Enter the alleyway

There were a total of 4 men guarding this alleyway.

"Let me go," I said to the scrawny man who had put his hand on my shoulder.

"Huh? Look kid, it's dangerous to walk down this alley. Turn back and we'll let you get out of here with no trouble," said the scrawny man, showing hints of anger.

"Why do you keep calling me kid?" I asked him. I wasn't old, but I wasn't a teen either.

"Don't talk to me like that to us." The scrawny man smashed his hand on top of my head with no warning. It was an easy to dodge attack. These men were just normal thugs. And so, I dodged his attack with ease.

"Huh?" the scrawny man was in disbelief. I thought he would stop and think about what just happened.

"I think my hand slipped," he said as he smiled to himself. Did he really think it was his fault and not because of me? "Come here, kid." He once again tried to slam his hand on top of my head. This time, I did not dodge. Instead, I caught his wrist with my own hand. It was unbelievably easy.

"Wow, Karis got outdone by some brat," the men behind the scrawny man started laughing at his failed attempts. This only made the scrawny man angrier. His free hand flew towards me. I quickly caught that hand with mine after letting go of the one I had just been restraining. The punch came to a halt and I could see the scrawny man seething.

"Th-that's it!" the scrawny man shouted as he jumped back. I let go of his hands at the same time as I didn't want to be pulled along with him. The scrawny man took out a dagger from his back and started flailing it around. "I'll kill you!" he shouted as he jumped at me with a thrust.

Kill....me? Something within me activated. I saw a flash of red and a path for the cursed black sword to follow. It was a swift slice and the scrawny man was split into 4 pieces. First, his hands had been separated from his wrists and then his torso had been sliced.

Silence fell as the 3 remaining men stared with disbelief.

"He...he killed him," said one of them, gulping at the end. Even I could not believe it. This was my first kill. I should have felt horrible, but no. There was no feeling of disgust at myself for taking a life. Instead...it felt good.

It was a battle to death, wasn't it? I don't need to feel like a monster for killing him. He had it coming. He started it first by trying to stab me with his knife. Right, it was self-defense.

"You 3 want a go?" I said as I pointed the cursed sword at them.

The most muscular of the 3 walked forward. He was much taller than me; he towered over me. I thought he would use his fists, but he took out a 2 thick blades and came running at me. I felt a joy as he started running towards me.

But it only lasted a moment as his head separated from his body and he thumped onto the ground. The second kill felt even better than the first. The feeling of the sword tearing through his flesh and bone was something.

"B-bro..." said one of the remaining 2 men. Slowly, they took steps back in fear.

"What? Not going to come and fight me?" I said. Without saying another word, the two ran away. "Pathetic," I commented. But then, a pain washed over me. I started sweating and felt an urge. I tried walking towards where Ryker and the child had gone, but I stumbled and fell to the floor. I vomited what I had enjoyed earlier in the day.

"I...killed them?" I said to myself. I was in disbelief. Never could I have imagined that I would kill someone. When the scrawny man named Karis had attack with the intention to kill me, a rush of adrenaline had washed over my senses. My vision became red and the next thing I knew the sword was heading towards him. For a moment there, I had lost control of my body and given into some twisted desire.

I would never kill someone. That wasn't something I was taught as a kid. When the adrenaline, or whatever it was, had gone away, I came back to my senses. My actions seemed excessive. I was on the ground for a few minutes, coming to terms with my actions. Trying to accept them, but to no success.

Right! I was here to do something. The investigation allowed me to become distracted from the killing. I ignored the dead bodies—or dared not to look at—and went deeper into the street.

I went down the alleyway slowly. The feeling of cutting through the bodies of living humans still lingering in my hands. As I was walking, I noticed a lack of sound. And that made me realize something. The sack in which I was caring my gold was clinking and making a lot of noise. If I went into the enemy territory with this, it would alert them to my arrival. So, I hid it in the corner of the street.

The corner was just a corner. The whole place was dark, so I would just have to remember how far I had traveled and find it later. It was becoming harder to see anything. The street had been carefully crafted so that there were no side entrances and any ordinary person would not be able to come inside. It was only because of the cursed sword's power that I was barely able to make out my surroundings, but even that had limits.

After a bit more of walking, I finally saw a faint light in front of me. Walking closer, it was coming from the bottom of a door. This was where Ryker had lead the child.

Should I just open it? But that would alert the people on the other side, wouldn't it? That could be bad for me as I wanted to silently investigate first before striking. Wait, what do I mean by striking? I felt a cold chill in my spine as sweat built up on my body.

All this time, I've had the idea that I would attack the people if they really were involved in something like slavery. But it had never occurred to me what I really meant by that. I was not the kind of person who would attack someone. But what happened to my parents a couple of days ago really has changed me. Now, I don't even think about my actions. At some point, attacking and harming others just felt like the natural thing to do. Not just that, it just felt like it was who I am.

It was all because of this cursed sword. I held the black sword up to my chest and stared at it. 2 days ago, when my parents had been brutally murdered in front of me, I had awakened my powers. After witnessing my father's limbs separate from his body and I could only watch as he was slowly killed in this brutal fashion, the power within me started to move. But unlike the heroes in the stories where the sudden powerup the hero gets after watching someone they love die helps them to overcome the evil force in front of them, my power was practically useless.

At the moment, I only felt a rush of power. A heightened sense and as if time had slowed down. But the man with black hair effortlessly struck my abdomen and sent me flying across the room. I couldn't even stand back up and fainted. And then...

No, don't think about the past. The black sword seems to be slowly merging with me. I can't recall it like other people can with their swords. And it's stuck to my skin. It's an incredible inconvenience.

But that was not the worst thing. I'm sure it's affecting my mind. Actions like harming and killing others don't seem that out of the question. In fact...it seems like a desired option. No, I need to keep my head straight. This is not what mother would want of me.

I shook my head vigorously to get the bad thoughts out of my head. The question still remained, however. What do I do about this door in front of me? I could open it and go inside, but that would result in the potential enemies inside knowing about my arrival. And there could be fighting involved immediately. I would rather avoid that. At least until the last possible moment, I wanted to do it in secret.

But perhaps it was fate, but something happened and I rushed inside without even thinking anymore. The door wasn't locked or anything.

The abrupt event was the scream of a child that came from inside.