Epiphany Of The Weak 118 Gray Ludwig - Major Chapter - Arrival

"Hey, where are you taking me?"

Reinhart pushed the double, wooden doors of a hall, and then looked back at me. "I did say to not make a ruckus. Have you forgotten?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Huh? I'm just asking a question. How is that considered a ruckus?"

Reinhart was silent for a few moments, as he stared at my handcuffed hands. "I should have cut your hands instead. If the Aegis Implant works for you, then it will regenerate."

"Hah?!" I jerked my head at his statement. Without me realizing it, my face had contorted into a mix of confusion and anger. "What in the world are you talking about? Regenerate my hands? You're crazy!"

Reinhart sighed. He glanced at me and stepped inside the hall. "Whether you survive the Implant or you die in the process, there are only two choices, really."

I wanted to ask him more about what Aegis was but stopped. When we walked inside, there were already about a dozen prisoners that had been gathered. I looked up, and certainly, the hall had white, fluorescent lights up in its ceiling.

"A stage?" I mumbled.

There was a stage at the end of the hall, with a wide staircase leading up to it.

"Let's get this done with." Reinhart barked an order to the Anciles guarding the hall. In a split second, those robots lined up at each side of the walls while facing the prisoners. Reinhart walked past everyone and left me at the foot of the staircase. He stepped on the stage with a smirk on his face.

"Rejoice, prisoners!" shouted Reinhart, his arms spread out towards us. "I'm sure you all have been waiting with antic.i.p.ation for what's to come. Fear not, as I, Reinhart Bellegram, will bestow upon you guys the power to surpa.s.s all humans!"

'Aegis Implant?' I thought.

A teenage boy was then forced by an Ancile to kneel in front of him. The robot restrained him when he tried to get away. The boy glared at Reinhart as he picked up a cylindrical container handed over by the robot.

"Is this the Aegis Implant everyone was talking about?" yelled the boy. Instead of being overwhelmed with fear, he faced the officer head-on. "I'm not afraid of you, Sir Reinhart."

"Ah, you don't have to." Reinhart gave the container back to the robot. "Either you survive this one, or you die along the way. This Aegis container has been proven to be compatible with you . . . Somewhat. Not that I know what is the success rate is of course. Just being compatible is not enough, kid. But don't take my word for it. I did have a friend who died even after he was proven compatible."

My mind was slowly wrapping the information he had laid out. I kind of get the gist of it, but the whole concept was still vague to me nonetheless. What I did understand was the compatibility aspect between someone and the 'Aegis container'.

If I was compatible with one of those things, there was still a chance I could die from the implant. Even so, I found myself s.h.i.+vering for what was to come. From the looks of it, no apparatuses or devices were needed for the implant, since the Ancile just hold it in its hand.

There was no specialists or whatever nearby, so anyone could carry out the Aegis Implant. I started to clench my fists only to be reminded I was handcuffed.

Suddenly, the Ancile lifted the Aegis container up high and shoved it right in the boy's chest. The container went inside his flesh, with him screaming in pain.

"Aaaaah! It hurts . . . Stop, STOP!" The boy lied down on the stage as he screamed his lungs out from excruciating pain. The container forced itself into his body, blood pouring out from the boy's chest.

The other prisoners were all stunned, as we watched the horrifying fate of the young boy.

A few seconds later, he stopped moving. His eyes were wide open, so as his gaping mouth. His brown skin had turned pale in an instant, and everyone knew the boy didn't make it.

"This is disappointing. I expected him to actually be able to become an Aegis User. Turns out that is not the case." Reinhart ordered an Ancile to drag the boy's body away and he laid his eyes on me. He continued to stare at me for some time, and somehow, I knew what he had in his mind.

"Bring Gray Ludwig here," he said to one of the Anciles on standby. "I think it's appropriate to say, his turn has finally come."

"H-Hey!"

Two Anciles moved away from the walls and started to drag me up the staircase. I resisted of course, but my effort was futile. The robots then restrained me in front of Reinhart while he showed me a different Aegis container.

"This container is about eighty-percent compatible with you, Gray Ludwig. We have done some research on our part, and yes, this is true," said Reinhart. "That boy has about the same compatibility with his Aegis, and you know what that means, right?"

'I might die,' I thought immediately.

Reinhart smiled at my expression. "Don't worry, Gray Ludwig, It will all be over soon. Whether you join that boy in the afterlife, or you join Amathelia's side, your path is set to d.a.m.nation anyway."

"I . . . Don't want to die . . ." I whispered.

"Hmm? What did you say?"

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

My legs sprang me back up on my feet and I attempted to run away. Unfortunately, the Anciles pressed their arms on my back, preventing me from moving. I pushed against them but it backfired when they clamped me down onto the floor.

"I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die!" My mouth kept uttering those words non-stop. To be honest, I preferred it to be that way, letting my emotions out for everyone to see. A part of my brain relentlessly reminding me that the process will be the most painful thing I ever experienced. It did so by replaying the young boy's scream over and over again in my head.

"STOP! GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!" I screamed.

Reinhart crouched down and I looked up to see his face. It was a face of satisfaction and antic.i.p.ation combined. His grin made it clear to me, and to the other prisoners as well.

The Aegis container filled my vision as he brought it closer to my face. Reinhart spoke, "It will be a quick death, I a.s.sure you. Wait . . . Do ten seconds count as quick? Eh, maybe."

I don't want to die.

I don't want to die.

I don't want to die!

Reinhart laughed at my struggle. He then stopped and looked around him. "Did you hear that?"

The Anciles inside the hall moved away from the walls and started to move around as well. Something was happening, but I didn't know what.

A few moments later, my ears picked up the sound of soldiers screaming and yelling outside the hall. Even the Anciles restraining me lifted themselves up and made their way to the double doors.

All of a sudden, a loud siren blared and flashed its red light above our heads. The prisoners were confused, and so was Reinhart who kept glancing left and right.

"Hey! Get out there and check what was happening, you useless sc.r.a.p of metal," shouted Reinhart.

Before the Anciles could respond, the wall behind Reinhart exploded before my eyes. The robots turned around to look at Reinhart when their metal frames began to be wrapped up in pink crystals. A second later, it already covered their whole bodies and they were imprisoned inside it.

"What the . . ." Reinhart's mouth gaped open, seemingly unable to comprehend what was happening. I was sure he knew, but for some reason, he didn't want to admit that the prison was being attacked. He turned around towards the large hole replacing the wall, before his face exploded from a projectile. He screamed in agony but it didn't stop there for him.

Slender, yellow tendrils sprang out from his face and it wrapped itself around his body, tying him up.

I was unable to think clearly at that time. "What in the world . . ." Just a moment ago, I was about to die, sort of, but the unexpected happened instead.

The prisoners were screaming and some had forced their way out of the hall. With my handcuffed hands, I stood up on my feet and ran towards the already opened double doors. "Hmm?!"

An Ancile had crept up behind me, and immediately, his white crystal-like blade cut me in the right shoulder.

"Aaargh!"

I fell down hard onto the ground. As soon as I opened my eyes again, the Ancile had pointed his blade towards me.

'Who am I kidding . . . I'm destined to die today anyway,' I thought.

Certainly, anyone would think the same thing when a killer robot was just a foot away, and about to deliver a fatal blow a few seconds later.

I gritted my teeth, embracing my fate right then and there. The light flowing out from the large hole behind the Ancile started to become more intense.

"Huh?"

A moment after that, a crimson scythe sliced the Ancile in half and it fell down.

"W-Who?" I mumbled.

There was a girl standing behind the fallen Ancile.

A young girl with a short, jet-black dark hair and her scythe sprouting out from her right arm. Her eyes were strange, as one of it was dark red, and the other was blue. She wore a sleek, black battle uniform with reflective coatings and the sleeves were red. Strangely enough, the fabric of her uniform was't torn off from the crimson scythe. Printed on the right side of her uniform was 'AVA' in gold. There was another layer of dark clothing covering her neck, and it had to be the inner layer.

I a.s.sumed the inner layer was a durable piece of s.h.i.+rt. Not to mention, the young girl's skin was fairly white.

One could tell the girl was about 156 cm in height just from a glance.

Behind her, two more individuals popped out from the large hole at the wall, also in uniforms. The blonde guy had 'HOPE' printed out on the right side of his chest, while the pretty dark-haired woman to his left had 'LILY' instead. The woman had dark gloves in her hands. Their uniforms had gold and violet sleeves respectively.

I s.h.i.+fted my attention back to the young girl, who I a.s.sumed Ava was her name. She lifted the large, crimson scythe, like nothing over her head as she narrowed his eyes at me.

And during that one moment, I thought of her as a Grim Reaper, about to take my life away with her scythe.