“Relax Sniffles!” Arol said, jumping in between the creature and I. “This is Janus – he’s just a skeleton we met out in the forest.”
Wunder chuckled. “He’s an interesting sort. Managed to survive Arol’s hits, but lost his arm in the process. We’re bringing him up to Erzili to heal up.”
The creature seemed to placate itself. “Be that as it may, it is my duty as the guardian of Fort Zyvar to decipher the purpose and intent of all those who enter its walls.” Red eyes once more landed on my form. “Tell me, Janus, what is your intention in approaching this Fort?”
I opened my mouth, but Arol stopped me. “Sniffles can tell when you’re lying, so you might not want to do that. He doesn’t really like liars.”
So a sphinx, but for lies instead of riddles - fantastic. I thought through my options with increasing speed and realized I did not have much time to come up with a convincing lie.
“I have come to Fort Zyvar to get my arm healed.”
“That is not your only purpose here.”
“You said I should tell you about my intention. You never said how many I had to tell.”
“No, I did not.” The sphinx agreed. “Very well then. A question, Janus. Do you, or do you not, approach Fort Zyvar with the intent to kill any of its inhabitants?”
Shit. Arol and Wunder stared at me, waiting. “I… do.”
Arol’s neck snapped in my direction.
“Why?”
“For the experience.”
The Sphinx gave a long sigh. “Another one falls to Erzili’s ranks. You may enter Fort Zyvar.”
“You-you're letting me through?”
“I am the Guardian of this Fort, beholden to it and nothing more. I must stop those seeking its destruction, not stop those who approach in search of death.”
“I’m not here to die.”
“You are here with the intent to kill. Thus you are here in search of death, be it your own or that of another.”
The sphinx, turning around, walked back to the Fort. Ripples emerged from the air once more, and before I could so much as question it, the creature was gone. The Guardian of the Fort. Chills ran down my spinal cord and up to my tail. Something told me that I did not want to fight that Sphinx.
The slowly building thickness in the air also told me that I did not want to fight the two nightmares who stood behind me, both of which had just heard me openly admit that I wanted to kill someone within the fort.
“Janus…” Arol’s voice was low. “…what do you mean by, you’re here to kill… for the experience?”
“It’s very self-explanatory.”
“You can’t do that.”
“I thought this sort of thing was common –”
“You don’t understand,” Arol shook her head. “You literally can’t do that. You’re too weak to be a threat to anyone in Fort Zyvar. Attack anyone and you’ll die.”
I stiffened, staring at the duo. “Well, I managed to survive three of your hits, didn’t I?”
Wunder let out a large laugh. “Yes, yes, you managed to survive three hits from Arol. Impressive.” He continued laughing, and I felt my irritation rise.
“What’s so funny?”
“Should you tell him, or should I?” Wunder asked, rubbing his chin.
The redhead frowned at Wunder, before turning back to me. “I’m the youngest nightmare in Fort Zyvar.”
“And?”
“And?” she furrowed her brows. “A nightmare’s power is dependent on how long they’ve lived. The older you get, the more stuff you survive, the stronger you become.” She pointed at herself. “I’ve only been a nightmare for four decades… that’s why I’m not as strong as everyone else.”
“Rubbish.” The word escaped my mouth before I could stop it. “You’re a poltergeist that’s untouchable. You expect me to believe you’re the weakest?”
“I’m not the weakest!” she protested hotly. “I’m just the youngest, and don’t have as much experience as everyone else.” She pointed to me. “But if I can beat you, everyone else can. How long have you been a skeleton anyway? Five years? Ten?”
I could not answer that question. How long? I reincarnated into this world about two months ago. I was made into a skeleton roughly a week and a half after my appearance as a worm. So as a skeleton, I was only about seven weeks old, give or take a week. Even if I accounted for my previous life, I was twenty-five years old before I died, and Arol would still be older than me.
The problem was, giving that information could be problematic, considering I lied about who my Nightshaman was. The dots would not connect. The more truths and lies I mixed up, the easier it would be to expose myself.
I pointed to Wunder. “…Even he is stronger than you?”
“Want to test it?” Wunder gestured to his chin. “Give me your best shot little skeleton. I won’t move. I won’t dodge. Let’s see what you can do.”
There was a temptation to take up his offer. I thought about the strongest moves in my arsenal. [Excruciating Toxic Bite] and [Diamond Bullet]. Neither of those two moves seemed as though they would be effective against Wunder. His pitch-black, spine-covered form would protect him from most poisons, but as for bullets –
Muttering under my breath, I took a clear aim for Wunder’s chin. “[Diamond Bullet].”
The crack of supersonic air echoed throughout the outskirts of the Fort. The diamond bullet broke the sound barrier and crossed the distance faster than the eye could blink. The object crashed into Wunder’s chin, fragmenting and ricocheting its fragments into different directions.
“Tickles,” Wunder said.
There was not a scratch on his chin. Not a blemish. Not a mark. The same move I had once used to kill a Sage, the move that I had come to associate with the term ‘one-hit-kill’ – it did not
