Everything is interrupted as a knock at the door begins to take our attention.
I don't think any normal people will just be knocking on a door to a church, especially with how the world is. This doesn't feel like a good thing in the slightest.
"I'll take care of it, just sit back and wait." Airi instructs as she walks past me.
I don't feel the need to reply so I wait as I watch her closely. Something about this is making my arm act up as well; the wriggle is moving around a bit more than usual.
But she opens the door to the sight of nicely dressed man, he appears to be wearing an all black suit with a white undershirt and tie. Long black hair extends past his shoulders and his eyes are black with a red spiral like pattern in them.
I don't understand what is going on here but that guy looks special like Airi, except he doesn't have a lantern. He isn't a light bearer, is he?
Surely not... not with that outfit and the way his eyes look. He kind of looks like he would be against us with no hesitation to kill either one of us.
"Death lingers at the door, yet you refuse to let me help," The voice echoes with disappointment.
Letting you help means I won't be able to rely on my own strength for anything so I'm okay with that. Becoming strong enough to fight without the infection is definitely quite the goal.
A goal that I believe is possible with Airi's help.
"Aren't you going to let me in?" The man asks calmly.
Airi moves out of the way to let the man enter the church and a serious look is all I can notice on her face. It is clear as day that she knows he is an enemy here.
She closes the door after he enters and he begins to smile as he cracks his knuckles.
"You should probably explain why you are here before I take your life," Airi says with a serious tone in her voice.
"A light bearer is here and the one infected human I need to kill," He replies with a casual tone.
He said that so casually that I didn't even realize it was a threat. I won't be able to do a thing against him without using anything from my awakening.
I don't have access to it yet... so that means I'm completely useless in this fight. What would happen if Airi wasn't here to help me with anything?
Grip.
I grab my left arm as the the feeling in my arm gets a bit more intense.
"Fighting a light bearer on their own turf is suicide, you know that," Airi says, keeping the same serious tone.
"I enjoy the challenge," He replies without hesitation.
His eyes are locked on me, the intent to kill us quite strong. He definitely wants me dead more than Airi and I don't understand why that is.
Ba-dum. Ba-dum. Ba-dum.
My heart begins to race, beating out my chest... almost like I'm having a panic attack.
The room is beginning to get a bit blurry as I stumble backwards, hitting my back against the podium. The smile on his face tells me that he definitely is enjoying this.
"Fine, it'll be better to deal with this before it becomes a problem anyway," Airi says with a bit of irritation in her voice.
"You can always count on a light bearer to embrace the fight," He replies with excitement.
"I have a duty, nothing more." She responds coldly.
The seats around the room suddenly disappear as Airi appears in front of me. She kneels down before me and places the lantern next to me.
"I'll keep you safe, just sit back and keep that infection of yours under control," Airi says softly with a smile.
I want to speak but nothing wants to come out, almost like my voice is completely gone.
Pat. Pat.
She pats my head before standing back up, turning to face the man once more. Within a few seconds a bright light begins to appear in her right hand.
Rub.
After rubbing my eyes I realize that the light in her hand is a sword that formed... is this really a power the light bearer has?
"A lantern won't keep him alive. I'll gut him when I'm done dealing with you," He speaks with a malicious tone.
Airi doesn't speak as she takes some sort of fighting stance in front of me.
This scene reminds me of everything that happened at my house that day... my dad protected me from the Zierel that broke into our home.
I couldn't stop it myself so I ran upstairs to get the girls out of there. If it isn't my fault, then why do I feel guilty?
Everyone died for me to live.
"Then why are you sitting here again?" The voice asks.
Fighting against this guy is probably suicidal and I don't want to put Airi at risk by interfering with it. If she dies... Then I'll be alone again with no way to awaken anything at all.
No power, no magic, nothing.
Relying on the infection for everything will probably make me into a monster like the man before me. That isn't something that I want in the slightest.
"The Zierel you killed was with my help," It says with a calm tone.
It was a different time...
WRIGGLE.
WRIGGLE.
The feeling in my arm begins to turn into pain as I instinctively been to grab it tightly.
"I won't be a monster," I say quietly while holding my arm.
Ahead I can see the man pull outt a weapon of his own as I try to ignore the pain in my arm. He is now wielding a scythe with a black mist radiating all around it.
"Let's have some fun!" He shouts before charging in towards Airi.
A huge shockwave goes past me as my vision is taken away by a sudden fog.