tired."

I quickly apologized.

"You must had a nice dream.

But may I ask, why were you shouting?"

"Ah, I'm...I'm just dreaming of falling into some hole or whatever,"

"Hole? Hah, that's a way too common excuse.

If that was true, you'll wake up right away.

Plus, you had been sleeping for hours,

I doubt that it's what you're dreaming about.

Tell me if you can summarize it. It might sound more interesting than that book I've read on your computer.

I must say, the main character needs some work.

So many self-doubt.

Those types of people bores me to the core.

Don't you think it makes his progression a lil' bit slow?"

"It's...(it's my book. I'm the one writing it.) yeah, I agree. And the dream, well...It's also nothing special. Just a dream."

"Come on, you didn't call me here for nothing.

You told me you want to talk about stuff.

And now, I'm asking you what I want to know."

"But it's not even related to the issue I want to discuss with you,"

I tried to make an excuse.

"Okay, let's get to that when you tell the story first."

"Why do you even want to know?"

"Because you looked like a complete idiot.

Shouting various names and raising your hand like you're fighting,

Seriously, that must be such a nice dream."

I have never felt so embarrassed before,

And even more pathetic now that I'm back to my world.

This dull life I would trade for Naruto's adventure,

Gah, and to realize I still don't have a girl.

This is pathetic.

I could talk back to demons with no problem,

But my brother? Ah, and to share that dream?

This is too much, too embarrassing.

I predict he'd only make fun of me.

"Tell me or I'll eat everything here."

"Hey, don't do that, you know I'm short in money."

"Tell me then, let's eat together and tell me,"

"Fine, fine, no need to keep poking.

And so I sat.

"So?"

Hmmm...

Guess I don't have much choice but to humiliate myself.

Why does my brother even care?

"*sigh* It started in an apocalypse.

I swore it felt too long to tell all the details.

So I won't tell you everything so don't complain.

Anyways,

I met some survivors along the way,

(And remembering Martha, I couldn't help but feel even more embarrased,

And I was doubting if it was meant to share)

O-one even ended up being my girlfriend."

"Oh, so it's a wet dream then?"

"What?! No! It's not like that!

It's...it's complicated. Like after we thought we were rescued,

Those saviours turned out to be demons.

And then I ended up being some sort of special seer or something,

I'm not even sure how I managed to win.

I even met angels and they trained me to use my abilities.

But even with such, I kept getting into trouble.

After a while, I got used to using it though,

But sometimes, I still feel vulnerable.

Also, I felt like I lived for months there.

And...that I genuinely have to protect them.

Looking at my phone's camera, I did age drastically in that dream,

Even my body's ripped."

I couldn't help but speed up the story.

After all, I can't recall a lot.

It's like the dream was basically fading the more minutes pass,

And I felt a fear stir in my gut.

It felt wrong to just forget it.

Even if it's not real,

I...I loved it there.

"Damn, what kind of dream is that?

Self-indulgement type?

Anyways, what made you wake up?"

My brother asked and asked.

"I think I got killed by the dream demon or something."

"Dream demon? That's crap.

The hell are you smoking on?

And why on earth are you dreaming about demons and angels?

You're never that religious,

Is it because of games?"

"Huh? I sold them remember?

I'm barely paying rent."

"Yeah, yeah, still, I didn't get the whole premise of your dream,

What was it about then? Just ramdom things?"

"No, we're about to defeat Lucifer-"

"That's it! You need serious help, sir!

You haven't even finished the bible,

And you're dreaming this sort of things,

Goodness, that must be horror."

"Yeah...guess it was horror.

But I also kinda liked it.

I should have believed my guts when I thought I was dreaming,"

"Oh? So you didn't thought you were dreaming when Lucifer showed up?"

"No."

"What part did you realized it was all crap?"

Is my brother sure I need to answer that?

The way he looks at me,

He's already judging I went mad.

But I decided to tell him anyways.

Or he'll bug me to no end.

Good thing that I didn't have to think too hard.

The reason for me, was obvious from the start.

The dream felt realistic, from the scent, to the touch,

But something didn't sit too well with me,

It doesn't happen much.

"Because everyone suddenly cares about me."

I answered, it sounded more depressing than I intend it to sound,

And that's the point where my brother went completely quiet.

He looked at me, then smiled.

It was an awkward one,

I'm sure he just doesn't know what to reply.

I would have asked him what he thought about the stupid dream I just told him about,

But his eyes suddenly looked pass my own.

He looked horrified to see something behind me,

And when I looked to see.

I couldn't believe it either.

The version of me, from my dream,

Appeared before my eyes.

Stretching his hand, telling me to accept my reality.

I was confused as heck. I never smoked drugs my entire life,

And still, I think I'm high.

"Ken, you're not dreaming.

And as long as you still doubt yourself,

You would never have enough strength.

Please accept the reality you've longed for so much.

You wanted to accomplish something, right?

Don't be satisfied locking yourself from the world again.

I know you, you always wanted to grow, Ken.

You have sacrificed so much,

And experienced a lot.

But for the sake of the lives you swore to save,

I beg of you, to wake us up."

I couldn't help but cry as I realized what was real or not.

So, it was a dream, I'm seemingly trapped.

I smiled and held his, (or in this case, my own hand)

As I felt my confidence going back from where it was.

My room suddenly disintegrated,

As I felt a sense of nostalgia,

hit my senses.

Soon, I was met with the foul smell of my own blood.

But despite the atmosphere of war,

I felt happy...to finally come back.