A frail man sat in a field of red lilies. His eyes stared at the world that danced. The sky was empty, and crimson light bathed the world, giving it a reddish tint.
"I'm back here, in this bloody dream." He was annoyed at being forced into this bizarre, dreadful world. His hands pressed against the ashy ground, the flowers squashed into small broken petals. He turned his head, seeing a landscape that felt familiar to him.
"Tsk… Nothing has changed. But at least I don't see him."
His legs pushed up, and his eyes reflected the quiet, peaceful field. His footsteps were loud in this empty place. The moon felt out of place as it loomed over the horizon, oddly large. The air felt stale and bland, yet a chill ran down his spine.
"Sh*t, you couldn't leave me alone this one time."
Jun realized something as his voice echoed through the field.
"So the mortal pays attention for once."
A voice that drew similarity to a god talking to mortals.
"About time you stopped lying. Took you long enough."
"Damn, now show yourself, or are you going to hide like the other hundred times?"
Jun spoke words.
"Strange. You speak as if your life isn't hanging by a thread I haven't bothered to cut."
The solemn voice replied, mocking him. Jun went quiet as his eyes scanned carefully for the owner of that voice.
"You can't silence me, yet you expect me to call you a god?"
"I already know who you are."
Jun said as he looked at a dancing fog approaching him. The voice rang out again.
"Good, I need you to know me."
"Why, so you can control me like the other cowardly gods?" Jun shouted. A cloaked figure appeared, its nails white and skin swirling like an endless galaxy.
"Tch… so that's it. You actually need me, don't you?"
Jun stared at the figure. His body became stiff and low, in a pose to fight.
"Mortals have never stood on their own. We carry the weight you pretend is yours."
The celestial god replied in a solemn tone.
"Quit dodging and just say what you mean."
"Wow, such harsh words." The conversation progressed as each reply increased in mocking and angry tones. The world seemed to grow larger as the conversation continued.
"Can't even control me."
"Even the waste gods can do better than you."
Jun provoked the god, and the god listened for a moment.
"You mortals make mistakes but never fix them, so let me make you different."
Cut off by Jun's laughter
"You mess up, we suffer, and now you think you can fix me?"
Jun's eyes furrowed in slight anger.
The god, hearing these, chuckled, yet his hand came to his face. He was slightly annoyed, and Jun caught on.
"Of course… you don't like me. How utterly shocking."
"But how can you talk so much?"
"Go on. Silence me. If you can." The god made gestures, and thin lips that parted made no noise.
"Eradication would be trivial. Petty. I won't stoop to it." Jun kneeled at the words. A power that surpassed the world around the god appeared. The deity stood there as the power twisted. His voice tone was that of hidden annoyance. Jun could feel his skull cracking under the pressure of the sheer power of the god. This moment of silence was interrupted by the presence of a clicking clock. Every tick of a minute pressed into Jun's head like a stabbing throb.
"No… not this again. Damn it."
"Well, I should bid farewell."
"Life wants you to be dead, yet Fate wants you to complete a promise."
The god's voice faded, and thousands or even hundreds of thousands of feathers fell from the sky like a tsunami.
"You can't escape, you wretch!" Jun's voice echoed as the air froze and the feathers consumed him. He fell onto the ground. In a daze, he opened his eyes. The world of the god wasn't there; instead, a shallow prison replaced it.
"My head!"
"That damned sensation… it's back.
He clicked his tongue and clenched his teeth tightly. The world started spinning just like the dream. He cursed in a loud howl. His mouth opened, and blood spewed out of it. It painted the walls a crimson torrent. Then a voice started ringing in his head; no, it echoed through the dormant halls outside the bars that caged him.
"The world has chosen. The gods and demons have accepted your immense pain. The labyrinth welcomes its domain."
His hand suspended by chains trembled. Fog rushed into the shallow cell. The words stopped, and the voice of the godless faded.
"Oh, perfect… I'm trapped in a freaking labyrinth. Just great."
The world punished him for the slander to the gods.
"These chains! Why the hell are they so damn tight?"
The air felt cold and unpleasant, and the ground looked ashy, but Jun barely saw it from that fog. He flinched slightly as thoughts of that dreaded world rushed into his mind.
"Why that same dream?"
"The gods never miss a chance to make my life worse."
"Now, I am stuck in a shitty situation."
As he wondered about the dream, memories of a certain god rushed into his head. "Something was different," he said, trying to put a finger on it.
"He said farewell… strange. That self-important bastard never does." His tone detracted from happiness, going to a low, questioning voice.
"This was the first time it happened, but why?" His voice in his head rang with questions of differences. But something made him snap back to reality. An echo of explosions and bullets tearing through the air.
"What now?"
As the vibrations made the bars shake uncontrollably. The chains pulled off the roof. Jun was freed of the chains. The fog brushed his skin, but he couldn't care less. His footsteps drew closer to the steel door; he pushed it lightly. Creaking open, the metal frame scraped against the ground. Jun peeked his head into the hallway; he looked, trying to see something, but it was too foggy. Just then his knees buckled and his body fell onto the floor. Blood dripped from a cut on his face. A bullet was stuck in the door, where he was standing.
Then he saw a man with a cloak over a visible white button-up. A few men followed in a futile chase. They screamed.
"Get that bastard!"
"Who the hell is he?" he asked in stunted silence. The man turned, whipping his body fast around to the armed people. Moving his cloak to reveal a musket? Shooting once, the bullet created new trauma for the rest of the people.
The body fell onto the floor, lifeless, and the rest screamed in horror. Their legs turned around, and they ran like scared cats.
"Sorry about that. Nothing personal." He straightened his coat.
"I should introduce myself properly."
"I am Alex, Alex von Hassiur."
Turning his head, he apologized for his behavior, ignoring the murder he committed.
"And I truly am sorry for what comes next."
He offered a polite nod, the kind that never reached his eyes.
"Step forward. You're next."
[Warning – Please forgive my messy writing compared to other web novels you may have read. I'm still new and developing my story and style. Thank you—truly, thank you—for reading my work.]