Shadow Dragon: The Fallen Angel Is My Teacher

It felt like I was just a thought floating in a place that wasn't made for the living.

Even the idea of time felt wrong.

It didn't pass slowly or quickly. It simply wasn't there.

Maybe minutes were passing.

Maybe it had been less than a second.

But I forced myself to stay calm.

'One.'

I started counting in my head. It was the only thing I could do to keep my mind steady.

'Two.'

Thoughts moved fast, faster than I could track.

'Three.'

Valen had stayed standing. He hadn't kneeled when I shouted.

I didn't think he was reckless to not heed my warning.

Someone reckless would never reach Rank 5.

He couldn't kneel, because he had been cursed.

'Four.'

Inside this domain, one person would always get hit by a corruption effect.

The effect was called the Rigid Curse. Once you were hit by it, you couldn't kneel even if you wanted to.

It only lasted for a short while, but the timing of its occurrence made it dangerous.

'Five.'

Valen must have been corrupted by the Rigid Curse.

'Six.'

I still couldn't feel anything, but I knew goosebumps would have been running over my skin if my body still existed.

'Seven.'

Even without physical senses, I tried to breathe slowly. I needed the illusion of control.

'Eight.'

I moved my hand toward where my pocket should've been.

It was strange, because I still couldn't feel my body, but out of instinct I tried to draw my Desert Eagle.

'Nine.'

I couldn't tell if I had actually grabbed it.

There was no sensation, weight, or the feeling of cold metal.

I only hoped my hand was where I imagined it to be.

'Ten.'

Everything snapped back.

The blackout vanished like a curtain being pulled away.

My vision returned. Sounds rushed in at once. Air filled my lungs again.

My body existed again.

And—

Valen's head rolled across the ground.

He was still standing.

His body stood upright like nothing had happened.

But his head had been cleanly severed and now tumbled to a stop a few feet away.

I didn't panic. I had expected.

I raised the Desert Eagle at the head without hesitation.

The rolling stopped.

The severed head sizzled as mist rose from it, like steam escaping boiling water.

I fired.

The bullet shot out with a sharp bang.

Each bullet I carried was fused with Positive Energy, specifically made to kill vampires if one tried to kidnap me.

I had prepared them before the meeting about the Prime Five and the Exorcist Union, since I had predicted a Vampire would move if I stole the God of my house.

It had been an attempt to catch their action for future schemes of mine, but now it had come to bite me in the arse.

The bullet hit the severed head, but instead of the sound of flesh tearing, I heard something else.

The sound of a crack, like glass breaking.

The mist faded.

When the smoke cleared, a white mask lay on the ground. It had the exact shape of Valen's face.

It was smooth, blank, and unsettling.

A spiderweb crack ran through its left side.

'Good. It cracked.'

Silver was an obvious weakness of vampires, and since the Vampires were created by contamination of Cursed Spirit Blood Moon, they were naturally weak against Positive Energy of Gods.

'Even if everything is far too strong than me in this domain, Positive Energy still works.'

'I can damage the Cursed Spirits with it.'

The relief was quick, sharp, and gone within a second.

I aimed again, ready to fire.

My finger didn't move.

In fact, nothing moved.

My entire body froze in place.

My limbs turned stiff. My chest wouldn't rise. My throat wouldn't open. Only my eyes still worked.

'No! Dammit! Move!'

My eyes darted sideways.

Every shadowy figure in the festival—the faceless silhouettes pretending to be people—had turned to face me.

All of them stared with cold hostility.

The pressure created by them held my body down like invisible chains.

My fingers twitched once, then stopped.

A low groan echoed from the ground.

A figure crawled up through the soil. Its shape was thin and misty.

A ghoul.

Its hollow eyes scanned the area.

Then it reached for the cracked mask.

It lifted the mask slowly and placed it against its face.

The effect was instant.

Its body shifted and thickened.

Muscles formed. Bones reshaped. Clothing wrapped over it.

Within moments, the creature stood in front of me in Valen's form.

The only difference was the face. It still looked like a mask instead of skin.

'Shit.'

The ghoul had worn Valen's "head."

That meant it could use his abilities.

It raised its hand.

I recognized the movement.

It was the same one Valen used in the inn when he killed the Exorcists.

He hadn't used it on me earlier, but this thing wasn't Valen.

It had no reason to hold back.

The fingers straightened.

It was going to use the Rank 5 Exorcist's ability on me.

Before it could finish the motion, someone grabbed my body.

Dante.

He lifted me over his shoulder and sprinted away at full speed.

Branches and festival stalls blurred.

He cut across a path, then ran straight toward the forest near the mountain.

My limbs remained stiff, but my head bounced with each heavy step.

I looked back.

The ghoul wearing Valen's head stared at us from the center of the festival street.

It raised its hand a little, then lowered it.

We were out of its range. For now.

Dante kept running.

His body moved with practiced strength.

He carried me deeper into the forest until the sounds of the festival faded.

The shadowy figures stopped following. The pressure on my limbs weakened bit by bit.

Finally, I could move again.

"Dante! Run with full speed! It's a Rank 5, so it can catch up to us! Keep running—"

I didn't finish the sentence.

A blur passed through the trees.

The ghoul appeared directly in front of me, inches from my face.