Fate of the Cursed One

Chapter 1: The Final Call of Judgement - Part 1

As far as I could see with my half-open eyes, there was nothing but darkness all around me. I was walking endlessly in a straight line, but the path wasn't ending at all.

The muffled screams of several children, their blood-curdling cries for help as they were on the verge of death. I could feel a warm liquid trickling down my arms, but I couldn't tell what it was in the dark.

Suddenly the lights turned on, as everything around me was visible, and sense dread was supposed to set upon me, but I couldn't help but feel anything at the sight presented in front of my eyes.

The bodies of children, with twisted arms and legs lying around, as some were still struggling to keep a hold on to their dear life, and some were lying still in their pool of blood with no signs of life.

"Vessel 69!" Suddenly, a hoarse voice called me out from somewhere. I couldn't pinpoint their position on the spur of the moment, or rather, because everything around me was dark except the area under my close proximity.

I turned my head around in all directions, to search for the source of sound, but it was all in vain. I looked around me, as the polished floor of white marble was stained with the blood of those children.

"Vessel 69! Don't look around like! Attack!!!!" The hoarse voice again ringed inside my ears, as I looked around again. There was nothing except silence and the eerie sound of blood dripping down my fingers.

"I repeat, Attack, Vessel 117 is still alive!!!" The voice again resonated inside my head and suddenly, my heart started beating faster and my head started aching. My eyes felt like they would burst out of the sockets, but suddenly everything stopped.

Suddenly, the sounds of footsteps ringed in my ears. They were steady and moving really quickly towards me. A weird rush of hyper activeness rushed over me, as the adrenaline was probably starting to surge through my veins.

Suddenly, a black figure running towards me at full speed came into my field of vision. Before I could even blink my eyes for once, the figure disappeared from my eyes, and suddenly appeared right next to me, as I sensed their presence, and jumped back immediately.

And it seemed like the boy was holding two identical blades in his arms, as he tried to attack me with the one in his left arm, but I barely evaded it, that it just scratched a bit of my dark coloured hair which was falling on my eyes.

I looked into his jade eyes, which were glowing in rage for some reason, but there were also tears flowing out of them. But the boy had a face that didn't illustrate any emotions, except for the killing intent in his eyes.

He again lunged towards me with his blades, going for my neck, but I just kept evading his attacks. Slowly the understanding of my situation hit me, as I looked around again realised that all those children were dead because of me.

I was the one who killed them with my very own hands. As I looked down towards my hands and thick liquid dripping down my hands was a mixture of their blood. I looked at the white-coloured outfit, which was also stained with blood.

For a moment, I was immersed in my thoughts, as the boy was nowhere to be seen. Suddenly, I could even feel his presence near me. My senses were hypersensitive in that moment, yet I could feel any trace of him.

Suddenly the sound of blades clanking together reached my ears, as I turned around immediately but it was too late to react as the guy was already at a point blank range to me, and attacked me with the knife he was holding in his left arm.

The sensation of metallic blades gushing through my flesh and blood starting to flow out of the wound wasn't something that surprised me. I kicked the guy in his stomach, as he caught on my leg and pushed me away.

To maintain my balance and not fall, I rolled on my back, and then did a backflip to land on my feet properly. He again rushed towards me, as I looked around to search for something I could use as a weapon, but there was nothing of that sort.

But the fight was going on so fast-paced that even a blink of an eye would cost me my life there. Either I was going to die or the guy against me will. It's a fight for survival, which worked on the basic principle of survival of the fittest.

I lunged forward, as I had no weapons. I have to be really careful because one hit from his knives to vitality would result in my demise. He spun the knife in his right arm and went to stab my throat, but I moved my head back and I grabbed his wrist.

Pulling him towards me, as he placed a knife pointed towards my abdomen, I raised my elbows and smashed his face with them, as he staggered back a few steps, blood dripping from his nose.

He glared at me, but I wasn't amused in any way, as I slowly walked towards him. All I knew was that killing him would mean I could get out of that dark room with corpses all around me. The other guy looked into my eyes and started stepping back slowly.

There was a strange pressure between us, as I could tell that he was also getting desperate to make it out of that room alive. Me and that guy were the last vessel in my batch. The final call of judgement was upon us.

I rushed towards him, as he tried to swing that knife in, but I evaded it and kicked him on the back of his neck, making him fall on his stomach. He still didn't let go of his knives. He was holding onto the knives as if they were worth his life.

Well, in a fight that determined one's fate of whether they'll be alive or not, having a weapon was definitely comforting and it also gave him a sense of superiority. Having a psychological upper hand in a fight is just as important as having superior physical prowess.

He turned his head to look at me as our eyes met, and neither of us said a single word, but yet the air between us was getting heavier with each passing second. The possibility of our survival was also getting narrower as we were running out of our energy.