Somewhere distant, Vera placed a hand over her chest.

  Black liquid flowed from her eyes, or at least what seemed to be her eyes. In the perpetual darkness that surrounded her, even her features could not be discerned.

  A metallic rustling could be heard.

  Other noises too, but those were indistinguishable as well.

  In this ominous atmosphere, Vera smirked, before snapping her fingers without a word.

  ***

  In the chambre where Verity and his comrades had massacred the monster horde, Verity halted, feeling a faint surge of power coursing through him.

  Then,

  His skill was forcefully upgraded, he was forced to witness scenes of a future past, and frighteningly visceral emotions overwhelmed him.

  He was able to convince his companions to escape using another path, and they rushed to where they had come from. Soon enough, they all reached a dead-end, but Marco shattered it into pieces, revealing a refined, yet worn down chamber.

  Moments later, the demons were upon them, Felicia’s spirit revealed itself, the defensive mechanisms of the chamber activated, and an all out battle broke out.

  Through strife and ingenuity, they were able to activate the teleportation system, and vacate the chamber, leaving Erilsa, the demons, and something far more terrifying, behind.

  After rescuing Knight Jerin from the swamp in which they had both fallen, Verity heard a buzz from his bracelet, and began conversing with Felicia.

  In the middle of their conversation, however, before he could even speak his second sentence –

  [The skill -Lesson Learned- is being activated]

  ‘What?’

  After nearly three months of silence, this was the second time the skill had activated in a very short amount of time.

  This startled Verity, but he had no time to dwell on it before a dreadful future revealed itself to him.

  The vision, unlike the one he had seen in the chamber, was brief.

  He saw a hazy hand piercing through what could only be his chest, and then he fell to the ground. The emotions were not as distinct as in the last activation of the skill. Verity could feel traces of confusion, perhaps betrayal, but that was it.

  No overwhelming sorrow, or even fear.

  It had simply happened too quickly.

  In the scene that unfolded before his eyes, Verity simply died without having been able to do a thing about it.

  Of course, due to the nature of his visions, Verity could not tell who exactly had killed him, but despite what his class might have led others to believe, he was not an idiot.

  There was only one other person here besides him.

  Soon after the vision which lasted no more than a second ended, Verity’s head whipped toward Knight Jerin.

  [...Verity? Are you still there? Who did you say you were with?]

  Verity ignored Felicia and instead carefully studied Knight Jerin's square face. His eyes were unfocused, and his breathing was slow, as if he had not just been on the verge of drowning.

  However, that was not what was unsettling about him.

  No, what disturbed Verity the most was the tightness he felt in his chest. From Jerin, Verity felt nothing but unspeakable, inescapable dread. His new stat, Foolishness, which he believed to be some sort of danger sense, went haywire as soon as his eyes landed on Jerin.

  Suddenly, Jerin’s hand twitched, and Verity’s blood froze.

  This was bad. This ‘sense’ of his had never been so distinct before. Every single cell in his body was trembling, warning him of his impending doom.

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  Verity clenched his teeth. What could he do?

  Would he have to run? Leave the Knight behind? He did not know him that well, but could he really do something like that?

  A whisper.

  Verity received an answer.

  Kill…

  This too, was because of [Lesson Learned]. Originally, it spoke in whispers. It told him of the best course of action to take to preserve his life. It was only ever since he came to the Terras Kingdom that he began to see glimpses of a possible future.

  It spoke again.

  Kill…

  ‘Kill…Jerin…?’ Verity thought.

  Kill…

  Jerin’s hand twitched again, and his pupils began to roll back.

  Kill…

  Instinctively, Verity reached for his spear. ‘This skill… it only tells me the best way to survive…’

  Verity understood. If running, or evading the incoming attack was an option, that is what the skill would have whispered in his ear. While the visions gave him more leeway, the whispers were about immediate survival.

  And now, the skill was telling him that immediate survival meant killing Jerin.

  Verity’s heart raced furiously.

  ‘...I have to kill him?’ He thought.

  Verity had killed before, but this was different. Jerin may not have been a friend, but he wasn’t an enemy either. He had done nothing to deserve this. No matter how hardened he had become, Verity couldn’t bring himself to strike down a man who’d done no wrong.

  There had to be another way.

  There had to be another solution.

  [Verity?? What’s happening? Why aren’t you answering?]

  Verity wanted to explain the situation, but before he could, Jerin’s pupils returned. With them, the twitching of his hand stopped, and the ambient temperature dropped. This was as metaphorical as it was literal.

  The surroundings had become cold…so cold.

  KILL!!

  Verity’s body moved on its own.

  His moral compass had still not steadied, and his thoughts had not yet been cleared of doubt. However, perhaps pushed by his Foolishness, Verity raised his spear and brought it down on Knight Jerin’s neck.

  CLANG

  Appearing out of thin air, an invisible barrier stood between the tip of his blade and the knight’s toned neck.

  His pupils shifted, their color changed from a soft hazel, to a piercing blood-red. Slowly, they drifted toward Verity’s spear, and faint understanding seemed to be settling within them.

  ‘This…this thing is dangerous!!’

  Such potent dread filled Verity that he felt he could lose his rationality at any moment. Perhaps… He had not felt such overwhelming pressure even from his Master, though she had never truly intended to kill him.

  Fearing for his life, Verity’s muscles bulged, and a war cry escaped his mouth as he tried to drive his spear through the barrier.

  “AAAHHH!!”

  [W-what’s happening!?? Tell me where you are! We’ll rush over!!]

  The barrier cracked, and the being’s lips seemed to be ready to part.

  A demon.

  Verity knew it immediately. Almost as if he had battled one himself before.

  But of course, he hadn’t. Instead, he had seen Bel fight, and he had understood that demons fought through words. If this one, which felt as though it could not even be compared to someone like Bel, spoke a Word, Verity would likely die without even being able to fight back.

  His body had moved on its own, but now Verity had no choice but to accept the truth. Jerin had to die.

  And he had to be the one to kill him.

  [You are engaging in a challenge where the odds are greatly stacked against you.]

  [You have gained experience toward your class]

  Desperate, Verity guided his Aura using the flow of the seventh stance – Violence.

  His physical might was amplified manifold, and another crack appeared on the barrier.

  This all happened in a moment so brief a mere blink could have made one miss it. Still, if the demon had been in its original body, even a fraction of that moment would have been enough to crush Verity with time to spare.

  In fact, so far from the Thorn of Sin, and pushing against Jerin’s subconscious resistance, however pathetic, proved to slow the demon down.

  No matter how small this delay was, it was the reason Verity was still alive.

  Under the pressure of Verity’s strike, another crack wove itself through the barrier.

  The demon maintained its composure, and simply mouthed the Word it wished to speak. It did not rush, and did not even flinch as another crack found itself in his hasty barrier.

  “Die!!!” Verity spat through clenched teeth.

  Felicia frowned on the other side of the Whispering Band, failing to understand the situation.

  But Verity had no time to consider what she might have been thinking.

  If before his class had recognized his desire, this time, his skill recognized his determination, or at least that’s what Verity wanted to believe.

  [The skill -Beyond Reason- is being activated. Your stats have been increased accordingly.]

  Verity felt immense power surging through him. More so than he had ever felt before.

  The rest all happened in an instant.

  A web of cracks spread through the barrier, and it broke almost immediately.

  Verity’s spear then fell down with such force, such power, that beyond simply piercing through Jerin’s neck, it crashed into the earth below him, creating a shockwave.

  With it, the strike brought complete silence, except for Verity’s raspy gasps.

  In its last moments, the being, no, the demon, seemed to mouth something, and the crimson in his eyes faded.

  Now, they were hazel once again.

  They were Jerin’s.

  The knight gasped for air, and his eyes shifted to Verity when he could draw none.

  His pupils shook.

  What were they saying?

  Verity fell to his knees, large beads of sweat rolling down his temple.

  He tried to reach out, to give Jerin some comfort as his consciousness slipped from his grasp, but it was already too late.

  There was no more life in those pupils of his.

  Verity froze.

  What was that look?

  What did it mean?

  Betrayal? Confusion? Blame? Relief? Acceptance? Forgiveness?

  What was it saying?

  Verity looked down at his palms. They were trembling.

  He thought he had somewhat gotten used to taking lives. He thought that as long as he believed it was necessary, to his, or another’s survival, he could deal with the mental turmoil it brought.

  And maybe that really was enough.

  But this was different.

  [Verity! Seriously! Can you explain what’s happening!]

  Verity tore the bracelet off of his wrist and threw it a few meters away. His palms then hit the ground, and he puked violently as tears streamed down his cheeks.

  Jerin had done nothing wrong.

  But he was dead, and Verity had killed him.