On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

Yesterday, I told Hadrian to "leak" Abigail and Gabriela's whereabouts to the Heroes. I half expected them to be not interested but I was surprised by how many of them immediately clutched onto that piece of information.

Their hatred toward me must be extremely strong for them to resent the two girls--good friends of mine--that much. It makes things all the more exciting.

Three Heroes ended up coming to Axheria, hoping to catch Abigail and Gabriela. I still don't know who they are because they are smart enough to as their subordinates to buy the information in their stead.

Whoever they are doesn't matter. The result will be the same--me standing on top of their dead bodies.

"Where are they?" Millonia whispers.

"Soothing Dew Hotel."

"That sounds expensive."

"It is, indeed, expensive," I confirm.

As we walk through the street, we look around sneakily. There are many eyes on us even though no one is looking at us. Hadrian, per my request, also leaked my whereabouts, so the eyes belong to the Bounty Hunters. They are observing me to make sure I am Shadow.

This world is funny. Even though the illustration of me on the wanted poster is on point, many still doubt that they see me when they encounter me. None of them believes that such a wanted person roams the world freely. Added to that fact, many people seem to imitate my style, so everyone's skepticism is rising every day.

After walking for five minutes while shrugging the gaze off of us, we finally found the hotel. The building is just as luxurious as it sounds. Ignoring the porter's warm welcome, we step into the hotel. Swiftly moving through the crowd, we climb the stairs and head to the fifth floor.

"Room number 8A...ah, there it is."

We found the girls' room in less than half a minute. I knock on the door three times according to the rhythm that we agreed upon and then wait until the door is unlocked.

Click!

Entering the room, I am greeted by the battle-ready Abigail and Gabriela. The door behind us clicks as Millonia closes it and Abigail smiles at the same time. Something is wrong. I can tell from the way she smiles.

"We didn't expect you to come earlier," Abigail remarks.

"What is happening?" I ask directly.

"We are...busted," Gabriela answers with a scowl. "We shouldn't have taken off our armor. One of their cronies whom we were not aware of spotted us. They are not here yet but I am sure they are bringing a lot of people to get us. We are fucked, in short."

"Thanks to your early arrival, though, we now feel safer," Abigail adds with a smile.

"Is that so...?"

I raise my right hand and motion for Millonia to prepare herself. She immediately takes out her sword and covers it with fire, confusing Abigail and Gabriela. Putting my right hand down, I summon Rexorem. Winerva and Lunea take that as a cue to brace themselves as they get closer to me.

"What are you doing?"

Gabriela and Abigail stop correcting their armors as they look at us with a light frown. I merely smile at them and wave my hand nonchalantly.

"I have a feeling that an attack will befall us soon."

"...we have to brace ourselves then," Abigail remarks; her frown gets deeper.

"Ah...before that, let me ask you what song did I play when I knocked on the door earlier?"

"Twinkle-Twinkle Little Star," Gabriela answers in a heartbeat.

My smile gets deeper. "That was, unfortunately, the ABC song."

As the two girls widen their eyes, Lunea and I cover all of us with a Magic Barrier. The image of Abigail and Gabriela distorts, revealing the visage of two males whom I know quite well. The blond-haired one is called Brandon Cooper. The one with dreadlocks is called Asher Mwangi.

They are two of the three Heroes coming after me, my former classmates, and part of the system of "Let's outcast Layland." I am sure I am not exuding any hostility but they are freaking out as they look at me.

"Teleport us, Asher!"

Light envelopes the room in the blink of an eye. The space vibrates and the air changes as our bodies shake lightly. When the space stops vibrating, we feel something returning to our bodies. It is as if our soul has momentarily left our bodies and none of us noticed it.

Flash!

Another light blinds our eyes just a second after we regain our vision. We only managed to make a glimpse of the figures of the true Abigail and Gabriela before the light strikes our Magic Barrier.

"Layland!"

BOOM!

The world is colored white as the silence deafens our ears. Holding Rexorem's hilt that I have planted in the ground before me, I smirk as I marvel at how much power the light hitting our Magic Barrier has.

It shatters soon after, allowing the light to strike Rexorem. The impact makes my hand numb. I can feel the heat that is doing its best to scorch my hand. The girls try to aid me even though they can barely protect themselves. They are thinking that I am having a rough time, so I immediately put the charade to an end, lest they get hurt.

Pulling Rexorem out of the ground, I use [Death Blow] and overcharge it with Mana. As I swing Rexorem widely, the light immediately gets thrown back at whoever sent it with extra firepower, of course.

"Oh, shit!"

"Get out of the way!"

BOOM!

A bigger explosion occurs, coloring the world white and blasting everyone's eardrums again. When the light disappears, a 60 feet-deep and 180 feet wide crater can be found in the ground before us.

The Heroes are kneeling on the ground not far away from it. They are panting heavily as they look at me in horror and bewilderment. Their expensive armor is letting out steam but there is no visible dent or scratch on it. Their armor must not be any lower than Green Grade.

As they stand up, I look around the place we are teleported to. It is a grassy, luscious plain--an open space suitable for a fierce fight. The reason why they chose this place has been clear: they had planned to kill me with that one attack but failed miserably.

Pitter-patter!

"Layland, are you okay!?"

Gabriela and Abigail are running frantically at me. They are fully adorned in their armor but they forego their helmet. There are some dents and visible scratches on their armor. It doesn't matter, of course, because they are bleeding in various places.

Upon arriving before me, I immediately throw the two a potion each. "Let Lunea take care of you. I will play with these guys in the meantime."

"They are not alone, Layland--we should get out of this place!" Abigail exclaims.

"We will get out of this place after I finish them off."

"No, we should go now. There are Paladins, Bounty Hunters, and..."

Something seems to be caught in Abigail's throat. "And...?"

She shakes her head instead of answering and then pulls on my hand to hurry me. I turn to Millonia, prompting her to pull Abigail aside. She remains stern on her suggestion so that she won't budge. Gabriela says nothing the entire time. She looks cooperative but I can tell she agrees with Abigail.

Just as I wonder what may cause the two to panic, a thunderous roar reverberates in the air. "Greet your death, dead man!"

My head turns in the direction the roar came from. I find a handsome young man with shoulder-length brown hair in dashing armor. Everything that he wears is a Relic. I can't tell their exact Rank but I am sure they are not any lower than Blue Rank.

"Let us get to know each other, shall we?"

Swish!

He kicks the ground strongly, launching himself at me. I also kick the ground and launch myself at him, so our clash won't hurt the girls.

Boom!

The ground below us craters as Rexorem clashes with his claymore. None of our hands is shaking despite how heavy the impact of our clash is. He is also in the same mood as I am. I can see his unbottled desire to spill blood in his eyes as he grins widely like a maniac.

"I have heard what those two called you but I still want to make sure. Who are you?" the Hero says.

"Is it of any importance to you?"

"Of course. It is extremely important to me...especially if you turn out to be the motherfucking cuck that almost killed me!"

A condescending laugh escapes my mouth as the Hero's face turns fierce. "What got you so mad, Mark?"

"Layland!"

Clank!

The Hero, Mark, my main target swings his claymore powerfully, sending me skidding back a few feet. He poured all of his emotion into the swing, so he pants heavily soon after.

Taking my eyes away temporarily from him, I look ahead. A group of Paladins appears out of thin air, confirming my assumption that this world is a sub-dimension.

"You can't get out of here, bitch! You have to kill me before you can escape."

Turning my gaze back to Mark, I scoff, "It's an easy job, then."

"Ku-Ku-Ku...let's see how long you can keep being cocky, bastard."

This is funny--the whole situation is funny. Ignorance is bliss, they say, but seeing a confident ignoramus never ceases to amaze me. Mark is strong--I won't deny it. He may even be on par with me. Regardless, though, he will never win against me.

"I will judge how well you all dance."

My horns show themselves as I take my mask off. At the same time, Genelos assumes his true form and flies toward the group of Paladins, showering them with fire. Teanosvera also assumes his true form before flying toward the girls. He stands behind them, protecting them with his shadow.

Mark widens his eyes; the others gasp in shock. I am trapped here with them? No, they are trapped here with me.