Dimensions Collide: Destiny Bond Chapter 63: Crusade

Chapter 63: Crusade

Doctor entered the room, clapping slowly.

“Bravo! Bravo! What a show!”

John looked up, unamused. His weapon was breaking apart in his stained hands, the tal practically flaking away after the knife had been put through more than it really should’ve been. In a weak attempt to do sothing, John threw the knife at Doctor, but it fell apart before it even reached its target. It didn’t matter. Neither of them expected it to land anyway.

“Hm. You are neither shaken nor amused. Are you really human?”

John shrugged. “Biologically, yeah.”

“You’re boring,” Doctor pouted. “Co on. I’m sure we see eye to eye on at least so things.”

“Yeah? Like what?”

“You see these things as bugs! Don’t try to tell otherwise. You killed them so easily! So simply! Like a child stepping on an ant on a sumr day! Co, you have to admit at least that much, no?”

“Have you considered?”

“Considered what?”

“Killing yourself.”

Doctor just giggled.

“I’ll show you, manaless boy. I am a god. I will admit, I didn’t expect this level of entertainnt out of you. Out of all my toys, you’re definitely the most interesting.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“I will show you, there is no god other than !”

He giggled to himself as he left the room, leaving John with five dead bodies and a slowly growing pool of blood.

~~~

Despite Kit’s speech, Prota remained the sa as always. So things remained consistent. She still desired food. Her appetite was nowhere near what it had once been, but she could still feel her body yelling at her to feed it, so she walked over to the table where a sandwich was waiting for her, courtesy of Fate.

As she picked it up, she noticed sothing underneath. It looked like it could’ve been a napkin, but it was way too thin for that. She stared at it for a mont before moving the plate. She wasn’t quite sure why she’d stared at it for so long. It wasn’t like she’d been presented with a puzzle or anything. As she lifted the plate away, the napkin-like thing unfolded.

It was a piece of paper. Why was that there?

Prota unfolded it, expecting a note or sothing from Fate, but the contents were very different from what she’d expected.

The location of the dungeon is here. I’ve attached a map. The rest is up to you.

-Kit

Prota stared at the ssage, then shifted her gaze downwards to see a sowhat crude map with an X at the location of what Prota assud was the dungeon her enemies were hiding in.

She stared at it for a few more seconds before scrunching it up in one hand and tossing it away. She didn’t need it. She wasn’t going. What could she do? They had a point. If she went, she might just complicate things further. It was better for them to go alone. If they died, John was most likely dead, and they could just [Reset]. It wasn’t that-

Prota dropped the half-eaten sandwich onto the plate as she caught herself. No. Since when had she thought like that? John… why was she assuming John was dead? This wasn’t like her. And even if he was, why had she given up so easily? Since when had she turned to [Resets] for everything?

“Seriously. Don’t die before I do. I’ll… I’ll do my best to do the sa.”

He wouldn’t just go and die like that.

On top of that, she hadn’t even considered the lives of Fate and Danjo. Granted, she wasn’t all that close with Danjo, but since when had she been so numb to the deaths of others? She hadn’t even given their lives a second thought. The only thing she’d considered was whether or not they’d find John.

“John… thinks this way,” she muttered to herself.

She looked down to find her hands shaking.

No. She couldn’t think like this. She could fall back into her shell, she could die, she could run, but… well, what was so wrong with that, actually? If this world were a story, then their lives didn’t matter, right?

“No.” Prota shook her head and slapped her cheeks.

John wouldn’t want this. She’d get him back. That was for sure. And John wouldn’t want her thinking like this. She picked up her sandwich again and finished her al.

She’d need all the energy she could get.

~~~

“Fuck! Dammit!”

Doctor lashed out, breaking his desk in two.

“No. This… they couldn’t have. They stopped the girl from coming? She was the most important aspect of this whole thing!”

Doctor got up, pacing back and forth. This was unexpected. He’d kidnapped the manaless boy, in part, for this purpose. Granted, the boy was giving him much more than he’d ever expected, but still, he needed her.

Soul Steal. What a fascinating concept. To give a mortal the ability to suck the literal life out of others. He’d done it. He’d put it into sothing. Soone, maybe? But then those paladins had raided his lab, and he didn’t know what had happened to it since then.

He couldn’t recreate it now. He felt it. He was so close, so, so, close. He could extract souls. He could rge them together, create lifeless dolls with life trapped inside, but this one last thing… If he could obtain the girl, everything would be solved. He just had to put her on the surgical table and cut her open to figure out what made her tick.

But now she wasn’t coming?

“Dammit!” Doctor cursed again, kicking half the table through the door. “No, no, she has to co. She has to… no, she definitely will. The boy. The brother. If they co, I’ll just send them back. With the boy. Part of the boy, at least. Then she’ll have to co for the rest. Yes, yes, it’ll be fine. It’ll be fine…”

Doctor continued to mutter to himself, the tension easing out of his body.

“Yes, yes, it’ll all be fine… nothing can go wrong…”

~~~

Fate was so busy swinging his sword that he didn’t notice Albert coming up from behind. The head of the Adventurer’s Guild coughed awkwardly after standing around for a few minutes.

“Oh! Sorry. I didn’t realize you were here,” Fate exclaid.

“No, your training was impressive. A lot better than I was at your age.”

Fate picked up a towel and wiped the sweat off his head. Albert handed him a water bottle, and the boy accepted it gladly.

“What brings you out here, sir?” Fate said, curious.

“I’d like to spar with you.”

Fate dropped his sword.

“You? And ?”

“Yes.”

“With all due respect, sir, I don’t think I’m a match for you.”

Albert chuckled and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket.

“Let’s see here… You had a high aptitude for multiple elents and had a natural talent for using mana. A genius from a young age, with an intuition for combat unmatched by any other Windwalker. Should I keep going?”

Fate stared at Albert. “They sent you that much detail?”

“Kid, I would’ve never taken you had the goddamn royal family of the Elves not given this much background info. You’re pretty damn strong.”

“...alright, then.”

Fate picked up his sword hesitantly. Albert reached back and pulled two massive battle axes off his back, feeling the balance and weight.

“It’s been a while since I fought,” he said quietly.

“Sorry for asking, but… what happened? Did you get bored?”

Albert shook his head. “Injury. A mistake and a bad accident, long ti ago. It forced to retire.”

His voice was regretful, his gaze longingly looking to a ti long gone.

“It hit my mana core directly, apparently. I can’t use mana like I used to. I was a fine fighter back in my day, wielded so earth magic pretty good, but now, all I can use is mana recovery and mana reinforcent. So you better not lose. Because otherwise, I’ll be telling everyone you got beaten by an old cripple. Got it?”

Albert stiffened up as the emotion disappeared from his face. His eyes narrowed as he got ready.

“Then, let’s begin.”

With a shout, Albert rushed forward, bringing both axes down. It was a wide-open attack that was easily readable. Technically speaking, Fate should’ve been able to sidestep the attack and deliver an easy counterattack.

What actually happened was far different from how the scenario played out in Fate’s head. Albert’s axes ca down, and Fate easily stepped back, but instead of losing his balance, Albert just redirected the axes sideways and continued the swing into a spin, throwing himself towards Fate once more.

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Fate yelped as he brought up his blade, barely blocking the attack in ti. As a result, his sword was thrown out of his hands. He froze, staring at the blade on the ground as the stinging feeling in his wrists rang its way up his arms.

The first thing he’d been taught as a swordsman was that letting go of your sword ant death. His hands were calloused from swinging stick after stick, training his grip and strength, all to learn how to hold his sword. How to treat it as an extension of his body.

And it’d just been thrown out of his hands. The sparring session was over, just like that.

“Good fight, kid,” Albert said, extending his hand. “You were trained well. I can tell.”

“Not well enough, clearly,” Fate grumbled as he accepted Albert’s help. “How the hell did you do that?”

“Magic isn’t everything,” Albert grinned. “Sotis, strength and technique are all you need.”

He threw his axes into the ground and sat down.

“Co on, sit with .”

Fate obeyed.

“I was watching you train. You have sothing you want. It shows. But I’ve seen you in so other places. You think magic is everything, don’t you?”

Fate froze.

“You’re treating it like it’s so cure-all. It’s not. Listen, kid. I wasn’t a very good mage. I tried to get into Scholaris. They didn’t want , and to be honest, I’m not into that whole fuddy-duddy business. I wasn’t born with so affinity with magic or anything special like that. I just trained my body.”

Albert took a cigar out of his pocket and lit it, puffing away. Fate leaned away politely as the smoke floated into his face, but to his surprise, the sll wasn’t all that bad. He wondered why John always seed to avoid it.

“It’s fine that you’ve got a goal. That’s great, actually. Everyone needs sothing to work towards. But you gotta rember. Magic isn’t everything. Just because soone’s got more or less mana doesn’t determine everything. Things can be solved in a lot of different ways.”

“...how did you know?” Fate said quietly.

“Huh?”

“About the magic?”

Albert laughed.

“It shows. Your swings. They don’t have drive behind them. You’re training yourself like a robot. Like you’ve got sothing else up your sleeve. You’re treating your swordsmanship as a tool, a leading hand in a ga of cards with an ace up your sleeve.”

He punched Fate lightly on the shoulder.

“You a swordsman?”

“...I’m trying to be one.”

“Then treat your blade like it’s part of you. It’s not just a tool, kid. Sure, it’s a tool, but it’s a tool that’ll help you achieve what you want. Pour your will into the blade. Don’t treat it as just another ans to an end. Treat it as your ans to that end.”

Albert sucked at his cigar, watching the smoke trail into the sky.

“You can’t do multiple things half-assed. That’s not gonna get you anywhere. I don’t know how good you are with magic, but either train both to the max, or train only one. There’s no point in doing neither.” Albert pointed to his axes. “I cheated a little back there. I infused those things with mana.”

“You used aura?!”

“Yeah,” Albert winked. “I told you, a little cheating. Just because my core was wrecked doesn’t an I’ve got no mana left.”

“Then you’re…”

“Yeah, I was a master. Actually, I was close to being a grandmaster before my little accident. That’s not the point, though. Fate. You can’t be a master if your tool is just a tool. These axes? They’re nothing special. I’ve had them since I was just a young, reckless adventurer. They’re not the sharpest. They’re not made of the best material. But with mana, they can outdo a lot of weapons. Even if that mana isn’t that much.”

He pointed to Fate’s chest.

“What’s in you. You gotta put your will into it. Understood?”

Fate picked up his sword and stared at the shiny tal. It was a fine blade. But it was true. He’d been treating it as a ans to an end.

Ever since he’d co to this world, he’d been introduced to magic over and over again. Earth didn’t have magic. Magic was the stuff of fantasy and fiction. So to soone like him, it really was a cure-all.

But Fate had forgotten. Magic was just another tool that he could use. It wasn’t any better than his sword. He looked at his sword again. He’d requested for it to be crafted like this for a reason. Heck, he’d had a hand in crafting it himself. Katanas didn’t exist in this world. The sword was supposed to remind him of sothing. Of his past.

He had to go back to his roots. He needed to remind himself of what he was trying to get done.

“You look like you’ve just understood sothing a little better. If that’s the case, then get back up!”

“Wh- what?” Fate stamred as Albert lifted Fate by the arm.

“Co on! I wanna spar with you. It’s been a while since I last fought!”

Fate tried to protest, but in no ti at all, Albert had his axes back and was swinging again.

~~~

“Hey.”

John was tied up in his cell again. If he were being honest, it was a lot nicer when he’d been killing other cellmates. At least his arms hadn’t been all tied up then, and the room had been a lot cleaner, too. However, he shuddered at the thought of what food would co to him. He didn’t really mind seeing people at, but eating it was another story.

“You’re different.”

In front of him was a hulking figure that could’ve only belonged to the one they called Breaker.

“Yeah, so what? Do I get a prize? Most unique prisoner or sothing, I get one more slice of bread. Thoughts?” John said sarcastically.

“I don’t know how you continue to act so flippant, but you won’t be able to keep that up for long.”

There was the rattling of keys, and the cell door opened.

“You’re going to break here.”

John’s shackles were unlocked. He lowered his hands slowly, carefully, rubbing his wrists to get rid of the numbness, all while keeping a close eye on his guard.

“What’re you gonna do, kill ?”

“Maybe.”

John clenched his teeth. He just rembered that he’d told Prota to live. If he died here… there would be too much of a gap between their death tis. The [Reset] would make things ssy. She’d gone through a delayed [Reset] once, and her explanation of things from her end was less than satisfactory. He was used to explaining things after [Resetting], but Prota had yet to develop that skill. If anything, she had to be the one to die first.

He had to live.

“Co along now.”

Breaker practically dragged John to a different sector of the dungeon. It resembled army barracks. He kicked the door open, revealing about half a dozen n inside.

“This is him, boys,” Breaker said in a low tone, throwing John inside.

The n started to grumble as they picked up their weapons, the sound of tal clanging ringing throughout the air.

“You’ll be facing them. One by one. Pick your weapon.”

“Pick my weapon?” John frowned.

“Doesn’t matter. Choose sothing,” Breaker said, sweeping his arm across the room.

Swords, shields, axes, spears, any weapon one might want, it was probably here.

“Go through that door once you’re ready. If you win the battle, soone else will co in.”

“What, you’ll be last? This so kinda gauntlet?”

“Yes.”

John burst out laughing. “There’s no way. This was the best you guys could muster?”

Breaker was beginning to leave, but he turned back one last ti.

“There’s a rescue team coming for you, you know. Unfortunately, your dear sister isn’t coming. Regardless, if you can hold out until they get here, maybe, just maybe, you might live.”

With that, Breaker left the room. Doctor was waiting for him outside with a satisfied grin on his face.

“Was that good enough?”

“Yes, yes, it was fine,” Doctor said.

Breaker nodded. “It’s a good plan. Even if he survives, he’ll be so worn down that it’ll be harder for them to take him out. He should fight well now that he knows a rescue team is coming for him.”

Doctor nodded. It was what he’d intended to happen, after all. Unfortunately, things were not going the way either of them had hoped. Inside the arena, John was bearing no arms. It was just him and his standard outfit that had sohow made its way to him once again.

“Giving up so soon?” the man on the other end of the arena called out. “Not that I bla you. I’d-”

There was a silenced bang as John’s gun materialized in his hands, this ti fitted with a suppressor. Earth hadn’t made those for revolvers, but then again, this gun wasn’t from Earth. The suppressor wasn’t from Earth, either. Each shot was dead silent. The only sound was the body dropping to the ground, a small hole in the head of the man who’d once been alive.

It was easy to tell what they wanted. They wanted him to have hope. To struggle to survive, to wait for the rescue team to co. That was what these n were for. To get him to fight to his last breath.

They’d have to try harder than that. He wanted them to try. He was many things, depending on the scenario. Sotis a coward, sotis a bum, sotis a villain, occasionally a deadweight, but right now, he didn’t care about any of that.

He wanted them to kill him. He wanted them to try.

“Next.”

~~~

A week had finally passed. Fate had trained extensively with Albert, not to the point where he could say he’d gotten all that much stronger, but he understood it now. What it ant to pour his will into his blade. It made a difference. He didn’t fully comprehend the technique, but the base was there. A platform to build an indestructible technique on.

“Sir,” Fate said as they were getting ready in the guild. “Are you sure you want to do this? Your injury… surely there’s sothing you have to live for.”

“You’re worrying about now, you brat?” Albert roared, causing Danjo to flinch. “Don’t worry. I’ve wrapped up all my loose ends. Besides, I think you’ve got the most to live for out of any of us here.”

Danjo nodded. “Um… why are you doing this, anyway?” he asked timidly.

Fate looked away. “Personal reasons of sorts.”

That was all he would say.

Soon, the group was packed and ready to go. Danjo had enough supplies to last them a week, and Albert had a tool that would make things a lot easier for them.

A dinsion ring. An expensive but relatively common artifact that stored non-living beings inside without changing the weight of the ring itself. Their food and supplies were all in there, which would make their trip a lot easier.

“We all ready?” Albert said, checking everyone’s gear one last ti.

They all nodded, determination in their eyes. This was it. The last mission. The enemy didn’t know that they knew. They’d go in, wreak havoc, and end it all. They’d trained. They’d prepared. There was nothing more they could do.

Despite all this, Fate was still a little uneasy.

“What’s the matter, kid?”

“Prota…”

“I told you. It’d be fine to take her if this weren’t a personal job. She’s strong. I’m not saying she’s weak. But if she does sothing unexpected, do you really trust us to handle her and everything else at the sa ti? Do you really think she won’t do sothing ridiculous?”

“I understand, sir” Fate said, steeling himself.

And he did know. After all, it was what’d gotten him killed in his last life.

~~~

“They’re coming today, aren’t they?”

Doctor was busy preparing himself, grabbing item after item off shelves and desks. Breaker stood patiently behind, observing Doctor as a parent might watch their child.

“They are,” the large man nodded.

“Good. Send the order out.”

Breaker hesitated. “...all three, sir?”

“All three.”

Breaker took a deep breath.

“The chiras are unstable. Especially the last one you just made. Four, Six, and… what is it now, Thirteen? Are you sure?”

“Are you questioning my judgnt, Breaker?”

“...no. I’ll do it imdiately.”

“Very good.”

However, Breaker didn’t leave just yet. Instead, he continued to watch.

“What is it?” Doctor said, exasperated.

“I heard. He’s coming.”

“Oh, yes, your old comrade. Albert Alimbert, was it? I can take care of him for you if you want.”

“No,” Breaker said, shaking his head. “I want to finish it myself.”

“He’s all yours, then.”

Breaker paused for one more mont.

“Well? Are you going to leave or not?”

“Just… I thought you wanted them to co. If you send the chiras to that town, won’t they go back?”

“Ah, but we’re only sending Four to the town. Surely the guards can deal with one chira. Four is an unlucky bastard anyway; it’s bound to die soon. Which leaves only Six and Thirteen. Breaker. Our forces here aren’t necessarily the strongest. It would be good to wear our visitors down a little before they arrive, no?”

Breaker nodded. “I’ll send the order out now.”

~~~

Fate, Danjo and Albert were gathered in the guild’s armoury room. Bren was also present, simply for the sake of seeing Albert off.

“Alright, everyone. Rember. They don’t know we’re coming. We go in, we strike, and we leave. Got it?”

“Yes, sir!”

Light leather armour and healing potions were passed around. No expenses would be spared for this mission. Albert was testing the sharpness of his axe when Bren walked up to him.

“Albert. Are you ready? You can reconsider one last ti.”

“Am I ready? Are you sure you’ll be fine?” Albert scoffed. “Don’t want you ssing things up while I’m gone.”

“Please,” Bren sighed. “You were never suited for paperwork anyway. I do most of it for you in the first place.”

“Fine. I’ll leave it to you, old friend,” Albert said, placing his hand on Bren’s shoulder.

The two looked each other in the eyes, reassuring each other of the future. Albert turned to leave but stopped as Bren coughed.

“What is it?”

Bren stood back, his voice quiet, but his words were crystal clear.

“They would’ve been proud of you, you know. You can’t let their deaths weigh upon you. You know that.”

“...it’s a little too late for that now, isn’t it?”

“It’s never too late for that, Albert. Go get ‘em.”

Without turning back, Albert gave Bren a thumbs-up before sprinting after Fate and Danjo.

“The town will always be here for you, Albert. I’ll make sure of it.”

~~~

Four bodies littered the arena. The fifth man was a lot more wary, watching John carefully.

“What the hell are you? What’s that weapon in your head?”

There was no answer. John raised his gun and lined the man’s head up in his sights. There was a crack, and the man fell dead. He stared with a bored expression, sighing as he put his weapon away. They might force their goal another way, but still. It made him feel good to know he was ssing with them as much as possible.

And if he was ssing with them, he was actively ssing with the [Author], too.

There’d been sothing else planned for him, and he was fighting it as much as possible.

“You’re a little cheater.”

John tried to spin around, but his manaless body was too weak. He was thrown against the wall, blood gushing out of his mouth as several ribs cracked. The only thought in his mind was that he’d failed to annoy them to the fullest. How disappointing.

“I know I said any weapon, but this is ridiculous. I thought we made sure you didn’t have anything on you. You weren’t supposed to do that.”

John was barely conscious as Breaker picked him up by the collar of his shirt. His last thought was that he should’ve played along.

“We’ll have to teach you a lesson.”