The sudden gunshot sent shock through my body, jolting me out of bed and made me stumble out of my bed.
Out of my windows, I could see black smoke curling over the many rooftops of the town. The arid smell of burnt wood and cooked meat drifted through cracks in the window. I heard yelling and screaming from the terrified townspeople on the streets below as an explosion shook the house.
Just exactly what was happening while I was asleep? I still had no idea what was going on so I staggered out of my bedroom and toward the stairs. Smoke filled the hallways like a thick toxic blindfold over my eyes. I could barely see past the haze as I somehow managed to get down half of the steps without tripping over. This was why I hated spiral staircases.
I stopped suddenly, almost losing my balance upon I heard loud voices coming from the large hall. I tried not to cough and steadied myself while squinting through the haze. I noticed the edges of the stairs were blackened and smoldering as if they had been scorched by flames. When my eyes adjusted a little to the smoke, I could just about see several figures in the room.
Half of them were holding muskets while the rest had swords drawn. They were standing in the midst of a raging blanket of fire that seemed to avoid touching them. At least I found the cause of the smoke.
Unfortunately, the fire wasn't the worst part any longer. Grey-streaked white trench coats, silver helmets, and the bronze insignia of a mechanical golem eye. The unmistakable uniforms and emblem of the Lwichvon Empire.
On Felgan soil? The war was supposed to be between Lwichvon and Paveria. It couldn't have spread to Felgan so soon? Were they trying to cross through here as a shortcut to Paveria and flank them from the sides? Was this why my sister had died? I didn't know which conclusion was correct.
Someone raised their voice again and I saw my father at the other end of the room, standing in front of my mother. He had conjured a barrier of ice around him and mother, though it was rapidly melting away from the flames tearing at the wooden floorboards.
"Scheming empire rats!" My father stood at the far end of the room, positioned in front of my mother. A translucent barrier of ice shimmered around them, though rapidly melting away, water streaming down its surface as the surrounding flames ate at it. "You think you can just invade us and walk away as you please?"
A tall man who I could only assume to be the leader of the armed soldiers stood in the center of the room. He wore the same uniform, but was unarmed, save for a saber on his belt. "Quite the spectacle." he said, clapping slowly. His accent was harsh, yet perfectly understandable. "We weren't expecting a town of peasants to put up even the slightest resistance. I hope the honorable Baron Scerriton will pardon our intrusion of course."
"Do you know how many treaties you've broken with what you've done?!"
"The thought has somewhat crossed my mind, yes. But my friend, there are bigger priorities than a few diplomatic ties." He replies calmly, tilting his head slightly in a composed yet mocking gesture. "You seem to be waiting for something? If you're holding out for your famed Felgan Chevaliers, I'm afraid they won't be attending today."
"Hah." My father glowered at the captain scathingly. If looks could kill, he would've melted a hole through his ice barrier- though the fire was currently doing that for him. "So you don't know the border guards' outpost is just a few hours from here. They'll wipe all your Lwich soldiers away as soon as they arrive."
"I do know." The captain replied calmly without his smirk vanishing. "That's what I meant when I said they won't be coming. You see... Your country's army that you people admire so much is under our control now."
The Lwich soldiers still hadn't noticed me on the stairs, obscured by the thick smoke. I was rooted to the spot in confusion, unable to piece things together.
What did they mean, 'under our control now'? Did they have spies in the Felgan army? Or was the Felgan army cooperating with the Lwich? That would explain why the couriers were in such a hurry. They wanted to get out before the invasion began.
My father was also staring in disbelief at the captain so the Lwich just kept talking. "Of course, after we annihilate you peasants, we are going to continue our noble conquest against the Paverians. It will be a lot easier to make them go kaput. You should be grateful! We are technically getting rid of the country below you that could invade you at any moment."
"So you guys are trying to cross through Felgan to flank the Paverians. Isn't that right?" My father finally found his voice and asked bitterly. I had the feeling he was trying to reason with the enemy and make negotiations. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but couldn't you have just passed through peacefully? Why go through the trouble of- of destroying our town and killing our people? We are not involved with your affairs with Paveria."
The captain's smirk was replaced by a sadistic grimace. "Our orders were simple: 'Burn everything to the ground'. And besides, killing and destroying is a lot more fun than walking through with our heads down. Isn't that right, men?" He finished, addressing his squad who cheered and waved their weapons.
Hearing these barbarous words, my father looked as if he could explode in fury. But he could find nothing to say back to them. Over half of his ice wall had joined the fumes now. The fire had spread during the conversation and was almost all the way up on the ceiling.
The Lwich captain turned back to him with a satisfied smirk and raised a finger. "I think I've made my point clear now. Turn him into bratwurst, men!" He snarled.
Two soldiers on either side of him stepped in front and raised their rifles at the ice barrier. The tips of the barrel turned red hot, then glowing white. Mana danced from their hands before gathering at the end of their guns. I saw my father's expression tighten in suspense as he started to refreeze his barrier with his last drops of mana.
In a second, there was a loud flash and flames erupted from the muzzle, engulfing the room. I had to retreat a few steps back up the stairs to survive the sudden blast of heat. However, I was worried that my father (and mother who I just remembered) might not have been as lucky.
"Still standing, eh?" The voice of the captain floated up the stairs, dispelling my fears- for now. "I commend you for your incredible tenacity, Lord Scerriton. But I doubt you are in the position to resist any further."
When I peeked downstairs again, my father was barely managing to stay on his feet with burns all over. But he was still resolutely shielding my mother with his body. I had to say, I have never felt more admiration for anyone else than my father at this moment.
The Lwich soldiers once again raised their guns at my father, who made no move to fight back other than gritting his teeth. Even if he wanted, he couldn't. He was using the last of his strength to keep standing.
And I couldn't do anything either. I had no weapon, no magic. For the millionth time in my life, I cursed myself for being useless. But... But they were my parents. I had already lost my sister in this life. I couldn't just stand by and lose someone else.
I was fine with dying. That was the entire purpose of my existence anyway. But others dying for me was not acceptable.
The captain pulled his rapier with a rasp and held it high above my father's head- "Auf wiedersehen (Farewell), Herr Scerriton. You were more trouble than I thought." -before bringing his blade down in a wide slash.
Which went through my face and chest.
"Arius? Arius, no! Not my son!"
The blade felt scaldingly cold like a whip of ice before the slash turned burning hot. My whole body felt like it was on fire as blood seeped through my clothes and onto the thin edge of the blade that was still lodged into my stomach.
The Lwich captain looked at me in shock for a few seconds, as if contemplating what had just happened before giving a wry chuckle.
"Like father like son, eh?" were the last words I heard before the dark burning hands of death covered my eyes.
'Ah... Back here again.' I thought to myself, staring into the pitch-black expanse of the afterlife. 'That was... A lot more agonizing than I had envisioned.' I mulled glumly. The last look of desperate terror in my father's eyes was more painful than my actual death.
It reminded me of the looks in my friends' eyes on my first death.
'I wonder where I'll get reincarnated this time...' I sighed in resignation, trying not to think about my friends. 'I wonder what I did to deserve this...'
'I wonder if this suffering will ever end.'
But all of a sudden, out of the still darkness, there was a loud beep that almost scared the living (or should I say the dead) daylights out of me. A strange disembodied voice sounded in my mind and my vision seemed to get darker than it already was.
There were several more beeps, one for every time the strange voice spoke. Or at least I thought it was speaking. It felt more like reading invisible words in my head.
Beep. [ You have died a total of 100 times ]
Beep. [ Hidden objectives have been accomplished ]
Beep. [ Requirements for host have been met ]
My mind went blank for a short while, as if the voice was pausing to take a breath. I couldn't blame it, since I still couldn't comprehend what was going on. If I had to describe it, my mind felt like a loading screen that was stuck on 90 percent.
No- Wait... What? There was actually a literal loading screen in my mind. A skull-shaped circle was spinning as a bar below gradually filled in the last 10 percent.
I was starting to think that all my painful deaths had damaged my mental health when I saw the numbers hit the 100% mark. Then a final sentence flashed through my mind before everything went silent and I blacked out.
Beep. [ System Initiated ]