I just laid there as the cold remarks of the devil ravaged my mind. "Was it truly my fault? Am I the one responsible for all this chaos? If I was a bit more careful, none of this would've happened. If I was a bit more aware, I would've never lost her…"
An image of a woman appeared in my mind. Her golden hairs were moving with the wind as she gave me a soft smile.
"No!". I thought as I forced my body to stand back up again. "She would've never wanted to see me like this…".
I slowly stood back up and approached the man from behind once again as he stood in front of the gate, gazing at it with anticipation.
A magic circle formed in my right hand as I pushed mana into it. Red, blood-like liquid started to ooze out of it which took the shape of a sharp needle, the size of which was that of a decent stick.
I pointed its sharp end at the man's back by waving my hand. But just as I was about to launch it, I heard a cloud-shattering sound and at the very next second, I felt an extreme jolt of pain.
The next thing I knew that I was now lying on my knees with a spear that had pierced my torso. My magical needle had withered away in thin air as I laid there lifeless. Then I felt as if the spear was leaving my body. The spear removed itself and flew behind me and approached its owner.
I looked back in horror as I saw 6 people approaching me. They were all people I knew and I couldn't believe what had just happened. I stuttered, "W-Why…" but they all fully ignored me and approached the golden-haired man.
A muscular man, red haired, that had a bloody spear in one of his hands, threw the other hand around the golden-haired man's shoulder and with an annoyed expression said to him, "Man, you should be more careful. That damn mage was trying to kill you…".
My expression dulled as I realized what was going on. "These guys, are also devils…". I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The people I knew and thought of them as my comrades, were actually the ones who brought my demise.
I laid there in depression as I saw the 6 relics fading into shiny dust. The dust flew upwards… and started approaching me.
I might be hallucinating as I saw a bundle of shiny light in front of me. I looked at the devils in front of me who were still chatting with each other. Looks like I really was hallucinating. The light in front of me shined as it took the shape of a pocket watch.
I took the pocket watch with my trembling hands as I pushed a little mana into a tattoo that was on my left wrist. "Grimlock". A floating book manifested itself from a tattoo and I used the book's skill "Inspect" on the item that appeared out of nowhere.
The details appeared on the book as I looked at it with shock. It said;
[Name]: Zodiac's 7th Emblem; ?????????
[Rank]: Unknown
[Skills]: Unknown
Even though there was only one work and the rest of the information was vague; that one word was enough to spark a glimmer of hope in my heart.
"Zodiac's 7th Emblem?! But how is that possible?! I thought that there were only 6!" I thought as I looked at the pocket watch in my hands.
I didn't know how it was possible, but at least I knew that I had something powerful in my hands. I guided the bit of remaining mana that I had left into the artifact, hoping to activate it.
But to my surprise, the artifact shattered back into shiny dust and entered my body.
I was shocked as there was no change in my body. I opened my Grimlock and looked at my inventory. I flickered through the pages until I reached the page showing the icon of the same pocket watch, but it was greyed out.
I looked at in dismay as one word left my mouth, "Soul bound". It was a soul bound artifact. Usually, soul bounded artifacts are insanely overpowered, but the condition to activate them was also insanely vague and random.
I looked in front of me with an expressionless face as the golden-haired man approached me, and plunged his sword through my heart, finishing me.
I started to lose consciousness as my memories started to flood my mind. "If only I was more cautious, if I was more powerful, it wouldn't have ended this way…", I thought as life left my body.
Now, I was dead.