Death

Felix left the living room as he whistled a happy tune, spinning his spear all around himself as blood flew off of its crimson blade and onto the walls. At one point, he threw it into the air and then punched it as it came down, sending it straight into his inventory. He put his bloodied hands in his pockets, still whistling away as he made his way around the newly brightened house, looking for the basement. Besides him, out of thin air, a small girl appeared, skipping with a slight hum as she joined him in the search for the basement.

At one point, she stopped humming and spoke up, her voice still soft, "Pretty impressive, Felix. How many Skills did you even use for that, huh?"

"I don't have any combat Skills."

The small girl stopped hopping, dead in her tracks and her mouth wide open. She blinked in his direction twice, not believing him for a second, before shaking her head and catching up to him by dashing.

"You— You're lying! None?! Big sis had to use every skill she had to beat that... that woman, on the Third Floor...!"

Felix didn't respond to that, just sighing softly as he pushed doors open throughout the house, still looking for the basement. Door after door, he just kept running into dead ends, before he finally slammed the last one closed with an annoyed grunt. The basement was nowhere to be seen, and they've checked everywhere...

"Uhh... Maybe you should've left one alive to tell you where it was?"

"You think I don't know that? It's not my fault they all died in one swing, alright..."

"Eh? Am I really the demon here, Felix?"

Felix sighed again, as he put a finger on his chin and thought for a second. The basement was nowhere to be seen in the house... So, why did the humans and onis walk into the living room?

Felix's eyes widened and he snapped his fingers with a small "Gotcha!" before walking over to the living room once again. There, he pushed the sofa over, with ease, and crouched down next to where it stood just seconds prior. He ran his fingers across the floorboards, and as he did, his glove started shining once again, with more of that crimson hue. He let out a small "Huh..." and raised his hand from the floor, looking down at it.

Felix then got up, and looked in the direction of the small girl as he spoke, "Hey."

"Hmm?" she asked confused, tilting her head to the side before continuing, "What's up?"

"Can I touch you really quick?"

The demon blinked in his direction again, her eyes wide, before twisting to the side, holding her face in her palms as she spoke all shyly, "Whaaa...?! Felix, we shan't do it here...! You perv! Wait until later...! Take me out to dinner first! You monster!"

"What the hell are you talking about? Just give me your hand."

The girl sighed and extended her hand towards him with a pout, speaking as she looked to the side, "Fine, but you're no fun."

Felix grabbed her hand with his gloved palm, and just as he thought, it quickly started dimming with a crimson light. He murmured a small "I see..." under his breath and let go, crouching back down next to the sofa and glancing at the floor.

"So? Satisfied, Felix?"

"Incredibly satisfied. Good work, miss."

Felix then without warning raised his hand high into the air, grasping at a green Blank, then he brought it down with a huge crimson axe held tightly in it. He kept chopping at the floor, until it was all but gone, and he was now staring down at some hidden, old stairs. He chuckled slightly, throwing the axe back in his inventory, before getting up while wiping some sweat off his chin, looking towards the demon.

"Shall we go now?"

The girl looked at him for a bit as he wiped his sweat off, before speaking with an eyebrow slightly raised and a hint of... emotions, let's say, in her voice, "Yeah, I don't mind... going now..."

"...You're weird, miss."

Felix headed down the stairs, and as he expected, it was pitch black. He muttered his Skill's name, and as his eyes turned green, everything around him started making sense and gaining form. There was a trail of blood on the ground, and Felix had a feeling this was the real deal instead of other cheap tricks or imitations. He let out a small grunt of unease, but nevertheless, he kept walking forward while following the blood.

Surprisingly, this basement was huge – probably connected to every single house in the village. Obviously, without any villagers knowing. But Felix didn't have time to think about that... He was just hoping they weren't too late, but given the amount of blood on the floor... Felix wasn't exactly getting his hopes up.

At one point, he turned around to face the small demon girl who's been quietly following him for a while now, "Hey. I've got a question."

"Yes, you can touch me again."

"No, Jesus, not that. Stop being weird... Are you any good at fighting?"

"Weeell... Mm, nope." she says with a silly expression on her face, her tongue sticking out as she shrugged uncaringly. She then continued, "I'm a Support."

"Support? What do you mean?"

"Ah? Did you not get your Class yet, Felix?"

Felix threw his hands in the air, before rubbing the bridge of his nose in annoyance as he spoke, "Of fucking course I didn't... This System hates me, I swear..."

The small girl let out a "Pfft." as he mumbled to himself, tapping him on the shoulder in sympathy, though a bit awkwardly thanks to the height difference. As she did so, she said in a soft, pitying voice, "There, there..."

"Stop it. You're gonna make me even sadder. Don't pity me."

"You look very pityable, though?"

"That's not a real word."

The girl shrugged again, taking her hand off his shoulder as she took a big step, now walking side by side with Felix. The two kept walking for a while, following the blood, before the dots finally connected in Felix's mind and his eyes widened slightly.

"Wait, so, you can give out buffs?"

"Mhm. Though they're not that great or anything..."

"Still, better than nothing. Without Kim... Fighting by myself is gonna be tough."

"Kim? Who's that?"

"Kim Jaehyun."

The girl looked at Felix's face for a second. She then chuckled, covering her mouth with her oversized sleeve as she spoke, "Heheh. C'mon, Felix, don't make jokes like that. You're not funny, y'know?"

"I'm dead serious, though?"

The girl paused mid-giggle, before looking up at Felix, her face suddenly way more shocked and her voice not all cutesy anymore, instead a bit more grumpy, "Hold on, you're teamed up with the number two Liner?!"

Felix raised an eyebrow at her, not understanding her reaction, "Uh, yeah? What about it?"

"...Man, no wonder you're such a beast... Without any Skills, too..."

"Thank... you?"

Felix just shook his head and sighed, not understanding anything about this demon. He kept walking forwards, following the blood trail as to not get lost in this maze of a basement. They've been walking for a while now, but it didn't seem like they've made that much progress. This trail was unending...

"You're sure that all of the illusions are off, right? No more bullcrap?"

"You sure have a way with words, miss."

"Oh, c'mon, it's not like I grew up in Faelur... That's why I'm a demon!"

"...Shouldn't have bothered. Wait, the fuck's a Faelur...?"

The girl punched his shoulder with a "What was that?!" but Felix reached out his hand and put it in front of her, stopping her dead in her tracks as he, too, came to a full stop. His eyes were fixated forwards... on a small, wooden door, where the blood trail ended.

"Ahh? So you did wanna touch me again, huh?"

"If you have time for jokes, then please draw your weapon."

The demon sighed and pulled out a small bow from her inventory with a "Hmph." and Felix did the same, molding the blood ball into a sword, like usual. The two then kept walking forwards, reaching the door soon enough. Felix put his ear up against it, but he couldn't hear anything behind it – not even the slight hum of the ground.

["Actually... Was my hearing always this good, that I can hear vibrations...?"]

Suddenly, the small demon next to him spoke up, interrupting his train of thoughts, "I feel magic. Must be soundproofed."

"Huh? Oh. Then, if we can't do it the silent way... Please move aside for a second."

Felix took a step back again, ready to kick in the second door of the day. Before that, though... he had another idea. He walked backwards a bit, turning his crimson sword into a shield, as big as the sphere allowed it to be. He prepared himself and started running forwards, before crashing straight through the door! The second the room's light hit his eyes, he could see he chose correctly. In the room were five people – the village chief, a big hooded guy in the corner, and three human guards by the door.

One was under the door he just busted down, and the other two were to the side, clearly scared and taken by surprise, their expressions shocked as they scrambled to unsheathe their weapons. Too bad for them.

Felix thought about it for a second, then he remembered how elegantly Kim fights, with such precision and grace. He wanted... Felix wants...! Felix wants to fight like Kim, too! Still in the air, Felix twisted his whole body around and transformed his shield into a sword, turning the twist into a full spin and cutting off the heads of the two guards to his side in one swing, one instant. He then stabbed through the wooden door, killing the one under it. Only then did Felix land, rolling on the ground and immediately jumping back up on his feet, straightening himself and pointing his sword straight at the hooded figure in the corner.

He took a big breath, running his hand through his black hair, pushing it back so he could see better. Felix then smirked, sword still aimed at the demon and hand in his hair as he spoke, "You're next, fatty."

The hooded man started clapping, as it echoed through the whole room, before stepping forward. He spoke with a thunderous, loud voice, and Felix couldn't see past the huge cloak he had on – he couldn't see his face.

"Hoh. You actually killed not only my comrades... but the humans the Empire sent. That mage... His magic was useful while it lasted, I suppose. I guess the credit for it falling goes to you, human?"

"I'm not in the mood for talking, sorry, someone yapped my ear off the entire way here."

A small, offended "Hey!" came from the hallway, but the hooded figure just chuckled slightly, stepping closer to the village chief who was clearly wounded and tied to a chair in the middle of the room. All of a sudden, he picked him up and threw him to the side, chair and all, as he smashed against a wall, the chair breaking into a million pieces as the chief fell to the ground with a weak grunt. Felix clenched his sword's handle tighter, fixing his stance to the offensive.

"You fucker."

"Don't get mad at me, please. I'm just doing as God wants..."

As Felix heard the man talk, he couldn't help but chuckle slightly at his words. So much so, he even had to take a hand and place it over his face, to control his laughter. The hooded man saw this, obviously, and his tone seemed to grow more annoyed by the second, "What's so funny, human?"

Felix suddenly felt like laughing a whole lot, as he started slapping his knee in amusement. The hooded man only grew more angrier, so angry that he couldn't notice Felix mutter something through laughs and scroll the air as he slapped his knee over and over again.

Back in the hallway, where the demon girl sat with her bow drawn and ready, her face suddenly got lit up by a small blue light as a Blank appeared next to her.

[Liner {Felix Fox} is inviting you in his Team! Accept?

Y/N]

Felix waited and waited, still dragging on this clearly forced laughter. He was still pointing his blade at the hooded man, holding his stomach and laughing as loud as his lungs let him. Obviously, the man wasn't a fan of this – he reached under his cloak, pulling out a huge sword from his back. He pointed it at Felix, and yelled at the top of his lungs, shaking the whole basement, "Are you ready to die, human?! I'll kill you... for mocking my God!"

As a green Blank opened up next to Felix, he finally stopped laughing almost immediately, clearing his throat. He dismissed the Blank reading [Liner {Rose Agnore} is now your teammate!] and gripped his sword tighter, before jumping forwards and swinging straight at the man's head.

"Sorry, had to make sure missy over there could cast buffs on me."

"{Haste}! {Dedication}!"

[You've received a buff, Haste! Agility increasing by 3.]

[You've received a buff, Dedication! Stamina and Defense increasing by 2.]

"You...! You weren't alone!"

"As I said. Sorry."

Felix swung at the man, and he barely managed to dodge by leaving his cloak behind, which Felix cut in two. It didn't take neither of them long to land back on their feet and glare at each other. The previously hooded man was, just as Felix had thought, a demon. He had long curved horns, sharp nails, and pale white skin, alongside red eyes. Felix let out a whistle at the sight, spinning his sword around in his hand, clearly uninterested.

"Man, you're huge. Big guy, huh?"

"Shut up... I'll murder you! For disrespecting my God!"

"C'mon, man, you're a demon following a god... That's lame."

"Human...! You will suffer endlessly under my blade! I'll make sure of it!"

The demon raised his big sword high into the air, as the room was surprisingly tall for a basement. It then started glowing a vigorous scarlet, and that's when the Blank announcing him appeared above him, floating way up in the room.

[Mini Boss – Bazalt

Ruler Of Blades - Lvl 15

Class - ×

Affinity - Demonic

—

HP - 894/894

ATK - 185/185

ACN - 92/92

LUC - 0/0

AGL - 61/61

STM - 149/149

DEF - 99/99

DEX - 135/135

Skills - Blade Work; Undying Love; Worship.]

Felix read the Blank, an eyebrow raised. If he was being honest, he didn't really care about names, titles, stats...

"Because, after all... You're gonna die anyways?"

Bazalt glared at Felix, with so much killer intent leaking from his eyes, he could've very well killed him with that alone. He gripped the handle of his big sword even tighter than before, and it was glowing a scarlet brighter than anything Felix had ever seen... not.

Felix chuckled slightly at the sight of this "Boss" and couldn't help but let his amusement show on his expression, which only angered Bazalt even further. He brought the sword down on the floor, and yelled out at the top of his lungs, "Now I'll really murder you!"

Felix sighed, spinning his sword around in his hand as he spoke, "You already said that like five timeees! Let's... get...!"

With that, Felix suddenly jumped forwards at the demon, slashing straight at his neck. Bazalt barely had enough time to block the attack with his own sword, his throat almost getting opened up. Felix turned the momentum of the jump into a vault, putting a hand on the demon's head and ending up behind him, still in the air. He slashed again, barely missing due to the fact that Bazalt shook him off. Felix yelled out, smiling, continuing his phrase, "Started, Bazalt!"

Felix landed on his feet soon enough, chuckling once again. Sword still in hand, he prepared to jump once more at him, and this time to finish the job. With no warning, Felix dashed again, this time going low instead of high, slashing at Bazalt's stomach. The demon barely, barely, managed to dodge out of the way, with Felix leaving a shallow slash wound on his stomach.

Felix smirked at the demon's panicked expression. The desperation in it, the fear, the annoyance... Felix loved it all. He kept slashing at the demon as much as his hands let him, with Bazalt blocking most of the attacks, but with crappy effectiveness. His body was slowly growing full of small scars from his sloppy defense, and he was also growing more tired by the second, while Felix... wasn't.

"You...! You fiend...! Humaaan!" he yelled out, his annoyance clearly showing on his face.

"Sorry, Zalty. You smell so much worse than Rose..."

Then, from the hallway came yet another small, offended "Hey!" from a soft, cutesy voice.

And, Bazalt's eyes suddenly widened, his expression now amazed rather than annoyed. Dots connected inside his head at a million miles an hour. In that hallway... Someone was there... buffing this asshole...! He just had to get rid of the support, and the attacker would fall behind too! Yes!

Bazalt pushed Felix away from him, as hard as his arms let him, sending him into a wall. He readied up his legs and jumped straight to the hallway, dashing and stomping to it at incredible speeds. Heh, this was great. Great! Nobody can keep up with his speed! He was the Ruler Of Blades, after all! The one swordmaster! He was gonna kill the brat in the hall, then kill the brat with the sword!

As the demon finally reached the hallway, his hand tightened around his greatsword's handle... his anger only grew more and more as he saw who stood in the hallway – one of his own. A demon. A traitor!

"You're helping humans...! You're a disgrace to Them! Die, now!"

Then, a bright green blitz appeared next to Bazalt, holding a crimson blade. Felix was there, pissed, ready to swing, his eyes shadowing a great green wherever they passed.

"You're not faster than my partner. And I can beat him, too."

Bazalt was growing slightly nervous, more nervous than ever. This demon, this demon, this damned demon! If she dies... The human's strength goes down, too! He raised his blade, uncaring about the "nimble" Felix to his side, only looking at Rose and Rose alone. He was gonna kill this traitor. No matter what! Bazalt immediately swung down his glowing blade, aiming straight at the demon's head with so much power, the air itself seemed to be getting cut around the sword. This was it. She was done for. It's his win!

[Warning!

Warning!

Warning!]

[Emergency Plo—]

["Shut up. You don't need to tell me."]

Felix immediately stepped inwards, twisting his body and bringing his crimson blade up, but... missing. Felix's sword barely missed the clash with Bazalt's, by not even half an inch.

["Well, that's... annoying..."]

So, Felix stepped inwards, again. The demon's blade connected straight into Felix's right shoulder, going down, down, and more down, slashing him tremendously. The big sword was literally sticking out of the other side of Felix's body. But, not once did his eyes leave Bazalt's. He was staring him straight in the soul, drilling his green presence straight into the very core of it.

Felix raised his sword, with the same hand shaking from the huge blade stuck in its shoulder. He raised it high above his head, uncaring about his injury, uncaring about the damage, uncaring about the pain.

Bazalt couldn't believe it. He could not believe his eyes. This human's perseverance... His will... His endurance...! His everything! Who... was he?! Who was this human?!

"Hu— Human...! Who... What are you...!"

Felix kept his sword raised high, his hand shaking beyond control, barely holding onto the handle. He coughed blood, he was bleeding all over, but his grip tightened back up, and it didn't loosen again. Bazalt went to take his sword out, to slash again, to finish him off...! But... it wouldn't budge! The blade was stuck in Felix's shoulder, deep in it, but it just wouldn't budge...!

Was he... keeping it in there, by force?!

As for Rose, who was behind Felix, the blade – which was still in Felix's body – was mere inches away from her face. She was left speechless, until obviously she wasn't, as she let out a panicked and scared "Waaah...! Fe— Felix! Are you... okay...?! Felix!"

Bazalt started yelling again, still attempting to pull his sword out of Felix's body, and failing miserably. He was yelling as hard as he could, out of desperation, "Human! Answer me! Answer me right this instant! Tell me your title! Your rank! Who are you?!"

"Heh... C'mon, Zalty..."

Felix noticed that the demon was growing impatient, desperate. He smirked, still holding his blade high up in his shaky hand – and it was growing shakier by the second... Or, the millisecond. Did he care, though? No. His green eyes continued drilling holes into Bazalt's soul, and it was coming. He wasn't as patient as he would've thought. Felix was growing tired of seeing the demon's face.

He coughed blood once more, all over himself and the floor. His whole body was overflowing with whatever mana he had left, as he kept drawing it from Bazalt, Rose, and the room itself. It was setting on the floor like an ominous, greenish fog, engulfing the two of them, yet never leaving the room nor touching the hallway.

Both Rose and Bazalt were watching Felix, feeling his mana and his aura all the way through their bones and further. Felix spoke, and even though his hands and legs were shaking from the pain and the stinging, his voice was deep, scary, and demanding. Not a single hint of weakness in it. As for his face, it was full of hate, anger, and everything in-between... Felix was pissed.

"Don't you dare... touch my fucking demon, Bazalt."

Felix brought his sword down, with one singular motion. Bazalt saw this – he saw the look in Felix's eyes, saw past all the green hell... And what Bazalt saw, it wasn't pain. It wasn't suffering. Even with that wound... All he saw was annoyance.

"Are... you... hu... man...?"

Then, Bazalt could suddenly see... the floor, Felix's and Rose's shoes, and that same green mist that had set on the ground thanks to the human's mana. He couldn't help but laugh internally a bit, as he didn't have a mouth to use anymore. That remained on his body. He really... was gonna see green until the very end, wasn't he...

As Felix watched the demon's head, or at least whatever was left of it, drop to the ground, he couldn't help but throw his weapon in his inventory out of habit. Except... his hand wouldn't raise anymore. Now that it was brought down, it refused to rise again. The scarlet blade dropped to the ground, dispersing into nothing but a pool of blood without its owner's mana. The blade that sat in Felix's shoulder suddenly fell to the floor too, as he finally relaxed his muscles. He couldn't help but chuckle, taking in a deep breath.

["Fuck... Just breathing stings... so bad... Argh, no, screw breathing... Why am I laughing...? Is any of this... even funny?"]

Felix staggered, barely standing on his feet. Rose, from behind him, remained still with her mouth agape, before finally jolting forwards, grabbing onto him to keep him standing on his feet and not fall face first.

"Felix...! Felix! Don't just die on me, you, you dummy...!"

Felix's life was draining from his eyes slowly but surely, and as Blanks surrounded the two congratulating them on beating the Mini Boss, neither of them cared nor glanced them. Rose slowly set Felix down on his knees, holding her small hands over the humongous slash in his shoulder that was going down to his chest.

"Felix! Felix! Stay with me...! Stay here, okay?! You're fine...! It— It's fine..."

She's been desperately trying to stop the bleeding, but not being too successful. By now, Bazalt's body had evaporated into nothingness, leaving the two all alone in that basement, deep in the ground with the corpses of the soldiers. No help around. Rose desperately yelled "Blank!" as she scrolled through her Skills... uselessly. She had no healing Skills, nor any medical knowledge.

"Crap... Crap...! Felix, please... Please...!"

As she kept pressing on the wound, blood kept gushing out uncontrollably and mercilessly. Felix coughed again, spreading even more blood everywhere, before falling over. Rose yelled out again, "Felix!" but that didn't do a whole lot. He sat on his back, looking at the ceiling as his eyes shifted from the bright green, fading into a dark, dead brown. Rose let out an annoyed "Haaah...! Gosh!" as she ran her hands through her hair, looking down at him as she sat on her knees.

Felix looked up at the ceiling still, just... thinking about stuff. What was even happening, right now? What just happened before? What did he just do? Why did he do it? Ah, well... Who cares anymore...

["My deadline... is coming soon, huh... Did I even draw anything yet...? I should contact the author... for more design insight, right..."]

Felix blinked once, slowly. He took in another stinging, deep breath, drawing more mana in from his surroundings. ["Think, Fox..."] he thought, breathing through the pain and attracting more mana, as much as he could. His wound still stung. Rose was next to him. The demon's sword was somewhere at his feet. He wasn't home, not anymore. He was on The Line.

["...No... No...! There's no deadline... I have to get up... save the chief... and talk to Nijiri... End the Floor... Get to the Resting Grounds...!"]

Felix couldn't help but chuckle, even through the absolute pain. He smiled softly, as he looked at Rose's face.

"Heh... Y'know... At least, now... Now I know... how Kim felt on the First Floor... How'd that bastard manage...?"

"First Floor...? Felix, what are you even—"

"Rose... Calm down... Take the—"

Felix coughed violently again, but he couldn't even turn over to do it. He tried his best not to choke on his own blood, swallowing it through a stinging pain in his neck.

"My lung is... gone, huh...? Can't talk... long... Get the chief... and end the Floor... fast..."

Rose said some words... Ah, or, actually, was she yelling? Felix couldn't hear her anymore. Couldn't really see, either. He saw her get up and run over to... somewhere. Well. Felix felt tired. Maybe... a nap? Would that be okay?

He blinked one last time, and as he opened his eyes, Felix saw the small girl accompanying him run out of the basement with someone in her arms, a small and nimble oni. Or, at least, that's what Felix thought he saw. Before he even got the chance to properly double check, his head fell to the side, and his eyes... closed.

As darkness started surrounding him, fast, Felix coughed one more time, this time making sure his lung was fully busted and just about gone. He couldn't even see shapes anymore, he couldn't hear, and his mouth was barely able to open. The darkness was finally closing in, fast, and Felix could see... a small figure, way ahead in the distance. Felix's eyes widened as much as they could at the moment, which wasn't a lot, and he managed to mutter a single word through the blood that filled his mouth.

"...Mom..."

Felix reached his hand out, shaking beyond belief, but it didn't take long for it to fall over on the ground and for his eyes to forcefully close, and the darkness finally reached him.