Jack: “...W-w…!”

Before he could speak, the blonde-haired boy plunged his arm into the young man’s foot, carrying a knife in hand that dug into his flesh, causing him to scream, much to his apparent brother’s delight!

As the young man screamed and the little brother laughed, a strange pressure began to engulf the area as a pale blue mist surrounded the crescent masked group. All the while, the golden slit within the young man’s eye continuously stirred…

Fate was now afflicted with the pain his past self had felt, completely open to the frigid cold and sharp stinging. He could now feel the presence of several wounds scattered across his body, as he began to remember against his will, the memories that had been chained up in the back of his mind.

-No...no...NO!!! I DON’T WANT TO REMEMBER, I DON’T WANT TO BE HERE, SO LET ME OUT!!! STAY THE F*** OUT…!!!”

Fate screamed, having been released from his previous confinement, suffering as the events of the past flashed in front of his eyes!

…
???: “We’ve been promised a fresh start!!! A chance in a world without the restraints and worries of today, and you’re our ticket in!!!”

The masked assailant with the knife was chasing him through the streets, while he and Matt had been separated. The madman in the mask fervently swung his knife in front of him as he ran!

Jack: “What the f*ck are you talking about, get the hell away from me!!!”

The young man attempted to get around the corner, but was slashed across his left shoulder as he did so, causing him to stagger!

???: “You shouldn’t run!!! We all chose you, so shouldn’t you feel grateful that someone finally needs you?!!~”
…

Fate felt the pain from his shoulder intensify, while the masked figure with the knife appeared in the corner of his vision, with part of his mask cracked and burnt as he groaned in pain...

???: “Jack, you little f***ot!!! I kept telling you that you shouldn’t run, and instead, you decided to ambush us?!! How ungrateful can you be?!?”

The young man received a swift kick to the stomach, as he began to cry while grunting in pain! Fate now began to feel his spine throbbing as another memory began to unearth itself against his will...

…
Jack: “P-please lord...please don’t let them...f-find me...please…”

Inside one of the buildings that were now void of their occupants, several footsteps sounded. These footsteps belonged to a split-off party, formed by a small number of masked assailants from the main group.

They prowled the interior of this small restaurant, eager to track down their escaped prey before the rest of their demented legion could beat them to it…

The young man had been led by his friend to hide in another building earlier, but the friend had stuck his head up to look outside, alerting the group outside and forcing them to flee as gunshots soon blew holes in the window. Afterward, they had been separated by the bearded man from earlier, who strangely let that part of his face show, with both of them fleeing to avoid capture…

However, he had been attacked by the main group as he fled, having taken a hit to his spine by a rock thrown by one of their members and have had a bullet graze his face before finally managing to throw them off his scent, or so he thought.

But now he had been cornered and was quite terrified of anyone discovering him.

Jack: “Dammit! Why the f*ck…!!!”

[Sob...][Sob...]

The young man buried his face in his knees…

Jack: “W-why... is-s... this... happening... t-to me!?”

[Clang!]

???: “F*ck, damn bowl!!! Seriously, where the hell did that dumb piece of sh*t go?!!”

The young man was thoroughly horrified at this sudden development, immediately holding his breath and trying his best to stay completely silent. What made it even worse was that the voice outside belonged to the knife-wielder, who seemed to encounter him, no matter where he ran…

???: “What are you doing here, Cole?! Are you seriously trying to steal dishes from the kitchen while we’re trying to find him?!”

An assertive female voice now entered the fray, identifying the knife-wielder while beginning to berate him.

Cole: “Why the…! Ugh, look, I know that the bastard is here, and I’m the one that led us here, so don’t you dare say that I haven’t been doing my fair share! Besides, you remember our deal, right?~”

The boy outside the cabinet now began to speak in a coy tone…

Cole: “...I promised you that if you helped me find him before the others could...that I’d put in a good word for you after I’d been rewarded for his death, right?~ Are you doubting me?~”

???: “I...Never mind that for now! How do you know that he’s here, he could’ve escaped to somewhere else?!”

The young man felt his aching spine shiver as a chilling laugh came from outside the cabinet…

Cole: “Do you need to ask?~ Just take a look at the floor…”

He heard a questioning sound come from the girl as she seemed to pace around the room.

???: “I don’t get it, what am I supposed to…?!”

Suddenly, the noise stopped, meaning that she had also stopped, followed by a giggle from the boy…

Cole: “You see, there’s been a little bit of blood on the ground wherever he goes!~ I’ve kept seeing it ever since I first stabbed him through the hand, and it got more frequent after he got shot!~”

The young man timidly rubbed his hand across the cut on his cheek and looked down at the completely blood-soaked cloth that was tied around his hand, realizing that he had potentially sealed his fate…

He felt his entire body chill as two sets of footsteps began to march toward the cabinet he was in! He saw the shadows from a crack in the door panel, which allowed the light from the kitchen to penetrate his hiding place. And then...he heard a creaking…”

Cole: “Oh, Jack...I know you’re in there!~”

The shadows flickered outside, but the young man was able to see an arm being raised…

Cole: “But since I know that you’re shy...I’ll come to you!!!~”

He saw the shadow drawing closer, and a thump sounded in the young man’s ears as he clenched his tear-stained eyes shut in terror! However, after a series of successive thumps and a diminishing of Cole’s cackling...a confused tone caught his attention…

???: “The blood leads here, why isn’t he responding?! Did he already bleed out in there?! Damn it!!!”
A loud creaking sounded to the young man’s right, through the wall. He felt the urge to heave a sigh of relief but stopped himself as he continued to listen to their conversation.

???: “There’s nothing in there!!! Did you lie just to get me alone?! I should have never trusted you!!!”

The girl’s speech had almost instantly turned hysterically angry as she lashed out at her supposed partner. It now seemed that the two had misinterpreted the direction the blood had led them and had been led to a similar cabinet next to the young man’s.

However, he had a foreboding feeling that it wasn’t over, as he readied himself for what he believed was coming next...

Cole: “I told you, the blood is definitely his, who else could have leaked it here?!!”

???: “You f***ing moron, it could have just been from one of the people working here, before the goddess isolated the space!!!”

The young man saw the shadow loom in front of his cabinet, and angled himself towards the door panel…

Cole: “I’m telling you, it’s his!!! Let’s just check the rest of this building before jumping to conclusions, ok…?!!!”

Suddenly, Cole was knocked off his feet by the young man, who had thrust himself out of the cabinet, causing him to slam into his assailant’s legs! Cole fell, slamming his head against the counter and toppling into a scattered bunch of metal bowls on the floor!

???: “Y-you…!!!”

Although disoriented and frightened, the young man took immediate action, scrambling to the side of the unmoving Cole and picking up a camo-green combat knife from the ground, gripping it tightly in his hand as he rose from the floor…

Jack: “S-stay back!!!”

The terrified young man now felt a surge of adrenaline as he stared down the girl in the crescent mask with an unnatural grin on his face.
...
Meanwhile, out of frame, the distorted voice of the shapeshifter emerged

『Looks like he’s having fun with his trip down memory lane...So I guess I can just leave him to it for now, while I go out to smash that b*tch’s face in!!!~ It’s time to play!!!~』
...

Next chapter, you guys finally get to see Fate(his body at least) get some payback from the Witch! Whether that works out or not is for you to read and will depend on what powers this creature has at his disposal...

P.S. - Thanks for the 3-star rating today! I'm really happy to see that people are still reading, and that the story is soon going to be #1 in two genres! I'm thankful for all your support! Special thanks to Aregulus for always commenting, Matt.In.The.Hatt and Trinox for staying with me, and to TP0 for rejoining the fray(I assume since I hadn't seen him in a while on the board)! So thank you all so much, and I look forward to when I get you guys out of these explanation chapters and on to the good stuff!

P.P.S. - Make sure to join the discord: https://discord.gg/f8EZy2