The Lost Doctor's Soul - Chapter 25 - The Nature of Conflict

As we stood in the howling rain, battered by the winds and losing body temperature, I wanted to scream in frustration.

A tall woman with silver hair that was blown around in the wind, wearing an intimidating set of pure white plate mail, a golden cloth covering the front of her armour bearing the symbol of a downward sword as the centre of a set of scales stood before us… this was undoubtedly the ‘priest’, but the word paladin seemed far more apt.

Her silver hair only reached her neck, but it was long enough in the front that it completely covered one of her eyes, and only a bit of her exposed skin was the lower part of her face and her other blue eye, small scars covering that skin as if she were caught in a storm of razor blades.

Through the noisy storm I was barely able to pick out the sounds of several more sets of footsteps. To the left and right, her ‘guards’ appeared, six of them in total, outnumbering us nearly two to one.

All I could think upon seeing this situation was: ‘Why am I always so unlucky here?’

We were basically surrounded. There was no easy path to run unless we chose to corner ourselves in the shelter. Letting out a sigh, I shouted over the rain “What do you want!?” while internally telling the devil that we were caught. [Dammit. I’ll bring the snake bastard.] came the quick reply.

“Why don’t we go back in and have a proper talk?” she replied, loud and clear enough to cut through the storm even without shouting. I glanced back at my companions, and while Arashi and Nisha looked prepared to fight, standing tall despite being buffeted by the cold wind and rain, Kanako was already shaking. I couldn’t see her face, but I could tell she wasn’t ready if this came down to a fight.

I didn’t like the idea of being cornered, but we wouldn’t even be able to talk in the storm. In the end, she’d want the sword, and while that might end up in conflicts starting elsewhere and people unnecessarily getting hurt, me and my friends could end up dying if we fought and she’d just take the sword anyway.

“Okay, fine! But just you and me!” I shouted back in reply, I saw her stare at me for a few seconds in silence before nodding.

This tense standoff came to a stop as I followed her instructions and turned back towards the shelter. Having been unconscious when I was brought here the first time, I didn’t realise that the shelter was entirely underground, with the entrance door built into what appeared to be the back of a general store.

Stepping down the stairs into the underground shelter, the ‘priest’ followed right after. The others came into the shelter a minute later and waited in the hallway as she and I went to the room these temple folk used. I made sure Starlight was nearby with Vildost in tow through our connection.

Drenched in rain, the two of us sat across each other at a small table in a warm room. We continued a silent stare off for a moment, before she pulled a random book out of a bag and placed it on the table. It looked like an academic book of some sort, not exactly something that looked like a holy scripture but I didn’t really know what it was so I disregarded it. I was focused on what I should even say, if I should try to act as if I’m still Millar or tell her that I’m a new person in the same body. Trying to get a hint from Starlight, she had no idea what kind of person this priest paladin was…

“First, I’d like to say that I’m glad to see you escaped the ruins alive, Millar.” she spoke in the same stern and clear tone that cut through the storm earlier. If not for what I knew of her actions, I’d take her to be a righteous paladin from her presence alone.

Cupping my hands together and leaning back in my seat, I took a moment to determine my chances. Observing her as we walked through the shelter together and seeing her sit down, I was sure that her legs weren’t quite right… I’d say that they were prosthetics, but I wasn’t sure about the level of medical technology in this world just yet. My guess was that she relied on magic to fight to some extent and if we were to fight one on one I might have the advantage based on that factor alone. Of course, there’s no way I can ever come close to a native of this world when it comes to battle experience, especially since I was a medic.

“Before anything… I am not Millar.” I started explaining my circumstances, hoping it could lead to a better outcome. “I know this might be hard to believe, but-” “I know.” she interrupted me with a simple nod.

“If you really were Millar, then you would have reacted to seeing this book.” her eyes glanced down to the book as she said that, slowly returning to meet mine. “Then there’s your sudden change in appearance, the fact that the sword Millar was so infatuated with is tucked away somewhere and not your main weapon, and that aura of nothingness around you… I’ll only ask this once: Are you a lich?”

I didn’t expect that. One of my greatest worries was that my party would think of me as a lich when I told them everything about me. I didn’t expect someone to come to a conclusion like that with so few context clues.

Shaking my head, I raised my hands. “No, I’m not a lich. I don’t know exactly why, but someone put my soul in Millar’s body and brought it back to life.” There was no point in lying at this point, she seemed worryingly sharp.

The priest didn’t say a word for a few long seconds, just staring at me with her one visible piercing blue eye. Finally, she extended a wet armoured hand. “My name is Soliaras Evertsine, Priest-executor of the temple of law. I’ll believe your word for now as I hope you’ll believe mine.”

Taking her wet hand with mine, I gave her a firm handshake before introducing myself. “I’m Armin Fischer, a doctor, and someone who just wants to find a way home.”

“Well met, Fischer. I’ll keep this quite simple, I want a sword that was in the possession of the last owner of your body, a man named Millar Torspan.” she spoke in a firm and even tone, maintaining eye contact, there was no sign of weakness or condescension. And I didn’t even know Millar had a last name… Torspan? Why didn’t Starlight tell me that?

“Before that, why did you kill Millar and trap his companion Milvarr in those temple ruins?” I asked, equally firm. I needed this answer. No matter what, I couldn’t just hand over the sword when almost the entire party was against such a thing, but I absolutely couldn’t relent without knowing that.

Contrary to what I expected, Soliaras’s expression shifted at that, her face twisting with regret. “To start, I need to explain that I only cared about the sword and nothing else. I had no intention of harming either of the two more than I needed to… after all, what would the words of two thieves mean in the face of a Priest-executor of law? The temple would never return the sword to them either, so they posed no danger to me alive.” she explained, clasping her hands together.

“I didn’t do it… no, maybe I have some guilt in the matter, but it wasn’t my intention. I traveled with them along with a shadow monk, another pawn of the Temple of law who was supposed to help me, but that bastard betrayed me and attacked the two of you, trapping you in the temple, then he fought me outside. He was incredibly tricky and fast… I couldn’t even fight him properly. Then he disappeared.” she sighed. I still don’t know who he is, but he’s the reason this mess happened in the first place.

I wasn’t sure how trustworthy she was exactly, but it didn’t feel like she was particularly lying to me. Her story matched up with the facts I know about, but it didn’t feel quite right.

“And why do you want the sword?” I asked, wondering why she’d use such an underhanded means if it was a mission from her temple. “To get ahead.” she answered, confusing me.

“I’m sorry, what?” I had to ask, not sure of what I just heard. “To get ahead of the other priests in the temple of law. Retrieving that artifact would put me in better standing than them, giving me more influence and power. It’s simple.”

||Starlight, No matter what, I can’t give her the sword, right?|| I mentally asked. [No matter what. Your friends all agreed on that too, didn’t they?] came the reply, and she was right. [We’ll back you up, don’t be afraid of some stupid bird worshippers.] she added, reminding me once again that I was on the same side as a devil, facing off against the people of a temple.

“I see. I appreciate the honesty, but I can’t hand over the sword. It’s not mine to hand over.” I spoke slowly, feeling my drenched body tensing up as I slid my hand to the edge of the table, readying myself to stand and grab my pike the moment she reached for her weapon.

Contrary to my expectations, she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at me, but didn’t make any hostile moves. “I guessed as much.” she replied, letting out a sigh. “I’m not asking you to hand it over for free, of course. I’m willing to offer a fair trade.” Hearing her calm and rational tone, I was curious, and if it were up to me alone, then I’d gladly hand over the sword if it meant safety. But the others had their valid reasons to decline, and I couldn’t hand it over if it meant it could lead to a holy war.

I quickly checked in what Starlight’s thoughts were, and she was quite firm that [The sword is irreplaceable. As a warlock, you aren’t.] That reminded me that she was in fact a devil and I didn’t have a say in the matter.

“I’m sorry, but that isn’t an option.” I replied to the priest-executor before me, carefully getting up from the chair as I maintained eye contact. But she was faster than I could imagine.

In the space of barely a second, the flimsy wooden table between us was flipped aside and Soliaras sprang out of her chair to take a swing at me, using her gauntleted fist instead of drawing her sword for the fastest possible attack.

It might have been because I expected an attack at any moment, but my body moved faster than I could think, kicking away the chair and jumping to the side, barely dodging the first strike. I wasn’t as skilled as her, so I had to draw my pike which gave her a small opening to lash out with her other hand, punching me in the chest.

Taking a step back from the pain, I swung my pike as fast as I could and it met her blade, a well-maintained and un-ornate silver longsword. Even though she had prosthetic legs and was fighting in a zone where she couldn’t use any magic, the sheer difference in experience between us was unsurmountable. That, and she was incredibly strong! She didn’t even flinch as our weapons clashed.

She swung her sword in the gap after my failed attack, and all I could do was quickly reposition myself to block her own blade with the handle of my pike, the impact sending a ripple of pain up my arms.

Not wasting even a single second, Soliaras lashed out again with her other arm and landed a solid punch on my guts, making me almost double over with pain, then she pushed harder with her sword, making my grip on my pike loosen, before grabbing it and yanking it from my hands.

Unbelievable! I was disarmed in less than ten seconds without even being able to put up a fight! As my vision faded a bit, I wondered if that was where I would die, being mugged for a sword.

But instead of another attack, I heard the sound of wood crashing against something along with a woman’s grunt of pain. Focusing on the room again, I saw a certain drunk cowboy rushing at the priest-paladin, with shattered shards of one of the wooden chair around her.

I couldn’t keep up with what happened next. Vildost was almost a blur as he stepped forward, throwing a punch that Soliaras seemed to block with one hand, but then she recoiled as if she was hit when she was about to swing her sword. It wasn’t magic, that was impossible so close to me, it was just misdirection.

Seeing the two of them fight, one thing became clear, they were both very experienced fighters, but Vildost was more used to not having magic, and he was fighting dirty.

Seeing the insane reaction time he showed when the two of them fought, how he skipped around and navigated the small room like a wild animal, how he manipulated his body with such thorough precision when he punched and kicked, making it hard to tell where he was attacking… this man was on another level, and there wasn’t a chance in hell that he was even the slightest bit drunk. It was impossible with such fine motor functions, no matter how much or how little alcohol was in him.

But even as talented as Vildost was, his biggest issue was that there just wasn’t much space in the room for his fighting style. That, and the lady had suddenly managed to catch up with him in reaction speed, expertly countering every attack he threw, swinging her sword faster and faster.

My shock didn’t last long, as I realised that she had left my zone of anti-magic, but Vildost kept entering it every now and then because he didn’t have any space in the room to dodge otherwise. And while he might have been expertly maneuvering in this limited space, shallow cuts were starting to appear on his body, while she was unscathed.

Cursing internally, I realised I had to contribute to this fight in even the smallest way. If I couldn’t turn off my anti-magic, then I had to maximise its effect! Readjusting my pike, I took a few steps forward and stabbed at the priest-paladin. At the same time, I scanned the environment for anything useful, the only thing standing out to me being some weapons that wouldn’t help me, and the candles giving light to the room.

As I expected, Soliaras quickly spun around to deflect my strike, nearly sending the weapon flying from my hand and almost breaking my wrist, but her movement wasn’t as fast anymore, and Vildost was able to land a solid blow on her back, knocking her off balance. She recovered too fast and made another swipe at him, cutting one of his sleeves and leaving a small cut.

Rather than rush in for another attack, I let the recoil from her deflection push me back. As soon as I regained some balance, I rushed to the candles instead, swinging my pike at them to knock them to the ground and put them out. Being a level underground with no windows or any other source of light, the room plunged into complete darkness, the only remaining source of light being a tiny amount of light spilling through the small crack under the room door.

Completely blind myself, I couldn’t do anything, but that should be the same for Soliaras since she’s a human too. Vildost, however, is a snake-kin, so I decided to gamble on the chances that he probably has some way of seeing in the dark.

With my eyes useless until they adjusted, I focused on my ears instead. The battle between the cowboy and the priest was still ongoing, though I couldn’t make out any of the details from sound alone… it did sound like he was hitting her a lot more?

Most notable, however, was the sounds of violence from the hallway outside. I didn’t even have a second to breathe, so I completely missed that the other temple warriors outside were likely fighting Arashi, Nisha and Kanako.

||Are the others alright?|| I quickly asked Starlight, readying my pike and listening for any kind of signal or warning I could use. [These guards are well trained and outnumber them, it’s a tough fight! They need your antimagic or there’s no hope!]

Jesus! Hearing that, I immediately rushed at the door, yanking it open to see the six temple guards fighting my three new friends! Kanako was in the back, holding her shoulder where there was a cut in her cloak and a growing bloodstain. Arashi and Nisha were doing the bulk of the fighting now, with her swinging her glaive only for it to keep hitting something mid-air and being repelled… apotropaic magic! It must be magic shields!

In a split second, I decided to not close the door behind me, instead charging at the closest of the temple guards, slamming my pike into his upper back, meeting an armoured section. The sudden attack knocked him off balance, letting me lean in and tackle him to the ground, bringing myself close enough to the group that whatever magic they were using got suppressed by my anti-magic zone.

There wasn’t much relief on my end at least, as another of the guards quickly spun around and slammed their shield into my face sending searing pain that disoriented me before slashing at me with his sword. My body instinctively twisted to try and avoid the hit, but my luck ran out and I felt a stabbing pain in my right shoulder.

I couldn’t even take a second to look at my injury, I was actually going to die if I was even a little careless! Pushing all thoughts out of my head, I grabbed the guard’s shield and kicked his knee as hard as I could. I wasn’t sure how much damage I managed to do, but the pain and impact made him buckle, and that was just enough for me to stab him with my pike.

With my world still spinning, I couldn’t tell where I stabbed him, but he fell. I defeated one of the guards, but the one I tackled was trying to stand up… I wasn’t able to pull the pike out of the one I stabbed, it was hard, I didn’t have strength in my arms for some reason.

I was starting to panic, believing in my instincts more than my limited experience. I let go of the pike and turned to the tackled guard, kicking his head with all my strength before falling on top of him to hold him down, even for a few more seconds.

The ringing in my ears lessened after a second, and I heard someone scream out in pain, along with the horrid sound of flesh being forcefully cut.

Looking up, I felt sick to my stomach as one of the guards in front of me fell backwards onto the ground, his head slamming into the stone floor with a sickening thud. His eyes were wide open as they stared at me, and his throat was gone, just a gaping wound spewing blood onto the floor with sickening noises.

I stared into those eyes as they stared back, pleading, twitching as he tried to mouth something… I watched him die. My stomach felt like a boiling lump, but I forced myself to be calm. I had seen plenty of death.. or so I thought.

Forcing the image of the dying man out of my sight, I focused on the guard I was wrestling on the floor. It seemed we were fairly similar in strength, but I had the better position, so I brought my attention to how my friends were doing, and was horrified again.

Arashi Kurohana, a stoic warrior who made few expressions and seemed the most reliable and calm one in the group… She was laughing as she swung her glaive around in the cramped space, carelessly and easily cutting into the wooden walls as she slammed her weapon against one of the guard’s shield, almost knocking him aside with that powerful swing. Then she followed up by twisting the glaive and stabbing it into the man’s shoulder, ripping a chunk out of it with her incredible strength!

Then, without missing a beat, she pulled the bladed polearm out and swung again, cutting into the guard’s throat while he was still recoiling from the injury to his arm. It was… brutally efficient, but did she have to go so far?

Looking at her elated face, I noticed what was wrong. Her eyes were pitch black, strange black veins now visible near those eyes, and there were even black horns growing out of the edges of her forehead. Was this her curse?

Three of the guards were down, and I was holding another… no, Nisha had taken down one of the guards too, but that one seemed battered but still alive, so there was just one guard left, already bleeding from a dagger in his now useless shield arm. He was trembling uncontrollably.

“W-wait, don’t kill me I surrender!” The last standing guard called out in fear, dropping his shield and weapon. I held back a sigh, it looked like the fight here was over. But… Arashi didn’t put down her weapon, instead she chuckled seeing the guard surrender, and took a stance to swing her glaive again!? NO!

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