For I Am A Side Character - 69: The Near End of Book 1 - Part 3
In the middle of the day, Jason was found at the top of a 60 storey building. There, he looked to the north side and gazed down at an abandoned factory. Beside him was a man who was in armor.
To see himself here made him really question how he was convinced to help the man beside him.
“…Is that the building?” asked Jason as he stood with an anxious face.
“Yes it is.” said the man in armor.
“I can’t believe I actually followed you here.” said Jason as he sounded skeptical.
“If you don’t want to help me, then don’t…it lowers the chances of me saving your friend.”
“…”
“But I know you’re reputation at the academy…do you really intend to abandon your friends who need your help?” asked the man in armor.
“How can I even trust your words?!” asked Jason furiously.
“The evidence is inside that building. Once you see what’s inside that building, you will find Juel Miller and Miles Miller in chains…they are being held hostages by a group of men known as the Red Door organization…”
“What do Juel and his brother have to do with all of this?” asked Jason.
“Because you are the reason on why they are there. Do you remember the artifact you were able to obtain the starter’s dungeon?…the one obtained from the Goblin King?” asked the man in armor.
“You know about that?…Is that the reason why you brought me here? Why!? What’s so important about that artifact that it puts Juel in danger? And how did you know about that?” asked Jason as he was starting to get worried and suspicious about the stranger.
“The Artifact is called the Demon’s Lantern. Known as a Cursed Artifact, it has the capability to influence the user to become stronger…10 times as stronger than his average strength, but its influence has a price more devastating than you could imagine.”
“What does it do?” asked Jason.
“From its name…it turns the user into a demon.”
“!?” as the word ‘Demon’ was said, it fully claimed Jason’s attention.
“A-are you sure about what you said?” asked Jason as he started sounding nervous.
“I am…”
“And how can you be sure?” asked Jason.
“Because I was there when it happened.” said the man in armor, with a lie as white as a cloud.
“…”
“I saw the effects of that Artifact…and I’m here to destroy it.” said the man as he sounded enraged. But in truth…
‘Guh….this is so weird….lying at the skin of my teeth…still, it doesn’t matter. My lie is believable enough.’
In truth, with all that was said, from lies and a bit of truth, Soril was cringing inside. From his shaking hands that seemed to reflect the rage of a man out for blood was simply a man out to try and contain the embarrassment of it all.
“W-who are you?” asked Jason.
“…I’m one of the trusted acquaintances of Miles Miller…that’s all I can say.”
“…That’s not what I meant. You know me, you found me in the middle of the roof for whatever reason! I’m still confused about why I was there…and now, here I am in this roof out to rescue Juel and his brother…I’m missing a lot of the elements where I should believe you. And you still can’t tell me, so how can I trust you!?”
“…fine, I’ll tell you everything that I know…once we’re done with the rescue. Everything other than the rescue is pointless.” said the man in armor.
“…”
“Lets get going…if we wait any longer, who knows what’s going in there.” said the man in armor.
With that said, they jumped off the building and proceeded with the plan.
***
In the edges and corners of the revere city of Diamond Reef is found the industrial factories built under companies that showed promise in supporting the occupation of both hunters and civil lives…
From butcher factories to armories and even weapon making factories, each one was built to support the war. All were cheap…simple and easy to produce. It was a vital factory presence that simply helped the people of this world fight off the enemies.
But as time passed, when the war was long over, profits declined. Simple weapons were not good enough to help the hunters in their occupation to raid dungeons, so the factories crumbled one by one…they became history.
And the only one to survive were the blacksmith shops who actually made a valuable item…here, quality mattered over quantity above anything else.
And soon…the factories were abandoned.in one of those factories was a company known for making a solid set of armor…here, it was known as the Red company. Named for its occupation where Hunters always come back red for being covered by the blood of their enemies…the Red Company was one of the most vital factories to support the war.
Now…that Factory is dead…instead of new shiny armor built and shown, what’s left in this factory was hundreds of rusty armor parts left to lay in the belts, waiting for time to consume them fully.
In that factory, Miles was walking with a nervous impression on the place.
‘.…Oh god, there’s over fifty of them in here.’ he said as he counted each men he came by as he walked deeper into the factory.
Half of these men in black suits could be felt to be extremely powerful…each one was trained…to be just as strong or stronger than Miles himself. A B-ranked hunter…
And walking here, the man in red was the most terrifying of them all. Miles could easily tell just how powerful he was simply from the look of his back.
‘…A…no, S-rank.’ he thought as he could feel the power of the man leading him into the factory.
As they went in deeper and deeper, they finally came across a rusty red door blocking their path.
As the man approached it and knocked on it, a small slot fit for a pair of eyes opened up and stared at the man in red.
Soon, the slot closes and the rusty red door opened.
“…Lets go.” said the man in red as he continued to lead Miles into the deeper parts of the factory.
“What is this?” asked Miles as he stepped through the rusty door.
“This was once a renowned company favored for supplying the necessary armor for the wars against the demons…now its nothing but a rusting history for time to swallow.”
“…I get that, what I was wondering was you people…are you a crime organization?” asked Miles.
“No, we’re not something as low as a crime organization…no, we’re something more than crime, we’re the future…and our justly actions all lead to the perfect end.”
As he said this, a light suddenly shined brighter than the rest and showed Miles the sight of a simple door.
A Red Door.
As Miles stared into this door in the curiosity it showed itself, all of a sudden, Miles felt a shivering sensation of fear suddenly overthrow him.
“…!?” he took a step back as he could not walk any closer to where the door stood.
“W-what is this!?” asked Miles as he felt like he was being crushed by a powerful force inside his head. Soon he fell to the floor and struggled even more.
“Gahh!!”
“Hmm, you’re more weaker than I imagined.” said the man in red.
As Miles struggled to keep himself sane, the man approached Miles and simply took the briefcase from his hand.
“W-wait! Where is my brother! Where is Juel!!” said Miles.
“Open the case Miles, if you don’t…*snap*” as the man in red snapped his finger, another light was turned on and this time, it showed the sight of Juel being chained up hanging in the middle of the room. His face was beaten and his ears wee dripping with blood.
And with a single motion of grip from the man’s hand, the chains around Juel reacted and moved under his will.
“Ghhg!” Juel felt the pain of his arms being strangled by those chains to a point that it was starting to bend.
“Stop!” said Miles.
“Open the case, and I’ll see what I can do.” said the man in red.
“…W-why!? Do you not know what this artifact is!? its cursed!! its nothing like the artifact you thought would be…its cursed I tell you!” said Miles as he tries to warn the man in red.
“…I’ll say it again. Open. The. Case.”as the man said this with a threatening tone, he moved the chain so strongly that it broke one of Juel’s arms.
*Pop**Crack*
From this action, Miles could see the bone of his brother’s hand’s popping out of his arm..
“NO!!”
And being in fear of what happened to his brother, he quickly listened to the man’s request and opened the chest.
As the chest was opened, it revealed the artifact that the man craved so much.
“Finally…we’re one step closer to the end of today’s chapter.” as he grab the Demon’s lantern and lifted it into the air, the Demon’s lantern shined brightly in a greenish flame and affected the man’s condition.
“Hahahah!!” the man laughed as soon the Demon’s Lantern started affecting him. His veins started showing more distinctly with its tint of color being green, his arms became more muscular and the presence of his own aura turned even more malignant.
Seeing his change, he noticed that Miles was still in the room.
“…Hmm, oh I forgot.” as he waved his hand, the chains that held on Juel’s unconscious body started loosening and soon Juel fell to the floor.
*thud!*
As Juel fell, Miles quickly made his way to his brother to see his condition, but as he did, the man in red suddenly appeared before him and used a long chain to hold Miles down.
“Wha-” Miles was shocked to find that the man still chained him even with the deal was finished.
“We’re not done yet…I still haven’t showed you something nice in the end.”
“W-what are you talking about!?” asked Miles as he was being chocked by the chains.
“Do you know that the artifacts found across the seas and land, some are considered to be compatible? It is as if they were meant to be bonded together to become something more grand…more than what meets the eye.”
“…you don’t mean!?”
“Oh I do…and watch.”
As the man shined the Demon’s lantern even more, he simultaneously approached the red door that was showering the room with malicious and cursed power…one that soon made Mile’s ears start to bleed.
“Khk!” as Miles could feel the his blood drop from his ears and nose…the man soon came into touch with the red door with his hand and he introduced the door to Miles.
“This Artifact is named the [Red Door]…and just like the Demon’s lantern, this baby is more cursed the lantern itself. Its amazing to think just what could be made from combining these two…its really starting to excite me…Don’t you think so too!!??” said the man as he shouted with a lustful tone.
“Imagine me! Judas Everbell!! Founder of the greatest cursed artifact create something even more than what man could imagine!!”
“To create something that God would fear for his life!!”
In his proud publication of the idea, he then opened the Red Door for Miles to see and in that door, Miles saw something that made his skin turn pale.
“Are you crazy!!?” asked Miles as he shouted to the man who seemed even more crazier than before.
“Am I!? hahahahahah!!!” the man could only laugh as he soon threw the lantern into the door.
And in this action, the door reacted by automatically shutting himself up from the rest.
And everything went silent.
There was no longer any sense of malicious power being exerted by the door…
It left the man in red shocked by what just happened.
“W-what happened!? Something was supposed to happen!!” shouted the man in red.
“…Thank god…it wasn’t tru-”
*Thud!!*
Before Miles could finish his sentence, the red door suddenly opened…and in it, a presence even more malicious was felt.
“!!?”
“!??” Both the man in red and Miles felt fear from the door.
“W-what is this?” asked the man in red as he was confused.
“What do you mean!? Don’t you know what going to happen next?!” asked Miles.
“…I’d imagined it would grant me power…they said it would happen if I did what they told me…”
“What!?”
As the two argued, something finally walked out of the door. And from its figure alone, Miles felt fear and hopelessness.
“T-this wasn’t to happen!” said the man in red as he too started turning pale in sight of the thing that walked out of the door.
[What is??] asked the figure who walked wearing nothing but a thick chain on his neck and a pair of horns that appealed to his face.
From his husky tone…and black eyes, out came a demon who showed immense power simply from his speech.
“…Y-you…you’re a high-ranked demon.” said the man with his shaking voice, filled with fear.
[That’s a bit insulting coming from the one who called me here.] said the demon.
“…This wasn’t supposed to happen!!” shouted the man in red.
[You said that already.] said the demon as he was starting to get annoyed. His relaxed eyes started turning to a wicked glare and with it, he showed his anger towards the man in red.
[Fall.] and in one word, his anger blossomed into power.
“…!?” and in this simple showcase of emotion, the man felt a power so intense that it made him suddenly fall flat to the ground by an unknown force.
*Thud!*
The man in red who felt this power, could no longer speak nor use his power…
[Hmm, I can’t believe these pieces of vermin won over the war…how pathetic.]
“…”
[You there, tell me how many years has it been since the war?] asked the Demon as he turned to Miles who shaking in fear.
“!?”
[Tell me now…] Said the Demon as voice started getting impatient.
“T-thirty years…” said the Miles as his voice stuttered.
[…Hmm, thirty years in this time, three hundred in ours…I guess time really does go slow for you vermin.] As the Demon conversed his thoughts to Miles, suddenly the man in red stood up from his struggle against the demon and he faced the demon with just as much insanity as before.
“Oy!!”
[…Hmm?]
“I called you here…and you dismiss me!!?” shouted the man named Judas.
[…Pigs don’t fly…dogs don’t breathe underwater…and pest like you should just keep quiet, I’m getting a migraine just from hearing you talk.] said the demon.
“I called you here!! Now grant me my power!!” said Judas.
[Fall.]
And yet again, the demon was able to display his power to Judas, but in a form of surprise, Judas was able to withstand the demon’s words.
[…Hmm? Impressive.] said the demon as he watch Judas struggle to keep his body upright.
“KhK!!…Y-you bastard!” said Judas.
As Judas struggled to keep his stand, Miles on the other hand tried to find a chance or a way to leave this room. But with the demon in sight, and seeing its power as clear as it was…Miles could not find any way at all.
But as he found himself in such a predicament, all of a sudden, from the door of the room came flying a man dressed in black and crashing straight to where the demon stood. In reaction, the demon simply waved his hand, and the man in black was quickly shredded in midair into guts and gore.
Some went to Miles’s face while the other blood and gore rained on Judas, making his suit even more redder than before.
[Hmm?] and from that door came Jason who was standing with a weary expression.
With a sword on hand, he directed his sword unto the man in red and said nothing else.
And from his view, he could see that Miles and Juel were with the man in red…and most of all, a demon who he did not expect to be here at all.
All but an attempt to dash forward, he quickly made his judgement save to Miles and Juel. but before he could make a concrete action, the demon suddenly appeared before him without him fully realizing it.
[Hmm…intriguing. What is this…thing?] asked the Demon as he could smell a scent of danger from the boy’s presence alone.
“!??” and in Jason’s reaction, he quickly tried to take a step back to avoid the demon, but in retaliation, the demon was fast enough to grab hold of his arm and lift him up into the air.
[Hmm, I don’t understand…but you seem special.]
As the Demon was on hold of Jason’s body, something inside Jason was starting to burn up again…Like a flame he could not control…
“Khk!” he tried to control it, but soon enough…flames started to erupt from his mouth like that of a fire-breathing dragon, and out came a blast of fire.
‘Kwaahh!!’ out of sheer uncontrolled power, Jason’s body was able to produce a blue flame that directly struck the demon’s face head on.
[!?] and to the demon’s reaction, he felt his face burn simply like that.
[What is this…?] said the demon as he lets go of Jason’s arm and drops him to the floor.
As Jason was set free, the fire from his breath made him freak out.
‘What is this??! what’s happening to me!? Why is a demon in this room!?’ he thought as he tried controlling his breath.
Soon enough, as he turned to the Demon’s direction, all sense of control was then lost again and his fire breath was let out like an uncontrollable hose.
*KwahhH!!*
And like so, the Demon was surprised by this. The pressure from his breath alone caused the demon to be pushed back to the other end of the room.
‘I don’t know what is going on anymore…but this is our chance!’ seeing this, Miles quickly took Juel and ran as fast as he could to the exit.
As Jason saw this, he knew then and there that Miles was trying to escape, so he aided them.
He pointed all his attention to the to enemies, Judas and the Demon and he tried to keep them in check while Miles escapes with Juel.
Soon the fire from his mouth was dying down…and now, what remained in this room was him against the man in red and the actual Demon.
‘…I don’t understand what’s going on…but as long as those two can escape, things should work out.’ thought Jason.
As Jason was analyzing the situation, the Demon was able to put himself in face of Jason.
[I don’t seem to appreciate that flame of yours boy…so to satiate my curiosity, I should kill you.] said the demon.
“Oyyyy!!!” out of nowhere, the man in red suddenly jumped on the demon and gave him a roundhouse kick.
*Thud!*
But to his attempt, it was futile.
The Demon was left unfazed by this.
[You really are a pest to no end…] said the demon as he raised his palm and touched Judas’s chest. The next thing Judas knew, his body received a force of power so heavy, his felt like he could die at any moment…
But to his surprised, he was still alive.
‘..?’
[You’re already dead.] said the demon as he pulls his hand away.
“What?”
And as Judas was curious about the Demon’s words, he turned down to where the attack was made…and saw that his chest was no longer intact. What was left was a hole the size of the demon’s palm.
“KhK!” before he could imagine the idea of his death…he fell to his knees and he died.