When the sound of ticking of the clock grew louder than he could bear, Charles opened his eyes with a scowl and turned his head .

  His wife lay beside him, breathing softly, her face peaceful , untouched by worry, untouched by the world. Just seeing her steadied his heartbeat.

  He sat up slowly, careful not to disturb her.

  Still

  "Where are you going?"

  Her voice was sleepy, warm.

  "I couldn't sleep," he said quietly. "I'll go for a walk."

  She turned slightly, eyes still closed. "Want company?"

  She didn't mean it. They both knew that.

  "Keep sleeping," Charles replied with a faint smile. "I slept all afternoon."

  She smiled back, already drifting away.

  Charles stepped outside.

  The street was empty.

  Streetlights flickered one by one as he passed beneath them, pale yellow light cutting through the darkness in intervals. He stopped under one of them and stared upward.

  His mind was empty; no thoughts were eating him from inside and strangely he felt attracted towards that streetlight.

  "Streetlights sure look aesthetic when those white lights are not used."

  Forcing himself to look away he walked to the nearest park and sat on one of the stairs.

  He still couldn't believe what has happened to him these past two days.

  Two days ago at that night, (on the night Bucket man chose his next successor.)

  It was nighttime and the sound of ticking of clock grew louder and louder until finally Charles woke up irritated and looked at it his wife beside him.

  She waved at him

  "Couldn't sleep?"

  "Nope" he replied

  "Well," she said brightly, "do you want to hear about this show I've been watching?"

  He didn't have the heart to refuse.

  She was halfway through her explanation when his phone rang.

  Charles looked at his phone and then looked at his wife

  "A creature has appeared near us."

  With a smile his wife responded

  "Give them hell."

  Charles chuckled " You want 'Hell's last soldier' to show them hell?"

  "Yes"

  "You know my job is just to stall," he said quietly. "Until Bucket Man arrives."

  "Yeah, Yeah I know . I know except for Bucket man, not a single person can stay alive after getting hit by those demonic creatures."

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  after saying this she looked at Charles and continued

  "Please stay safe."

  With a smile he responded

  " Don't worry, I promise I will come back "

  After wearing his red cloth armor, he stood at his house's gate and pointed at his cheek.

  While blushing his wife kissed him on his cheek

  "That's my good luck charm" after saying this he left her.

  He ran to the location of portal and found a creature around as tall as him with spikes coming out of his back .

  Creature's face remained blurred as if the world denied the access to look at them.

  "Only need to buy a few minutes until the naked hero arrives." Charles said as he cracked his neck.

  "That naked man is the peak of human evolution, give him respect." Charles heard Arthur's voice and found the golden armored man standing beside him.

  Charles looked around and came to a conclusion.

  "Right now, it's us two and that hero standing on the roof. More will come soon but for now it's up to us." saying this he raised his fist.

  "Just a few minutes." While saying this Arthur bumped his fist to Charle's.

  And both of them charged at the creature.

  Arthur kept distance, spear flashing again and again .clean hits, perfect strikes.

  No damage.

  Charles cursed under his breath.

  "What did I expect?

  Obviously nobody knows how to use energy except for Bucket man."

  Before he knew, in front of Arthur was the creature's fist about to hit him.

  Getting hit by creature even once meant certain death.

  And just before creature's fist hit him, Arthur found Charles beside the creature .

  With a blow from his axe , he deflected the punch .

  "RUN!!" Charles screamed.

  Arthur dashed backward and saw it .

  He saw the creature lifting Charles by his arm.

  Charles screamed

  "Fuck you!"

  And summoned a second axe in his other arm and swung it.

  The creature simply got hit by it and stood with no injuries.

  It grabbed Charles arm and slit his throat from his own axe.

  And Charles saw his own headless body falling in front of him.

  ' I don't want to die,

  I want to go home to my wife,

  Please, please. Someone ....

  Anyone.....

  save me '

  And the light from his eyes was lost.

  The concept of time and space was removed from him, and he found himself standing in nothingness.

  He had no mind, no body, no brain, no thoughts, no understanding of anything.

  It was nighttime and the sound of ticking of clock grew louder and louder until finally Charles woke up irritated and looked at his wife beside him.

  She waved at him

  "Couldn't sleep?"

  Since he has a mind, a body, thoughts now. He got understanding too.

  He understood and remembered everything that happened in that dark void.

  In nothingness, A creature with black skin and white glowing hairs appeared in front of him.

  Her eyes were blue like ocean and could drown any mortal if they looked in them but luckily, he was not a mortal and was already dead at that time

  Finally, the creature spoke

  "My child.....

  you defy logic and understanding of death.

  if you get killed by someone else, you will die but if you kill your own self, you will travel back in time and that moment will be chosen by the 'UNKNOWN' and the 'UNKNOWN' will grant you an ability every time you die.

  Since you were killed by your own hands holding the blade, you are sent back in time."

  Remembering all this and staring at the deity took toll on his body and he fell to the floor and gasped for air.

  His wife panicked but still tried her best to make him breathe properly.

  Finally, after minutes of torture Charles finally got grasp of his surroundings and found himself breathing heavily in his wife's warmth.

  He raised his eyes and looked in his wife's beautiful eyes.

  "I.... I....

  I DIED "

  The moment he finished his sentence,

  His wife's he saw his wife's head exploding.

  In the arms of a headless body remained a man covered in crimson.

  Unable to accept the reality, he summoned his axe unconsciously and beheaded himself.

  He found himself in nothingness again with no body and no mind.

  Moments passed which felt like eternity and finally he heard a distant sound.

  The sound of ticking of clock grew louder and louder until finally Charles woke up irritated and looked at it his wife beside him.

  She waved at him

  "Couldn't sleep?"

  Since he has a mind, a body, thoughts now. He got understanding too.

  He understood and remembered everything that happened in that dark void.

  The divine creature met him again .

  Her blue ocean eyes were different somehow .

  Earlier she looked indifferent and divine but now she looked angered .

  Only a single sentence came out of her mouth .

  "YOU CAN NOT TELL ANYONE, NEXT TIME WILL BE WORSE."

  And he fell on the ground again gasping for air.

  His wife helped him again and finally he calmed down after a few minutes.

  He looked at his own reflection in his wife's eyes and found a man making a face which didn't suit him.

  "Are you ok now? "

  "yeah" he replied

  After a moment of silence, his wife asked

  "What happened?"

  With a smile on his face , Hell's last solider replied

  "I guess I had a bad dream . A really bad one at that."

  And suddenly he heard his phone ringing.

  With his trembling arms, he picked his phone and looked in it and then looked at his wife.

  "A creature has appeared near us."