Covenant (2)

The last thing Ichiro Takagi saw was the terrified faces of schoolgirls as he yanked the steering wheel hard left.

The last sound he heard was shattering glass and the crunch of metal against concrete.

The last thing he felt was peace.

Peace—because for once in his life, he'd done something good. Something that mattered.

It felt different than the years of driving the usual delivery routes, then returning to his apartment for late-night anime and gaming marathons.

"So this is death," he murmured to the surrounding void. Thirty years old is short for many, but felt like a very long one to him.

Maybe death had made him think so.

But it had other plans.

Light poured through stained glass windows as he opened his eyes. He found himself in what appeared to be an ancient temple or church, with rows of wooden benches etched with unfamiliar symbols. Felt different than the shrines he had visited. A fireplace crackled in the distance, though the flames cast no shadows. 

He glanced down. No shadow beneath his feet either.

"I really am dead," he muttered, almost half-guessing himself.

"Indeed you are, Mr. Takagi."

Suddenly, a woman stood before the benches: black hair flowing over the nun's attire. A strip of crimson cloth covered her eyes, yet her head tracked his every movement.

"Who are you? How do you know my name?"

"I know many things." A slight smile touched her lips. "Your van's brakes have failed, and you decided to steer into that building rather than let those girls die."

The memories hit him like a jab to his chest—regular cargo routine before disaster struck.

The fact that the nun also knew it added to his shock.

"Could you have prevented it?" The question escaped before he could think.

She shook her head. "I cannot rewrite what's already happened. I lack that power."

"Where am I?" He looked around before facing the nun again. “This doesn't look like heaven or hell, does it?”

"The alterplane—a place where souls rest briefly before their final journey."

Takagi's face became wary. Alterplane, he thought. He tried to make sense of it, but he was sure this was the first time he had heard it. But it told him one thing: the nun wasn't really a human.

"What are you...?"

"It doesn't matter who I am." Her smile deepened. "What matters is I need your help, Mr. Takagi—and whether you realize it or not, you need mine."

Takagi pondered her words. He had no idea who she was. She might be a goddess, or an angel, or anything. She wasn't human for sure, but his guts told him that she brought him here for a reason. He decided to be cooperative with her, digging everything he could from this already out-of-the-world situation.

"Why? What could you possibly want from a nobody like me?"

"From someone who takes the chance to sacrifice himself?" She tilted her head. "You underestimate yourself, but very few could have made that choice."

Takagi had no response. She implied that he was here because of the sacrifice, but it didn't make him feel special. He never considered himself one. 

All he did was to evade those schoolgirls and suddenly he was brought into a mysterious place. A mix of confusion and suspicion started to swirl inside him. "What do you want, then?"

"What if I say, I can offer you a second life?"

Those words made his heart seem to stop—if he still had one. 

I imagined waking up in a hospital bed, perhaps bandaged but still alive. I could start over, maybe make something of myself this time, if lucky. Maybe his life wouldn't change instead. 

But at least, he would still be alive.

But realizing what the nun had said before ruined his fantasy. "You said you can't change what's written, but then you offer me a new life?"

"I cannot change your death in your world. Nobody can—that door has closed."

"Then why did say this nonsense?"

"Because there's another door." She approached until she stood an arm's length away, made Takagi caught the scent of cinnamon from her. "You can begin a new life in another world."

Takagi caught his breath. "What?"

"This world was very different from yours," she began to explain. "It has the similar size of your world. It is dominated by human, but there's also elves, dwarves, beastfolks, and many other races. The technology is still backward compared to your world—but it has arcane."

"Arcane—you mean magic?"

"Yes."

Somehow, it made Takagi's heart raced a bit, but it only lasted for a brief moment. This was not the time to become excited. "Why this world?"

"Because it's standing on the edge of destruction."

As if her words were a cue, the temple suddenly transformed around them and disappeared. It was almost too real for a mere illusion.

And in its place, a vast battlefield beneath a blood-red sky appeared.

Takagi noticed the nun beside him, but his sights had made him speechless.

Two massive armies—perhaps tens of thousands strong—faced each other across a scorched field. 

On one side stood humans in shining armor alongside sturdy dwarves, elves with longbows, and knights mounted on scaled lion-like creatures.

But facing them was a swarm of terrifying beings that sent chills down his spine. 

Everything was inhuman, and the more he looked, the more disgusted he become.

There were abominations with limbs sprouting from impossible places, and towering patchwork monsters leaking black ichor—both something you would only see in horror films. Behind them, hooded figures weaving what looked like sinister magic. Takagi had no idea what they'd do, but his guts telling him it was evil.

Elven arrows darkened the sky, before the demonic horde surged forward like a tidal wave. As the two forces clashed, the collision sounded like a thousand thunderclaps. Takagi watched in horror as a human knight was lifted screaming into the air, impaled on the horn of a demon with a rhino head.

Before Takagi could gasp for breath, the image in front of him wavered before ripping itself apart. As suddenly as it had appeared, the scene collapsed.

They stood again in the shadowless temple, but the dying screams still echoed in Takagi's ears. He found himself on his knees, trembling.

"What… what was that?" He whispered.

"You witnessed a battle from the Great Demonic War, a conflict which almost destroyed that world long ago," she explained.

"Great Demonic… War?" He managed to ask, still shaking.

"For millennia, the people of Verda fought against demons who wanted to conquer the world."

"Verda?"

"The name of the world I've just told you."

He struggled to process everything. "Y… yeah… this sounds like something from one of my light novels or games. Surely, it is! What the hell was that?!"

"But what you witnessed wasn't a fantasy, Mr. Takagi."

Takagi looked at her, speechless. Almost in a snap, he took a deep breath, and calmed himself down. “...What happened to them?”

"Through great sacrifice, the demons were defeated in that war—but some still survived." Her expression darkened. "They hide in the shadows, and plot their rise."

“How do you know this?”

"I can see the future, Mr. Takagi, and the future shows me that Verda is in danger.”

"So like that battlefield scene before, you can use that to see... the future?"

"Yes."

Takagi paused. "...If you can see the future, why not act yourself? Unlike you, I'm just a human."

"Like you, I exist here only in spirit."

"...So you're dead too? Like me?"

"Does it matter?"

Takagi sigh. "Of course, it does. How can you expect me to trust you when I don't even know exactly who you are."

"All you need to know, Mr. Takagi, is that I need your help."

Takagi decided to go along. “What if I refuse?”

"Then I've done all I could."

Didn't expect such an answer, he laughed bitterly—feeling ironic.

"You're saying everything depends on me? You’re joking, right?”

Without her reply, the scene shifted once more. The temple vanished again.

This time, it was a different place.

Takagi and her stood in a castle hall where young people in school uniforms—wearing blue blazers and white shirts—fought against monstrous creatures. Those monsters resembled what he had seen on the battlefield before, though they less "scary" here, but the courage of the students amazed him.

Unlike the soldiers he saw before, which were also brave but expected, these teenagers were fearless, even when carnage unfolded before their very eyes. These student magicians hurl fireballs towards the demons, creating stonewalls to block incoming attacks, each helping and encouraging each other to fight. Some students looked desperate, but they didn't run away.

As he wondered where such courage came from, golden light blazed behind him.

He turned to see a student brandishing a glowing banner with a dolphin insignia. It matched the emblem on the students' blazers, so Takagi assumed it was the school's emblem. As he looked toward the figure's face, he noticed something strange. He couldn't determine whether the person was a boy or a girl. Their face kept blurring for some reason, as if someone trying to censor it from him.

Even then, this person radiated something special, different than the other students. Takagi could sense it.

As he focused on the figure, a growl echoed from the hall's far end.

From the shadows emerged a massive silhouette of pure darkness with eyes like dying stars. Even a glance at it drained courage from the heart, sending chills beneath his skin. Takagi wasn't exactly a coward, but what he felt wasn't normal. He was sure of it.

This shadow—it wasn't one to be trifled with.

Yet, without hesitation, the mysterious student sprinted towards the shadow, holding the banner high. The student shouted a battle cry, but no voice came out. As if it the figure was isolated in their own silent film.

Takagi never looked away, observing as they about to clash. Just moments before that, the light from the banner grew blindingly bright.

Then, it grew so bright he had to close his eyes.

When the light subsided, Takagi opened them again, curious what happened next.

He held his breath, widening his eyes.

He couldn't believe what he was watching.

The shadow had impaled the student high above the ground, to the horror of the other students. Their courage which Takagi admired, gone in an instant. Despair rained down as if the galaxy fell upon them. Chaos everywhere as the monsters started to mow them down.

"Take me out of here!" Takagi shouted.

The scene then dissolved once more. Before long, he and the nun returned to the temple. No one said anything for a while, until Takagi finally spoke with a suppressed tone. "...What the hell was that? Who are they?"

"It was a vision of the future," the nun explained. "The shadow represents the Archlord of Demons, supposedly slain in the Great Demonic War—and the student with the banner is the future Centurion—this world's chosen hero.”

"Archlord of Demons?"

"He's the leader of all demons, the one who tries to conquer Verda with his army."

"...You mean this… hero... will be killed by him in the future?"

“I believe so.”

"As easily as that?" 

"Being a her doesn't mean they can't die, Mr. Takagi."

"Of course! But isn't the hero supposed to be strong?"

"It needs more than strength to beat the demons." She explained. "Not only they're stronger, but they're also wicked. Very good at deceiving and tricking people to do their bidding. That's what demons are."

He pondered her words. "Am I… the one who got stabbed by that shadow before? Are you here to warn me?"

“You’re not the Centurion, Mr. Takagi—nor do I ask you to become one.” She said with a firm voice.

"Then why am I here?"

"I’m asking you to protect this Centurion."

“So in exchange for a second life, you want me to go to this world and... fight those demons?” He said in a mocking tone. “Sorry… I'm a cargo driver, not a warrior."

"Fate chooses its own hand, Mr. Takagi—and it chooses you."

"And why me? What gives you the right?" He asked. "Am I that special in the whole universe?! I'm... I'm not!"

As he wanted to argue further, he felt a weight at his hip. Gazing down, he was surprised to find a sword in a plain sheath linked to a belt he had never put on before.

“Prepare yourself.”

Before he could process and respond, the nun had drawn an identical sword and stood poised to strike.

Too quick for his eyes, she suddenly already stood by his side. Her sword already moved towards his head.

Abruptly, Takagi sank to one knee. 

His hands shook wildly as a crash rang out through the hall, followed by a rattle.

Takagi stared at his empty, trembling hands. 

His body had reacted without thought.

In a split second, he blocked her strike—somehow—but it sent his sword flying by the sheer force.

What just happened, he thought. How did he do that?

The woman's expression remained calm, but satisfaction touched her lips.

"In my lifetime, only two people have ever blocked that strike." She sheathed her blade smoothly. "Now there are three."

"That wasn't me..." He whispered, staring at his hands. "I don't know how to use a sword. I never even touched one!"

"Yet, you blocked my strike." She helped him to his feet. Despite her blindfold, he felt her seeing straight through his soul. "You're more than what you think of yourself—or you won't be here in the first place."

Takagi remained quiet. He gazed at the distant sword, his thoughts trying to work through all he had witnessed. He knew what he did was extraordinary.

"The question now, Ichiro Takagi, isn't whether you can help save Verda." Her voice softened. "The question is whether you'll choose to try."

"Did you choose me because I've appeared in one of your visions?" He asked without looking at her. “Have you ever thought what would happen if I fail?”

There was a long silence between them. As he waited for her to speak, no words came out. "Why the quiet? Are you afraid this could affect the future?"

"Fate chooses its own hand, Mr. Takagi. That's all I can say." The nun finally answered, repeating her earlier words. "My foresight is a powerful ability that I possess, but it also has limits."

"Like how we can't identify the Centurion's face in that vision before?"

"Yes." She explained. "My vision isn't perfect, and sometimes we need to feel in what's missing by ourselves."

He finally stared at her. "But even if the Centurion is saved, how is it supposed to save the world? What would I be, if I'm not the hero itself?"

"Those, Mr. Takagi," she replied, "are things you will discover for yourself."