I Hate Being The Protagonist

Half of the forest was on fire as Amon let loose. As most of the red-eyes got slaughtered, I was able to sense the remaining strong ones. My opponent was one of 4 troublesome ones, with more coming to this location from all over the forest.

The gleam from a silvery blade assaulted my eyes as the dual-bladed sword whistled through the air, almost splitting me in half. Dodging the attack by sliding to the side with minimal movement, I swung the Sunsword. A crescent of light was created, shaving off the trees behind my opponent as he ducks down to avoid it.

"You cast your weapon away?" I mockingly ask him.

"Don't be so ignorant, brat," he says as I sense something coming back. The spinning blade flies back with a whooshing sound, allowing me to take a good look at my reflection in the clean blade. It flies into my opponent’s hand, summoned by his magic.

He spins his sword, ready to engage me in a sword duel. I accepted his offer, dashing forward while ducking out of the way of his first swing. He too dodges my attack, quickly retrieving his sword in the process while taking a step back. Although he has more mana and a stronger magic presence, my skill and agility far outweigh them.

Our weapons clash, sending shockwaves through the forest. My ferocity increases, as I try to end this quicker, pouring more mana into my blade. I could feel Amon scorching everything near us, his heat slowly reaching our fighting spot.

My opponent's eyebrows furrow in anger.

"You brought a demon to his sacred place, you will be punished!"

I could guess he meant 'demon' figuratively, but we literally brought a demon with us.

I inhale deeply, my blade shining in a dazzling golden light. "His sacred place? How can you call this a sacred place? All you've done is criminal acts, so don't feign holiness," I tell him, pushing him back with my sword.

His blade starts being charged with lightning. I could feel the buzz of the electric field around him. As soon as I approached his vicinity, he disappeared, slashing me from the side. My attempt at blocking his strike is drowned in an electrifying blast of energy which hurls me back into a tree. With no time to regain my breath–and a lightning bolt ready to discharge into me–I dash to my side, barely avoiding the thunderous explosion which levels another portion of trees behind me. Damn it, I got a bit careless there!

With this battle growing more intense, the treeline is getting cut more and more. At least the blazing conflagration from Amon won't reach us over the thick forest, as everything is getting leveled from our wild swings and magic attacks.

As I trade swings with my opponent, I realize I'm heavily outmatched in terms of magic power. If this continues, I'll be a two-piece steak, cooked well done by an electric grill.

Blocking another lightning bolt, my hands get burnt in the process. His attacks are just too powerful for me to handle right now. There is no one to come and help me out, so I have to make something up quickly.

I throw the Sunsword to the ground, letting myself become weaponless in face of the lightning wielder.

The eyes of my enemy widened in surprise. "Have you gone mad? If you're surrendering, don't think I'll spare your life. The fact that you're a kid makes this even better," he mutters before slamming his foot down and coalescing a large amount of electricity into the blade.

I have to try this. My trump card.

As he swings his sword down with murderous intent, I put my hand out, sticking my index finger softly. His insane force is met with a gentle posture, one that would exhibit a compliance with death. It was like I was offering my body to be scorched and severed in two, with my hand graciously extended forward, as if I was reaching for my end.

Of course, my intent wasn't to die yet. There is a plentiful life ahead of me, so naturally this was the ace up my sleeve.

As his blade entered the range, about two inches from my finger, the electricity jumped between these two points. The electric arc wasn't blue though. It was a shade of pink, plagued by my magic. In a short moment, I managed to dispel his lightning magic and turn the force and energy in reverse. Like a single vector changing its direction instantly, I turned it against my opponent.

After doing so, it bounced back, all of the electricity and physical force being repelled from me like an unseen force was pulling my enemy backwards. I managed to understand lightning magic to its core, feeling its structure. It was like a chemical formula, made from distinct parts that clung together. Reversing the formula, I could shatter the bonds and release a ton of energy.

When that happened, the force of the explosion sent my enemy flying backwards. After hitting the ground with his back, I swiftly picked the Sunsword, jumping in the air with all of my strength. Letting out a warcry, I stabbed down with unseen power, plummeting like a sharp meteor onto my opponent's chest. The Sunsword reached the ground beneath him, cutting through flesh and bone like it wasn't even there.

With a single mouthful of blood being coughed out, his runes and magic disappeared, his heart making its final beat, the silence being an indicator of my victory.

"Phew, that was intense. I can't believe that worked out," I let out, exhaling deeply.

"Adam!" I hear the voice from the female soldier we traveled with. Her gun was missing, her machete dyed with glowing red blood. I turned around to see her standing near the treeline.

"The general is in trouble!" she yells out, prompting me to run to her side, holding the Sunsword tightly.

She wastes no time explaining what happened, running along with me to the location. We took off in the opposite direction of the smoke created by our lovely demon.

After running for a minute or so, we reached a small clearing with a wooden house. This rotting cabin reminded me greatly of my tomb, the haunted house in the center of Holdanis which was gone.

"He went inside but hasn't returned yet! Reinforcements should be here shortly, but you have to assist him. I'm not strong enough to do so, as I would be a hindrance, but you're the second best bet!" she muttered while shaking a bit.

"Don't worry, he's fine," I tell her while opening the doors of the house. The old wooden hut also has two floors just like the haunted mansion had.

If my killer is here, Lucidel will kill him for sure. The Dreamer... his magic is a problematic factor. I remember my experience with it before I died. The red-eyes we faced were only powered by dream magic, not really using it. I have to help Lucidel, as I have valuable information about the structure of this cabin, if it is a domain of the Dreamer, the same one I died in before.

"Adam, don't go ins-" a voice yelled out before the doors to the cabin shut behind me.

It was... Lucidel's voice.

From outside of the cabin, his shouting voice was cut short as the isolating features of this house activated their effect.

This was a trap.

The female soldier entered the house with me, so I turned my head at her for answers. She looked at me with an unnaturally wide grin, something that reminded me of Oliver.

She slowly started to melt, like her body was made out of candle wax that's being heated. "Pretty neat huh?" she said as her body slowly melted into a pile of dirt and mud. Her voice lowers in pitch and slows down, becoming inhumane as the figure loses any image of life it had. This wasn't the female soldier we came here with.

"Shit," I mutter under my breath.

I smash the doors leading outside with my foot, only to find that the outside was replaced by a continuation of the interior. A spatial effect that blocks any exists from this place is present, perhaps another dimension?

I couldn't tell if this was the use of a spatial effect or if this was another dimension. Safe to say, I've entered the Dreamer's domain again, like a gullible rat with no brain. I hate myself for falling into such an illusive, yet obvious trick.

[If that was Lucidel screaming at me, he must've sensed the dream magic and tried to break inside.] I ponder internally.

For now, nothing is happening, with the pile of mud and dirt still being here. If we assume that this dimension has a time effect which slows it down, Lucidel should break inside at some point. The problem is I can't even estimate the time dilation, or if it even is that. It could be a plethora of different causes, which would all inhibit the possibility of Lucidel coming to rescue.

Now I'm the one needing to be saved, after falling into the lie that the general had difficulty.

On the other note, I might not need any help. I've grown stronger, and the Dreamer obviously has restrictions. I can conclude that the entity itself cannot harm me directly unless I enter its domain, which I've done so conveniently.

"It has to have some rules to it," I conclude, venturing deeper into the house.

"Come out! I won't be able to surprise you in your own domain, but I'm ready for anything!" I yell out, my voice traveling through the empty halls and rooms with wooden doors.

I receive no answer, after which I blast the doors and walls to one room, continuing to wreck havoc inside the rest of the house. The walls, ceiling and floor are easily broken, as I create a giant room with rubble filling up the floor.

After a few moments, the broken pieces of wood, stone and glass sink into the ground, disappearing out of view. Even better for me, as I can now use the smooth flat floor to my advantage.

Holding my Sunsword, I perk my ears and mana sense to focus on anything in this house that tries to attack me. I can feel a lot of mana fluctuation inside the walls and all around me. There are about 50 meters of magically enhanced parts of the house in all directions, after which everything stops.

Suddenly, a sharp piece of wood flies at me from above. I dodge the wooden stake, its sharp end sticking into the ground.

"You won't get anywhere with attacks like that one," I call out, mocking the Dreamer.

A hallway opens up to my left, along with another one to my right. These hallways spiral until they are in position, creating an infinite hallway with this giant room as the center point. I could feel no end to the magic in these hallways.

This must be an illusion of some sort, as there is no way this entity created an infinite space.

"I know it's you, Dreamer!" I call out again, prompting the entity to show itself.

"Ah, you got me," a voice echoes behind me.