Dual System: Ascension of A Nameless Nobody

Somewhere else within the merciless dungeon, Myung-Hee and Kamou were taken aback by this news as well.

“…No…It’s my fault…” Kamou hid her face in her hands, beginning to exude her guilt in the form of tears.

“Hey…stop that. It’s not–”

Myung-Hee did her best to comfort her companion, but it seemed the guilt was well-ingrained in her.

“…There’s nobody to blame, Kamou,” Myung-Hee told her.

“–“

“If you want somebody to blame, then it’s both of us.”

For another few minutes, the silver-haired girl stood there, exuding her sadness while Myung-Hee looked more angered at who could’ve done such a thing.

Kamou looked at her, already having a face full of tears as they stood in the dark chamber._.

“Why did this happen…?” She asked.

“Wish I could answer why any of this crap is happening,” Myung-Hee responded, scratching her head, “This world is just cruel, isn’t it?”

“…It is, but I still believe in it,” Kamou muttered, stifling her tears as she tried to adjust herself.

Even still, no such time for reprieve came as a massive slam echoed off of the infallible walls. It felt as if there was no room to even be sad, as the harrowing dungeon displayed its fangs.

The room they were currently in was accessed after descending a lengthy flight of stairs, structured in a dome-like shape with contorted angel statues inhabiting the grimy space.

“What was that…?” Kamou asked quietly, wiping the tears from her face.

Myung-Hee held her claymore, clenching the handle with focused eyes as she looked down the dark hall, “…No clue, but it’s probably bad news.”

The taller, sleeveless woman could tell that her companion was hardly in the state to fight: Kamou was visibly shaken–her fingers quivering just as her knees did, with tears still streaming down her cheeks despite her attempting to compose herself.

Myung-Hee took to the front, placing herself before her silver-headed companion to face whatever was causing the repetitive, closely-growing thumping in the corridor beyond the chamber they sat in.

It wasn’t that she was unaffected by the fall of her two companions, but she was more caught in the present danger and issues they were pressed with.

…She’s not in any condition to fight right now…I’d like to get the hell out of here, at least for now…but Jeong-Hui is still in this place–I saw his health drop low then shoot back up, and it’s been fine now. He’s still fighting down here–we can’t leave him, Myung-Hee thought.

As she kept her claymore raised, footsteps became audible–they weren’t frantic or approaching aggressively, but traversing calmly in their direction, coming from down the corridor beyond the current chamber.

“Someone’s coming…” Myung-Hee warned quietly.

Kamou stifled her tears to the best of her ability, holding her mystical staff in her shaking fingers as she fought hard to possess them to grip the rod.

A long, loud inhale could be heard following the melodic steps in the corridor, as if someone was sniffing the surrounding air.

“I smell sin.”

What showed itself from the hall was a man, crawling on all fours like a beast, covered in a scroungy, bristly mane of lengthy, scarlet hair that was almost like a coat of fur running down his back.

But, there was another, one holding a chain leash that was wrapped around the man’s neck: a tall, deathly-pale man with snow-white hair and unblinking, all-white eyes.

A smile was held across his lips as he stepped into the room, guiding with him the beast-like man who continued sniffing the air with a metal plate screwed to his head that acted as a blindfold.

“Is it potent, Yu-Jin?” The man asked.

He wore a long, all-black set of robes similar to that of a priest, bearing a crimson cross on the forefront of his garments.

“Strong. Strong! It! Is! Sinners!”

Answering the question, the hound-like man on all fours answered frantically, tugging at his chain leash as he attempted to lunge at the two women, who stepped back.

The dog-like one was yanked back by his metal bindings, reared back by the tall, white-eyed man whose expression contorted into almost comical rage.

“Down, Yu-Jin!”

“–“

Without a word or further contesting, the blinded, abhorrent man on all-fours stopped, falling silent as the standing man’s expression returned to its previous smile.

It was a perplexing, almost feverish sight in the depths of the dark dungeon; two humans, yet–they seemed more depraved and far away from humanity than Defects of Heaven.

“Greetings, sinners,” the white-haired man spoke to them, “Welcome to the “Last Bastion of God’s Will”…I hope you’ve found it quite hospitable thus far.”

He spread his arms out in a welcome, though that stained, yellow-and-brown, decrepit smile of his he displayed was anything but comforting.

“…Who the hell are ya’?” Myung-Hee asked, staying on guard.

“Ah, a suitable question. I am the envoy of God’s wrath, the protector of his realm, the reaper of sinners…You may call me Cah-In, however.”

The two women couldn’t make much sense of the words spewing from the man’s dried, blistered lips, but rather be disgusted at his abhorrent fashion as he spoke visually, moving his arms about whilst holding the leash in his hand.

“I don’t care about all of that loony bullshit…just answer one thing,” Myung-Hee said, holding a malicious, intentful glint in her eye.

“Oh…what may that be?” Cah-In smiled, holding his hands behind his back.

Myung-Hee slammed her claymore against the ground, holding it there as a symbol of her malice, “Did you do that to Hyun and Ara?”

The question made Kamou flinch, and brought on a further crease to the snow-haired man’s smile, all while the dog-like one panted on all-fours.

Cah-In grinned, tilting his head to the side, “…Such names are mysteries to my ears, however, they must be the friends you’ve come here with–the accomplices of sin. You think I’ve killed them, do you? I can see it in your eyes: such heartfelt rage, the burning sorrow–veiled by a darkness so abundant that no light can shine through.”

“Answer the question…!” Myung-Hee commanded, clenching her weapon so tightly her veins protruded against her skin.

The slender, white-eyed man shrugged his shoulders, “I’ve done no such thing. However, I imagine they’ve met with Hah-Gaal. As an envoy of God, he’s accomplished his mission…it seems as though they took each other out–oh, what sadness…” Cah-In mourned, though it seemed comically exaggerated as he held himself, “It is a shame to lose such a devout, hard-working ally of true belief…He’s done his mission, though. After cleansing sinners, he’s earned his valued spot in Heaven.”