The City Was Bustling with Movement,Stray Animals Jumped From Roof To Roof, Occasionally,People Did too,Their movements quick and precise.
The walls of The City Rarely appeared of a color other than Gray, Blood Red Shined dimly in those rare occasions.
The Sun was bright and shining,yet only a tiny portion of that light Reached the Gray City, Making it appear as if it was always night,From which came The Name Nightwalkers,What They called the People Of GrayHound,A City That was Located in A Massive Stone Hand,The Roads and Residential areas Could be found within The Cracks That Permeated The Hand, Something that was only possible Because of The Colossal size of The Stone That Was Once Part of The Titanic Captain.
Street Vendors marked Their Presence With Colorful Sigils,The Bright Colors Contrasting Against The Mostly Gray Houses,A Group of Three Walked with calm Steps, Everyone who was Near Them gave way,Both out of fear and respect.
The Mask That Contoured The Sharp and robust Face of The Tall man in The Middle Could be Recognized by anyone,The Symbol
of The Famed Claws.
" Master, we've been walking all day long,why not take rest on that hostel over there?"
" Just say you want to go see the prostitutes, disciple."
" Shut the fuck up, who's even talking to you..."
" Watch how you speak to your master, Junior Brother."
" What!, you're also in this?"
" Sigh... Whatever,We should be arriving soon enough..."
" But I must say,The frequency of Collapses has been increasing as of late,I wonder if something strange is happening..."
" It's possible,but there's no need to worry as of yet, although rare,This number of Collapses has happened before,Worse than this has Also happened...
I still remember the days when I could barely sleep...Those were truly The Golden Days of our Kind...You brats these days have mostly had it easy."
" Huh,Easy my as..."
While the Slender youth was in the middle of complaining,A thundering noise Resonated within his Soul.
His pupils Dilated and turned to look in The Direction of The Dregs of This Gray City,The Hashles.
Something Harrowing Had Just manifested in there,By far The most Chaotic Fate Collapse he had ever sensed.
" Master!..."
" I know,I must reach There immediately,Can you Two Take care of AB47?"
" I..."
" Absolutely,just do what you must."
The Slender youth turned to look at his companion,But Decided Not To Say Anything,The Two of them just kept going Forward,While The Masked Man Moved with extreme speed towards the left.
...
' Where Am I...That Dream...Was it a Dream?,It was so... Vivid.'
' The Man,He seemed familiar...His voice,Name,resembles mine,But he is not like me...He is...A Demon.
...Am I...A Demon?'
' I feel different,Less...Whole?'
' I...'
Interrupting His Thoughts,was the sight of a Shiny Looking Man,He Stood At The Corners of The Room,His Gaze Seemed Filled with a certain strong emotion,Fear? Anxiety?
The Youth didn't know why,but it seemed that gaze was aimed at him.
" You,Who are you."
A Fairly Deep and Hoarse voice came out of his mouth, Betraying his expectations.
' Was my voice always like this?,No, It's more similar to that of the masked man.'
" Sta...Stay Away!!"
" I... Don't know what I did?"
" Doesn't Matter,Just Stay Away...Please."
' I don't know why he reacts like this,but It's better to heed his asking for now...'
' Now That I Realize,This is quite The Luxurious place, Something Like This...It could only be The Headquarters of the Fate Guard Company,But Why would I be there?, Unless...'
" Hey,Have I been Collapsed?"
The man didn't answer,But The youth felt like he somehow was right.
' A Fate Collapse...This Almost never happens in the Hashles,Which means The Branch In here should be less prepared to deal with Fate Collapses,Yet it also means there are less Distractions,So the Few Exorcists Stationed in here should not have much trouble Cleansing My Fate...So why is he so Frightened?'
' Am I even in The Hashles?'
' I don't assume he will answer me...'
As The Youth was in The Middle of questioning The Situation,The Door was abruptly opened,A Duo of Male and Female Came into The Room,The Man Was Tall In General,While The Woman was tall for a woman, Standing at Around The Youth's own Height.
Both of them exuded an Aura of Power,And Their appearance was superb.
Or at least he guessed the man was handsome,Since he couldn't see his face.
"Finally...Get This thing out of here!"
The woman shot the man a stern look which seemed to make him uncomfortable,he quickly Left the room and banged the door shut.
" Can you two explain to me what's happening?"
" You...Seem very calm despite The situation..."
"....."
" You know what a fate Collapse is I Assume,Well What's Happening to you now is Similar To That, But With A Twist That We can't Get Inside Your Fate and Cleanse it."
"...."
" Now I Would Also assume you know what happens when A Fate Collapse Isn't Purged,So I don't need to tell you That We're in deep trouble here..."
' Huh...How Strange, I've never heard of a fate Collapse That Could not be Assessed,Sure there's been plenty of cases of a failed Purge,but that was due to the Exorcists Lacking Capacity...'
" Is There anything either you or I can do?"
"...There is something but..."
" You can purge your own Fate, however The Dangers are high,You might Die if we try to forcebly awaken Your Soul.
And Even if not, There's no guarantee That you Will be able To Purge any Fate Collapse,much less this one,which is so... Devastating."
" To be honest,even if The Collapse doesn't get Purged,you will not die,The one who will truly suffer is Fate itself,and therefore The World.
And even if we tried to force you to try and cleanse your own Fate,there is a chance you might not do it out of spite.
So The Decision is up to you,I won't judge regardless of what..."
" I'll do it."
" Really?"
"...."
" Commendable..."
For The first time,The Red haired woman spoke,Her Voice was Fierce Sounding, Contrasting the man's soft voice.
" Alright,Time is of The essence,So Lets Start when you're ready."
" Go ahead."
The masked man came near him and placed his Gloved hand on The Youth's Forehead, After a few Seconds,A Wave of intense Pressure and pain Crashed down Within His Soul,Yet He didn't feel particularly bothered,It was as if an old friend had greeted him once more.
Over a minute went by before He withdrew his hand,The man Remained quiet for around ten seconds before asking.
" Are you there?"
" Indeed."
" Hahahahaha,Hahahhahaha,hhahahahahhahahahaha!"
" Kid...You are truly an amusing person."
" How so?"
" Well I guess you wouldn't know, Forced awakening is one of the most dangerous and painful things one can experience,Yet you dealt with it like it was a light slap.
I don't know if I should be glad or concerned about your sanity."
" Now before you go, Remember, You'll be Sent to an Alternative Version of The world in which Fate is different, Usually, It's Not Going to be much different from our own World,
But due To your unique circumstances,You should be prepared for anything.
To Cleanse The Collapse,You must find The Exact moment in which Fate First Diverged from it's intended Course,Once you've Lived Through This moment,It will Be Recorded in Your Soul and you will be able to Cleanse it,The Technique of how to do this is instinctual,So just try to do it and it will happen.
Usually,This Moment is Located At The Very Place in which It Happened Here in our World,So depending on Your luck,you might be sent Near it or Not.
Once you're in The Same Map Region As It is, It's Coordinates will be sent to your Soul..."
" Now... Focus inside of your Soul and Say These words."
" Fatum,Eeactar,nectum,Vitus."
" Good luck...And I Forgot To Ask This But What is Your Name,I am Vectus,This is Sorraine."
" Vancrow Vaal Bahamuth."
" Fatum, Eeactar,nectum,Vitus."
Vancrow felt his soul dissipate,his conscience was dragged away with quick speed, Enough That he didn't have the time To realize he had given The wrong name.
It was The Name of The Masked Demon From his Dream.