A Story of Evil

With all the staggering strength left on Sol's body, he continued looking for the basement. It was only shown once. On a Culling long ago. But this was all that he needed to memorize its location.

Imprinted on his head is this location. He continued following the landmarks. The strange formation of trees. The river that he would hear from a distance. The unusually dense amount of grass that continued getting taller and taller. Consuming Sol within it and bringing him back to complete darkness.

Sol could feel his time running thin. No matter how many times he breathed, his lungs seemed to refuse functioning altogether. As if it got crumpled and tightened. Like air itself was being forced away from his lungs.

"Man, this is really tiring. I just want to sleep." Sol was running out of steam but, he only needed to endure for a few more minutes.

The flames have already caught up with him. Burning the grass at the far end of where he was. Making Sol a bit more alert.

"You gotta be kidding me." Sol continued searching for it and, in desperation he tripped over once again. That time however he was thankful because, right where his head dropped, he felt the metal surface of the door to the basement.

It was hot and full of smoke. The boy proceeded to brushing away the leaves until he saw what he was looking for. A hole on the ground which he stuck his whole hand on. The boy pulled this up, thinking it would be easy. Yet, the task proved to be harder than he thought.

"The hingers on this thing seemed to have rusted over the years. Ahhh…why does this need to happen now."

He used the dagger left to him by Alice. Taking off some of the accumulated rust all throughout the door. It was getting hotter by the minute and, having only one arm to do what was needed really slowed things down a lot. Yet he remained calm. All thanks to [Cold Blooded] which allowed him to function normally even in such a dangerous circumstance. And it is largely because of this that, he finished his task.

"Okay. One more try." Sol pulled with all his strength. The door was still heavy but, it was moving nevertheless. Slowly, the lead was brought up until the boy was able to open it completely.

"Right. And into the hole we go." Sol went inside and closed the lid immediately.

The area was cramped and dusty. Sol couldn't see anything but he wasn't complaining. It was still a perfect hiding place against Blaze. And just as soon as he leaned over a wall, he finally heard the fire prince speak.

"COME OUT YOU POWERLESS BASTARD! I NEED TO GET MY SCORE UP THOSE CHARTS!"

"Over my dead body." Sol thought to himself. A comment that seemed to get true soon enough.

He had limited time. His body wasn't going to last for much longer and, the pain he was experiencing only got stronger by the minute. He didn't waste any moment. He took out the cloth and squeezed out the liquid from it. He then dipped the dagger, making sure that it as coated in basilisk blood.

"As soon as I recognize your heat signature you're dead! You hear me? DEAD!"

"Yeah. Yeah. I hear you muscle head. Can't a dying guy get some peace and quiet around here?" Sol said, using [Analysis] on the blood coated dagger.

[Substance Name: Basilisk Blood]

[Information: The substance is poisonous for mana users and would lead to immediate death. Those without mana will only experience a momentary state of death.]

That was all he needed to see as he took out another piece of cloth and bit on it. Stabbing himself with the dagger without any hesitation and feeling and overwhelming amount of pain rush all over his body.

His heart continued throbbing like it would explode and he was sweating profusely as reality became a big haze. He couldn't even understand what Blaze was saying anymore as the prince's words turned into indistinct noises.

After a few more seconds, Sol's heart ceased functioning – the boy entered the realm of the dead.

…

…

…

For a while there was nothing but darkness. Sol felt his body seemingly drown little by little into a great abyss. It was cold at first but, even this sensation slowly faded away. Until he could feel nothing anymore. Until there was no sensation for the boy.

When only his consciousness remaining, Sol finally reached the bottom.

"Now this is strange." Sol was in total darkness. He was supposed to be dead but he was aware of what was happening and, could hear the voice of a woman trailing from a distance.

"You're not dead and yet you entered my territory." He was sure that it wasn't Pan.

"Territory? Are you a Seraphim?" Sol asked, unsure if the territory he entered was safe or not.

"A Seraphim? Hahaha. Boy you seem to know more than you're allowed to. And your soul isn't even ripe yet."

Sol was silent for a while. Thinking about the words spoken at that point and, already having a conclusion in mind.

"I know enough to understand that you aren't one."

"Oh? Now why are you so brave? Don't you know I can extinguish you right here and now?"

"Except you won't. You said something about my soul and the fact that it isn't ripe. That means you are something connected to death and, by mentioning the state of my soul, it means you are unallowed to tamper with it."

There was only silence for a short while. Until Sol heard a giggle and, soon enough, there was a strong laughter echoing throughout the distance.

"HAHAHAHA!" The place lighted up. Blue flames on lamps filled the area which had walls piled with books. There was a seemingly endless hallway filled with it and, with all of this happening, Sol also regained his senses.

"I knew something interesting was bound to happen with a soul like you." Sol turned to where the voice was coming from. Staring just an inch from him was the woman who was speaking who backed off just as quick.

She sat on a couch that appeared out of nowhere and, motioned for Sol to do the same. With the boy recognizing a small couch suddenly appearing at his back. Sol observed the woman closely.

She has silk like silver hair that flowed down from the crown of her head. Her eyes were bright yellow, with the pupil resembling that of a reptile. Other than this however, her overall features seemed to resemble that of a human.

She has black lines under her eyes, entailing lack of sleep. Her body was covered in a strange garment that Sol was not aware of. It was like a robe yet it was loose at some parts while tight on others. The clothing was white, with golden lines on its edges and, a pattern of clouds could be seen on it.

"You know…" The woman began speaking again. She was in a relaxed pose and still staring at Sol.

"Someone had a similar case before. I believe it was five years ago if we base it on human years. But he just went with the general harvest." She kept fidgeting around. As if finding the perfect position to lay on the couch.

"Maybe life won't be so boring with you around though. In fact, I may just break the rules just to get you right now."

Sol felt that she was trouble. Any entity which had as much power as her was a loose variable. Something which the boy couldn't explain. And if there was one thing that the boy knew, it was to not place any trust as long as the one in question was still a big blur.

"Maybe. But if that's the case, can you at least tell me who you are?"

"Wait, aren't you even afraid of dying?"

"If I can enjoy this eternal library, I don't think it's a bad bargain."

"Oh no. What fun would that be?" The lady said, still refusing to answer Sol's question.

"You know what, now that you mentioned it, getting your soul sounds like a lot of hassle."

"What?"

"Yeah, I mean, I can just wait for you to die. Waiting a few more years ain't that hard." Sol was completely clueless on how the woman's head worked.

"My existence as well as all others are kept hidden from you mortals and any knowledge of us never brings any good. Plus I'm to lazy to put effort on all that."

The whole place was still a big blur to him. For all he knew, he was still on the Culling. As soon as he woke up he was probably going to face Blaze. He also needed to meet back up with Alice and defeat the remaining titans. Yet at that moment, he simply wished to get some answers.

The woman saw this in his eyes. She read it perfectly and, thought of another thing that would "spice up" the soul of the young boy.

"Tell you what though. I can give you hints after you return to life."

"Hints?" Sol was skeptical about it.

"I already read your soul and every detail about you. I've also seen your king and, let me tell you, he has stacked up a bunch of lies right in your face."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sure you'll figure things out. You're the first entertaining audience I've had in a while after all." She said as the room began turning black again.

"What…"

"Time's up boy. See you when I see you." She said, pushing Sol back to the world of the living.