The hero

I don't want to kill anyone…

Once Levi left, Noah's fingers thickened, the tendons of his hands expanded. The ink of his stripes spread out on his pale skin. The nails on his hands pushed out. Noah's hands and feet transformed . A semi transformation of his mystic form. A tiger’s claws.

The crimson eyes of the cursed villagers glared at him. Noah knew it was unavoidable. It always started like that, one person falls victim to the curse and spreads it like a contagious disease.

There were women, children, men, the elderly- all eyes that glared at him, none had any life left in them. The bodies were eating themselves from inside, their minds were slowly losing reasoning. A carnal urge to attack any one that seemed responsible for their coming demise.

“The executioner….” An elderly man mumbled through his broken teeth, he stepped closer. “It is your f-fault…! You faile–d to come on time-e!” His words fumbled as though even breathing was a struggle. But at least he still seemed somewhat capable of reason.

“I did not know…” The guilt chewed the young tiger from inside. Another human stepped forward, a woman with a little boy holding her hand. “Because of you, my child…!” She sobbed and pushed her child forward. The little boy stumbled and fell on his knees in front of Noah.

When the child looked up at Noah, tears welled up in Noah's eyes. This child was gone. His body was dead, Noah couldn't hear any heartbeat or pulse, he was practically a zombie. The twirls of golden veins ran across the boy’s entire face. Drool dripped from the corner of the little boy’s mouth. His lips flapped together, making gibberish sounds until it formed a sentence.

“I don't want to die..”

What could Noah possibly say to that? It was his fault. He should've walked around more at night in the human realm, he should've come here sooner! He was the reason the whole village was infected. And he was going to be the reason every one of them would lose their life tonight.

“Forgive me..” Noah pleaded to the child, tears falling from the corner of his eyes. He knelt down and wrapped his claw around the little boy's neck. Noah could tell, this boy was barely five years old. He could not feel any pulse under the pads of his hands. This boy was dead, his soul was chained to his body by the curse.

“Forgive me for being so late.”

For being a failure..

In a blink, Noah's claw had crushed the windpipe of the child with one hand, he used his other hand to drill through his heart. The little boy's body fell back with a hole in his chest.

Crimson liquid flashed across Noah's face, his face and claws were stained with the weight of his sins once again. Once again he had killed a child. Once again he had failed to save a child.

Upon seeing her child lose his already lost life, the little boy's mother lost whatever reasoning she had left behind those crazed crimson eyes. She launched herself towards the tiger. Noah effortlessly dodged her and repeated the same method he had for the little boy. Crushing her windpipe with one hand while drilling through her bones from behind and snatching her heart out.

The cursed human fell forward on her face. Humans were fragile. Noah didn't have to fight tooth and nail to put them down like crazed dogs that were a danger to their owners. The remaining humans came out from behind their hiding spot, there was not one person that wasn't infected with the curse.

This was not a ghost village. This was a cursed village. The villagers were hiding from the outside world in order to not be executed. That was probably the reason why Noah wasn't called upon to take care of the curse.

Banded together, the cursed humans started attacking Noah in a herd. Much like a slaughter house, hot blood splattered across the ivory walls, one by one. But Noah's golden eyes blazed like a fiery sun between the darkness of the night and the splattering of red everywhere. The wines, the walls and Noah, had all been stained with the blood of the humans that deserved to live.

Probably more than me…

Seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into an hour. And Noah was finally down to the last human. The last human that had no way of recovering but still had the mind to understand reason.

“Please don't resist…” Noah begged. His mind was completely turned off and yet, the tears in the human’s eyes woke up empathy in him.

“Please let me go! I didn't even attack you, it was all their idea, please!” the woman under his claws begged through tears in her eyes. Her golden veins expanded further and further with each word she spoke.

“You know I can't do that..”

“I want to live! Please..! I have dreams, I still haven't painted the walls of this village, I still haven't made a name for myself! I- please, I haven't even told him my feelings-! Please executioner, I beg you I will live quietly and won't hurt any-”

squelsh!

Her blood splashed across Noah's face. Her body fell to the ground as she gurgled blood through her mouth. “I…wa.. t..liv..” gibberish blurted from her mouth, unable to form proper words with a crushed throat. Noah's claws trembled for a moment before he cleanly drilled through her chest and snuffed the life out of her body.

A moment of numbness passed through Noah under the cracked moon’s light. He fell to his knees exhausted, reverting his arms and legs back to his humanoid form. “Just what am I doing…”

How much longer can I do this?

I don't deserve this life… they deserved it more than me and I.. I took it from them.

I am a monster.

Nonetheless, Noah did not cry. He closed his eyes and took all of it in and swallowed it whole. Like he always does. After collecting himself together, Noah finally stepped out of the village.

Damelsing village was finally a ghost village. The haunting screams of the people he just killed echoed in his ears. When he finally found Levi waiting alone outside of the village, something else caught his eyes.

A blond young man crying helplessly on the ground. His oceanic eyes met Noah's blazing golden ones. In an instant, the young man got his shaking feet and withdrew the sword by his side. He launched himself towards Noah, aiming to slice his head off clean. Noah's reflexes were that of a tiger, he immediately blocked the attack with his claws. The young man's strength was nothing in comparison to his own and yet…

Those eyes..

He was still crying through his hatred burning in them. This was a man that the god had crafted with his own hands. A man so kind that he would bleed and weep on behalf of others and in a way that anyone would know who he really was…

“The hero…” Noah mumbled as realisation dawned on him.

Noah pushed the hero back with one hand, the hero fell back on his butt. The impact of his fall snatched the air out of his lungs. The hero gasped for air but refused to give up, using the support of his sword but he fell back again.

“You are too weak, don't get back up.” Noah commented coldly.

The hero snapped. Anger rose to his head and on pure adrenaline he launched himself on Noah again. Noah's eyes widened when the impact of his unsharpened blade caused him to be pushed a few steps back. Noah scoffed, almost resentfully.

“They were weak too! But you didn't show them any mercy! You monster!” The young man spat back. His build was too weak and small, if Noah showed any more strength than this, he might end up breaking a bone.

Noah grabbed the hero’s blade, the dark edge sliced his skin open. More blood spilled and mixed with the blood on his arm.

“Monster?” Noah questioned, offended by the accusation thrown at him. Normally Noah never tried to clear his name but something about the existence of this man that viewed himself as righteous and looked at Noah as a criminal… he couldn't let it go.

“I am Noah, The fang of Archane! I am my queen’s Executioner. Next time you hurl insults in my face, know that I do not mind being a monster if it is to fulfill my queen’s command.” Noah stepped closer to the hero who hugged his ribs just to suppress the pain. “Should I have shown them mercy? What do you suppose would happen when an infected villager wandered off in the city?” Ruthless hatred dripped from Noah's voice.

“A naive young boy like you could never know. Let me guess, you are from some small village that raised you with warmth and affection? They sent you out in this journey to find the truth about the infected? So find a solution? And you think you can miraculously save everyone because you are oh-so-kind?” Noah mocked the young boy. The young boy didn't talk back, confirming that everything Noah said was the exact truth.

I can't believe this! He really did live that happy life and think he can just change the world because he thinks so?

Fate is a cruel mistress..

Noah ran a hand through his messy hair. “If I showed mercy and even one of them had escaped into the city, your human realm would be crawling with zombies..”

Noah did not know why he was giving justification of the massacre he had caused. The look in the hero's eyes did not change. “Even so, there could've been a kinder way to kill them!”

And that snapped Noah's every last fuse. He grabbed the sitting hero by his shirt, pulled him up and glared into his blue eyes. “News flash kid. There is nothing kind about killing. You want to kill them with a happy goodbye and giggles and shit? You do it. You hate me right? Use that hate to fuel your resolve and prove me fucking wrong, show me what is kind about killing the infected who wouldn't think twice before snuffing your own future out.”

The hero didn't fight, he had understood that he was no match for the executioner of the queen. Noah threw him back on the ground and gestured towards Levi. “Let's go, Sir Levi. We don't have the time to waste it on this kid.”

Levi did not interfere between the two when they fought. How could he? One was a destined hero and while the other was on a path to steal his destiny.

“Luke Blitz. Remember my name. I will make sure you eat your words and apologise to me and those you have killed today.”

Noah didn't look back. Levi followed Noah and left through the path they had come in this village. Eventually, after calming down and burning a candle in respect of the dead, Luke also made his way away from the village. None of the heroes had known that in their absence, the bodies of the deceased would disappear that night.