- Deal with Death

Noises of battle could be heard all around.

"What should we name her?" Amber asked Edge as she just finished running a blade through an enemy soldier's belly.

"Her? How do you know it's a girl?" Edge nonchalantly sliced another soldier's throat while raising his other arm to block the soldier's sword arm.

Amber brandished her shield and sword at another soldier, blocking a slash and decapitating him within a second. "I just have a feeling."

"Should you guys even be talking about that on the battlefield? Drago can hear you, you know?"

Brius took a puff from his cigar and casually shot a struggling enemy soldier on the ground.

"Hah! He had his chance. Right, boss?" Amber scoffed before yelling at the hulking commander of theirs brooding on his own and sitting on a pile of corpses he made.

"Move on and give her a name already!" Drago scowled as he kept his eyes shut.

Amber shook her head at her ex's retort. "What about Angel?"

"In this god-forsaken world??? Are you sure about that?" Brius asked while searching for targets with his scope.

Edge approached Amber and squatted down. "What about Dhana?"

"Huh? Why?" Amber was confused.

In response, Edge smiled at his wife and said: "Light (Han) within the Darkness (Da)."

---Author's Note: While the story is in English, the language in Valeingash is pretty much an invented one. Keep this in mind when you come across some of the future names of people and objects. Thank you. ---

"Wait! Shouldn't it be 'Hadan', instead? Since Amber uses light magic and you stick with the shadows most of the time, it would make more sense since your spawn is in her be---"

Arissef, who just arrived and got down from his horse, jumped in on the conversation after overhearing them but was cut off after Amber gave him a deathly stare.

"It's final. Dhana it is." Amber retracted her gaze and smiled as she looked at Edge who was still squatting down.

Brius, Arissef, and even the stoic Drago wore smiles at such a magical event.

"Hi, Dhana!" Edge smiled as he called out to his child for the first time, caressing Amber's belly.

…

Blood fell on the blade that stabbed Amber's stomach as she grabbed it with her trembling hands.

"AMBER!!!" Edge, with a short burst of power, pushed back his two opponents as he cut off the arms of the headless thug who stabbed Amber.

The woman was buckling and losing her strength as she kept on coughing blood.

Arissef, detonated his conjured weapons to buy time as he chanted a spell. The next second, he slammed his hands on the floor as a magic circle appeared below the three followed by a dome-shaped barrier enveloping them.

The thugs recovered and started striking at the barrier but to no avail.

However, Arissef was sweating a lot and had a worn-out face. Maintaining the barrier was not easy for him.

Edge removed the blade from Amber's stomach and laid her down on the floor. He frantically tried to stop the bleeding but the wound was deep and she was already in a weakened state. His tears were falling rapidly as panic overcame him.

Amber cried and could not even speak because her tongue was cut off. The pain in her heart for not even being able to console her husband or say goodbye was worse than the gaping wound she just received.

With all her might, she raised her left hand and tried to reach for Edge's face. Seeing this, Edge's tears fell even more as he moved closer to her face and held her hand as it held his cheek. Amber shook her head as she cried even more.

Arissef, who was struggling to maintain the barrier, was crying as well. They fought together for more than a decade. While he could not feel as much pain as Edge right now, his heart was torn nonetheless, making him wish he had more power.

"I'm sorry… I'm sorry…" Edge kept repeating these words as he watched Amber take her last breath.

What happened next, Arissef was not able to explain.

It was only after Drago visited Edge in the castle dungeon that he got the idea about what happened.

...

The moment Amber died, Edge snapped and everything around him was covered in darkness.

At first, Zex thought that Edge entered his own Mind Space just like him. However, that thought did not last long as Edge retold the story.

"Do you want power?"

Edge, who just lost the most important person in his life, was startled at the voice he heard.

At first, he looked around to see who was speaking but everything was pitch dark.

The only thing he saw aside from himself was his wife's corpse.

To his surprise, Amber's eyes opened up.

"Amber!" Edge was overjoyed but not for long because he sensed something wrong.

"No. Who are you?" Edge stood up and backed away from Amber's body.

'Amber' turned her head and smiled at Edge. Her body then levitated and turned upright.

"I am who everyone must meet at the end of their journey." 

At this, Edge relaxed. "What do you want?"

'Amber' remained silent as she smiled once again.

Edge suddenly felt overwhelming pressure befall him, driving him to his knees as 'Amber' approached.

"Among the things I hate in this world, I despise necromancers the most…" 'Amber' said as she grabbed Edge's chin with her hand and pulled his face up to look in her eyes.

'Barazi!' Edge recalled the headless corpse that stabbed Amber.

"Yes. Him." 'Amber' replied as she let go of Edge's chin.

Edge was not too surprised that the being in front of him could read his thoughts. Instead, he was curious…

"Why can't you deal with him, yourself?" 

'Amber' narrowed her eyes as if the question annoyed her greatly.

"It is taboo for gods to interfere with the mortal realm directly."

Edge solemnly nodded. 

In Valeingash, there were countless religions and beliefs. In most of them, gods were forbidden to descend to the mortal plane and make direct contact with the beings living in it, lest they bring destruction upon the world. However, they could mentally contact those who are compatible with their power and share some with them.

These were called [Agents].

Despite the existence of this loophole, the number of [Agents] that exist under a god at any given time is limited and would depend on the god's level of power how high that limit would be.

"So… Do you want power?" 'Amber' asked one more time.

Edge remained silent.

"No. I cannot bring her back to life. However, you and your friend will surely die as you are, right now. No one will hear about what happened and you will be forgotten. Worse, Barazi may make use of your bodies as his weapons." 

Edge shook with horror at the thought. 

After a while, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"If I accept your power, what do you want in exchange?" Edge asked with a newfound resolve in his eyes.

'Amber' smiled. 

"It is simple. I will give you targets. Aside from Barazi, there are more who harness my power without my permission. You will eliminate them until your dying breath."

After hearing the conditions, Edge felt something was off. He did not accept the deal immediately. "What are you not telling me?"

As he said those words, the pressure around him grew heavier for a moment that felt like his bones and organs were being crushed.

The increase in pressure only lasted for 3 seconds and was just the right amount, barely unable to deal any damage to his body.

"You are too smart for your own good." 'Amber' scoffed before continuing. "100 souls!"

Edge was shocked.

"Before you reap 100 souls of the targets I give you, Amber's soul will be locked up as insurance."

Rage filled Edge's heart as he was about to protest but 'Amber' waved her finger.

"You don't have to worry. I keep my promises and I won't make things hard for you." 'Amber' smiled and remained silent for a while trying to tease the resentful Edge using the body of his late wife.

"Only until you reap 100 target souls will I free your wife's soul… and only then will I allow you to die."

Badong!!!

Edge was dumbfounded at the last words.

Drago violently grabbed the bars to the cell when he heard them… yet the one who was the end-user of all this information was the one shocked the most.

'Is… Is Edge still alive???'