Cormac, son of Arturi, was a proud Celtic warrior; little terrified him, at least not to this extent. But now, an icy horror so utterly profound, gripped at his heart.
With a high-pitched shriek, Cormac stepped back, throwing his shovel away as he fell hard on his behind.
Rainer glared at him with unforgiving eyes.
"Hey! You piece of shit! You got sand in my mouth!"
He yelled, but due to his sore throat, it came out as barely discernible snarls.
Cormac shook his head in denial, sweat rolling down his face.
"No! Daemon! Do not drag me away! Lugh, protect me!"
Suddenly, he kicked out, freeing his leg.
Immediately, he turned on his heels and sprinted back to camp, yelling at the top of his lungs.
"Daemon! The slave corpse walks!"
Rainer appeared confused at his shout.
'Demon? Where?' He wondered, looking around.
But then he paused.
'Wait! It's me isn't it?'
He suddenly winced, recalling how his eyes must look at the moment. At that thought, he let out a low, drawn-out groan of frustration.
'This is a problem.'
His transmigration healing gimmick was something that happened every time he got transmigrated. It was a mechanism meant to restore his new body and make it functional.
However, it only happened once, at inception.
Unfortunately, his eyes always glowed this way whenever it activated... It wasn't uncommon to transmigrate and have the natives who saw him during this brief period thinking he was some creep or divine lord.
He let out an annoyed huff.
Suddenly, he noticed a boy with a tear-streaked face half running toward him, holding a silver coin.
'Oh! He's kinda cute!' He keenly noted.
However, when he examined the boy's guilt-wracked and regretful expression, Rainer had a bad feeling.
A feeling which was soon justified.
"Oi! What are you—"
The boy fell before him and pressed the silver coin between Rainer's lips. He then proceeded to push him back into the pit, crying.
"Oh! Great ferryman! Forgive me for not paying earlier my friend's passage into the underworld! Please accept this lowly one's hard-earned payment!"
"Fack the ferryman!" Rainer cursed, fighting back.
There was a brief, almost comedic struggle before Rainer grasped the boy's face and shoved him aside. Then with the last of his strength, he lifted himself up onto the ground and laid on his back, panting heavily.
"Wha—haah~ What the hell were you doing?!"
Rainer's throat seemed to have healed and his words came out clearer. He wasn't quite sure if the swallowed coin aided with that, but he felt it was a boon either way.
His eyes, previously a bright amber now returned to a plain brown as the patterns darkened, turning invisible. However, the golden aura his body exuded lingered, albeit slightly less perceptible to the naked eye.
The boy drew himself up on all fours and looked at him with watery eyes.
"F–friend? Is–is that you?"
Rainer was about to reply when he sensed a presence swiftly approach him. As soon as he turned, he found a gleaming spear pointed over his throat.
He glanced up to find a shadowy youth standing over him.
It was Kotys, one of the roman auxiliary soldiers burying him.
He had no emotion in his intensely dark eyes, and he loomed as the brilliance of the wide moon cast a menacing silhouette out of his form.
Rainer's brown eyes sparkled at the sight. He was so awed by the youth's grim aura that he couldn't help but mutter.
"Ah... Behold the face of death."
Something about that statement seemed to have touched a nerve, because the youth's spear now grazed his neck.
Rainer involuntarily gulped, and he revealed a sad, wry smile.
"Listen. I know what this looks like, but I mean no harm. I'm friendly." He attempted a smile but it only came out awkward.
Seeing the soldier remain quiet, he stopped smiling and looked at him more sincerely.
"Do you gamble, friend? If so, I'd ask that you take a bet on me. There's a good chance you won't regret it."
Kotys hesitated, head tilting slightly as he squinted, appearing to be in thought.
He gazed into Rainer's now-human eyes as a faint tremor traveled down the spear. But then, slowly, he withdrew it.
"There we go." Rainer's lips curled up into a grateful smile. "You did a great thing here, remember that!"
Rainer smacked his lips and glanced around, but then his eyes returned to him.
"So erm, do you have something I could eat? Meat preferably. I'm a bit famished and a metal coin wouldn't cut it."
Kotys grimaced and took a cautious step back.
"And I meant normal food, not human flesh." Rainer promptly clarified.
Hearing this, Kotys brought out hard bread from his pouch and approached him. He then handed it over, albeit tentatively.
"Thank you!" Rainer muttered, snatching it off him and biting off a good portion.
He ate quickly, desperately even, as the youth and slave boy exchanged glances.
An odd silence soon settled upon the area, one intermittently disturbed by Rainer's chewing.
When he was done, he let out a contented sigh and cleared his throat.
"So... Where are we?"
At that question, the boy looked up toward Kotys with apprehension in his eyes; deferring to his decision on how to answer.
Rainer glanced between them, then his eyes settled on Kotys.
"Hm?" He nudged. "You can tell me. I'm friendly remember?"
With a veiled expression, Kotys gave a vague reply.
"Roma."
At this, Rainer's eyes gleamed and a slow, grin spread across his face.
"Perfect."
–––
Cormac arrived at the camp, stumbling through the wooden gate and palisade walls.
Within were rows of white tents in orderly columns.
He looked around and saw armored soldiers in green tunics, putting out their cooking fires as they prepared to sleep.
"The slave!" Cormac yelled through heavy pants. "A daemon has possessed Lord Praefect's slave! Kotys is fighting it alone! I need reinforcements!"
"What!"
"A daemon?!"
"Where are the centurions? We should go, now!"
The soldiers yelled, clamoring to gather their weapons in anticipation of orders.
"Settle down!" A thunderous voice silenced the din, and a muscular soldier with a green-crested gallic helmet approached. It was an officer garbed in a worn lorica segmentata.
He exuded a wild aura of dominance as he walked.
He soon stopped before Cormac, grasping firmly onto his shoulder, and Cormac shrank under the weight of his intense scrutinizing gaze, even though he was just as large as him.
"Optio Commius—"
"Is what you say true?" Commius interjected. "Did the slave really come back as a daemon?"
Cormac nodded, and the officer's face turned ugly. He looked to the side and yelled.
"Notify Decurio Sabazios, now!"
"Optio! The 2nd cavalry commander and his men just returned from a scouting mission!"
A soldier hurriedly reported and Commius turned to him with a snarl.
"That is why I want him!"