The Emissary of the Flame

The Ninth Chapter: The Knight and The Unknown

"Loryzen Bradford?" The only name that she was able to utter.

The latter deepened his sword to Bradley's abdomen and all she could hear was her friend's voice agonizing to death.

She could not understand why he was able to move. She thought no one could move around this space unless Bradley permitted his presence.

"What does a knight....like you... doing in my dark dimension?"

A knight? What was he saying? She thought Loryzen Bradford was a mere kitchen servant?

The other man had no emotions written in his eyes. "Like you said, a knight like me can enter space, even if it was created by an Unknown. Our Grail permits it, even if the likes of you would not grant it."

Grail? What is that?

"You! I am not going to die again, especially at the hands of a filthy knight like you!"

"You did die, just so you know. Your life was just prolonged, but your soul is now chained with the Dark Magic created by the Vizier Millennia, and that is the second death." He sighed, "You will now act according to your master's will. That is what you sold to the devil, your freedom to choose your destiny."

Who is Vizier Millennia? Really? What is this man saying?! Julia could not comprehend any word that the two men were conversing with each other.

"You might live longer than you should have been living right now, but you are now bounded by the destiny the Prime Millennium had bound you to. You are not a freeman anymore, but a slave to the evil ones."

"You insolent being! I do not care if I am a slave to the Prime Millennium now! As long as I am alive, I will serve him all my life! Now, I'm gonna kill you to bring joy to my newest master, along with the Emissary of the Flame!"

What is an Emissary of the Flame? Ugh! I cannot understand anything that they are saying!

Bradley tried to move but he couldn't escape Loryzen's sword.

"You cannot escape my grip, Unknown. The Holy Grail had already struck your vessel."

"Shut the hell up, you impudent knight! I'm going to destroy you and your Holy Grail!"

Julia saw how Mr. Bradford drew his other sword from his left hand and pointed it at Bradley's neck. She could not understand if she would be happy knowing someone had saved her from this situation. She should have been glad about this sudden turn of events, though she did not expect someone like their kitchen servant would save her, but the sight of her first love dying in the hands of this man was not good.

It triggered yet rivers of emotion inside her... and she was sure, it was a very reckless and a very dangerous one.

I must stop him.

"If you do not have any words to bid farewell, then goodnight Mr. Unknown."

"No! Stop!"

Loryzen had raised his sword and was about to strike the neck of the other man, but then he could not understand why his hands suddenly became frozen, as if he could not move.

Just then he realized that his body was now immobile, not because the Unknown had stopped him, but the ability of the lady whom he tried to save from this deadly creature had now awakened.

His orbs caught the image of the young lady distant from him. "Her ability has awakened."

"The Emissary of the Flame has been awakened."

"You cannot take the life of my friend!" Automatically, Loryzen felt he was thrown away by such powerful force and the next thing he knew, his spine landed and destroyed the wall of a building.

"Ugh!" He cussed.

Julia felt she was panting but she was surprised because of what she had done. She was not even sure if she was the one who had caused that collision.

She wanted to remain in her position and ponder what she had done but she saw Bradley was about to fall on the ground. Immediately, her feet ran towards him and caught him in her arms.

She should be angry at him because his intention of killing her was clear, but as stupid as it sounds, memories of their childhood were still hovering inside her mind. She could not bring herself to completely hate him because of his attempt to hurt her. But, one thing was clear, whether or not Bradley was already dead or not, this man was still inside her lover's body.

Looks are, indeed, deceiving.

She could not afford to allow this man's death. "Bradley...please...explain everything to me later, o-okay?" She told him as she tried to help him stand up.

The two of them started to walk away. "Let's... Let's just go home to Aunt Clara's cafeteria." She tried to smile at him but the expression of the man was still blank.

"I am very grateful because you are too naive to my likeness. For all of the things you have witnessed, you should have awakened already from your sweet dream, my lady."

She did not have enough time to utter words. She felt her spine land on the ground away from their position. "Ah!" She felt the pain when her back landed and now she knew she would not be able to move.

"I told you, right?" The man stood up and, once again, she saw how his two arms transformed into a double axe. Veins suddenly popped into his arms like he was transforming into a hideous monster. "Bradley has been long dead, since yesterday. Are you deaf to not understanding that? You literally saved an enemy. Look how much insult that is to me."

He was already transforming into an unknown creature. Yeah, she should have realized from the start of this situation that this man was not her friend anymore. Well she had known it, from the beginning of this peculiar situation, yet her heart was not ready to accept that the man who had the body of her first love was not Bradley anymore.

He started to take steps towards her, "In this exact area, he died. He was hit by a reckless coachman." His words struck her and her eyes started to let-out tears. "The carriage crashed into Bradley's body. The only part left alive was his right arm and his head. His body was dead, yet his mind was very alive and aware of what was going on and what was about to happen to him."

"No..." Her chest became heavier. She could feel how her eyes were crying out loud hearing how her friend tragically died because of a reckless man. Her spine was stinging in so much pain but her soul was hurting even more because of the latter's confession.

"No one could save him, even doctors did not arrive. He was agonizing and regretting that he would just die after he had confessed his feelings for you..." she snapped on hearing that, "He did not want to meet his end because he was deeply longing to continue his romance with you. This young man had dreams for the two of you!"

"That's when a Hallow contacted you and offered you a contract using the Dark Magic, so you can continue to live. You are now a soldier.... not a pawn to Prime Millennium's evil plan." Wait, that voice---

"Yes, that was also the time Bradley signed the contract with the Vizier Millennia and died the moment he sold the remaining flame of his soul." the former added, "And I did not expect you to be alive, after Julia had thrown you into that wall."

"A wielder of the Holy Grail cannot be wounded by another wielder." The lady saw how the latter tried to stand-up, "I know you should have known that basic information regarding the Hidden Society, especially because you are now a Level C Unknown."

The other guy sped up towards her. "That is why I am not planning to die for the second time again! I will now be a loyal soldier of the Vizier Millennia as an Unknown!"

The next thing Julia knew, Bradley was already in front of her, "For you to know, you are the reason why this man tried to be alive, that is why I am going to exchange your precious life as the Emissary of the Flame to the Prime Millennium so that I may not experience the same death that this body had already suffered from!"

He called me again the Emissary of the Flame.

She knew she would not escape anymore, but the moment she opened her eyes, she saw two swords were already struck on Bradley's heart and stomach. "I do not permit you to offer the life of this lady to you, just for you to have a life of luxury."

"No!!!" It was the last word before she heard the sound of an explosion. Just then she felt someone catch her and move her away from her position, then a loud explosion was suddenly heard all over the place.

She felt an arm cover her head and prevented her body from being thrown because of the impact of the explosion. When the impact was gone, she heard another voice in front of her, say, "Ms. Ainsworth..."

It was Mr. Bradford who covered her body to protect her from the impact. "A--Are you hurt?"

She should be grateful because he saved her, but she was at lost seeing the corpse of her dearest friend was nowhere to be found. It was like millions of emotions suddenly released inside her that she could no longer bear to remain silent and began to cry and scream at the same time.

"You killed him! You killed Bradley!" She pushed him, not even noticing how bad his condition was. "You killed my friend! How dare you to take the life of another man who just wished to continue living as a human again?!

He was panting for air but he was still able to speak, "He is not human anymore."

What does this guy mean? "What are you even saying?! You saw him! You saw Bradley! He is breathing and alive!"

"A human with a great desire to continue living during a conscious near death experience, calls every deity, spirit or realm to remain alive. Your friend had accidentally contacted a Hollow and was offered to remain alive, in exchange for his remaining Flame of Soul."

"I don't even understand what you are saying! What the hell is a Flame of Soul? Hollow and that contract?! Everything that happened just doesn't make sense!

The latter remained emotionless and it added more frustration to Julia. "I did not expect you to understand everything right now. Your friend wished to continue living, and he did. He had stopped his physical death by signing a contract using the Dark Magic. He could have been alive, but his soul had already died the moment he signed that contract with his name. He is now a living vessel to the Unknowns, dark creatures created by the Prime Millennium. That mad man transforming into a weapon-like creature is the original form of an unknown."

She could not understand a thing of what he was saying, but all she was sure was that she was the reason why Bradley signed whatever contract the guy was saying.

Her fist clenched, "Are you insane?! He chose it because of me! He chose to sell himself to whoever the devil you are saying because of me! Can't you understand?! He became that unknown being because of me!"

"No, it is selfishness that drove his desire to continue living, despite knowing he should be dying." Suddenly there were arms which had caught her, "I can understand that you are guilty because of your lover's dying words, but it is not your fault."

"No...I am the reason why he became like that...a monster."

"No, it was his choice." She felt a hand be placed on her head. "It was his own selfishness that brought him to his tragic end."

She wanted to continue speaking but she could feel how she was becoming light-headed. "That is why you should not be selfish about him and stop blaming yourself, because it was not your choice for him to have such deep affection for you."

"Bradley..." She felt the last tear finally fall from her eyes.

"It was Bradley's choice to love you and try to live for you. I hope you also choose to live for yourself and for the people around you who are still alive." Is that even a suggestion?

Well, Julia could not understand a thing of what was going on, but hearing the words of the very man who killed her dearest friend, hit her.

Before she fell into a deep slumber, she knew she had to live for the people who were still alive around her.