Old Frey talked endlessly. Halo listened, since most of what he said was useful information about this world. But despite that, he found himself face to face with Noah once again.
"I want you to kill me." The words left Noah so lifelessly.
Halo shook his head in disbelief. Noah's life wouldn't be the first he had taken if he went through with it, but this was strange. Who asks such a thing?
"As long as I am bound to duty, I am invincible. My very presence terrifies, and my strength grows tenfold. But beyond it… I am still mortal."
Halo gripped tightly to his dual dagger. The blades were long and curved with sharp, exotic shapes.
The left dagger was designed exclusively for his left hand with a dark blade, and the right dagger, equally specialized, featured a bright white blade, forming a dramatic light-dark contrast.
The guards were dark and jagged, resembling stone or obsidian with angular, claw-like protrusions. But blades had an elegant but dangerous curve, widening in the middle and narrowing into a sharp point.
"They resemble life and death, carved from a Perverted Sinner's jaw… a bone harder than steel," Paul said before handing them over to Halo.
He didn't think much of it. His mind was preoccupied with Noah's request for him to kill him. Not only was Noah far too strong, but it was the last thing Halo had expected.
But now, he wasn't too sure.
"My life has been nothing but torture. No dreams. No aspirations. No free will. I bowed to everyone for the sake of duty… and now, now, it's a torture I can't live without."
Noah's tone was as daunting and echoey as when Halo met him. Despite his heavy armor and confident pose before the gigantic gates behind him, Halo saw him for who he was.
Noah was terrified of his own existence.
"I can't live like this anymore. And when the Dark Saint killed my best friend… that was the moment my fate was sealed."
Halo sighed.
He understood Noah. They were in the same boat. He was the only person who knew their fate if the hero managed to gather his strength. Worse, he couldn't tell if that had already happened. Yet, even if he stopped him, he didn't know what would become of him.
"You are the third I have asked. When you attain the rank of Assassin, return to this place. If I still draw breath, swear you will end me with your hand."
Halo gulped.
His eyes darted frantically as his hand gripped his daggers by instinct. It was a tall order, but he understood the pain Noah carried.
So why couldn't he just accept?
The poor soul had an ability that made him practically unkillable while on duty. His Flaw prevented him from abandoning that duty, so suicide wasn't an option.
And worse, until the very land he protected was destroyed, he couldn't be free and head to a new purpose. His purpose would never end.
So why?
A few minutes after weighing his thoughts, he exhaled.
He was the Shadow of Death after all, and one day, when the god who empowered him, Death, came for him, he might have to do worse.
'Maybe, just maybe, this will be one good thing before the world swallows me.'
He smirked.
"Don't take me for a fool. When the time comes, I won't be gentle."
Noah reciprocated Halo's reaction before reluctantly tossing him a sack of supplies.
Halo's face darkened as realization struck. Noah still hadn't revealed Silent Hill's location, and judging by the way Noah's expression shifted, whatever was coming wouldn't be good news.
"Silent Hill is close. Go to the south-east: there's a ruined city with a collapsed castle at its heart, sitting on a hill. Leave now."
The calm demeanor was shattered. Noah spoke with sharp urgency, pulling his blade from the ground and settling into a ready position.
Confusion still clouded Halo's mind when Noah suddenly disappeared. An instant later, the sickening crunch of breaking bones erupted behind him.
Dread tightened around his ribs as he pivoted.
There stood Noah, positioned precisely where that terrible sound had originated.
"Leave, Halo. Beast Sinner. Move."
Noah's voice left no room for discussion. With Noah's head snapping in all directions and the eerie aura radiating from him, Halo had no intention of staying around.
Without a moment's hesitation, without even a goodbye, Halo was already dashing to his right.
He never encountered a Beast Sinner in the game, not even a Perverted Sinner, but considering a Beast Sinner was two ranks above a Toddler Sinner, a creature he'd struggled against, he wanted absolutely no part of this.
His pace was faster than his heartbeat, and before he knew it, he had walked past the estate's giant walls.
Now he maneuvered through a dark forest, its atmosphere filled with flies that swarmed over him relentlessly, as though the night didn't affect them at all.
The moment he realized he'd run far enough, he paused, panting hard, and the flies finally let him be.
"South-east. Yes. This world is creepy." Halo muttered, trying to justify his actions.
Indeed this world was bizarre. It had someone like him fleeing.
There was nothing he could have done. He might have even held Noah back, and considering Noah's ability made him nearly invincible.
But now, Halo had far greater fears than Noah's predicament.
He knew Beast Sinners never truly walked alone, and unlike Toddler and Perverted Sinners, they had Purpose.
For a Beast Sinner to show up meant this land had something to do with their purpose. He was bound to find Sinners here.
Worse, he couldn't tell the Sinners apart.
He was practically walking into his death.
He stood amidst bent and curled trees, most with roots emerging from the ground and snaking up through the soil.
Their leaves seemed scorched, lacking any pigment. But there he was, approaching midnight, blessed by the distant moon's glow.
Halo swallowed hard, sweat forming on his brow.
"This place is… eerie. I need my clone."
The moment he spoke, his barely visible shadow detached from his body and turned into a shadow copy of himself, from bone to hair.
And despite its featureless face, its white eyes and dirty-white hair with red streaks were born from Halo directly.
The moment it appeared, Halo felt a sense of closure as a faint smile formed on his lips.
"I believed only thought could summon you. Now I see even words will do."
The clone nodded at Halo's words. But despite the closure it gave him, Halo felt that same strange sensation from when he first summoned it.
He had to name it, but now, he needed to give it the matching clothes he'd obtained for it.
Halo hastily reached into his bag, pulled out his spare black hakama-style attire, and tossed it over to the clone.
But as soon as the clone caught the clothes, an icy breeze washed over Halo, and something moved at the edge of his sight.
His skin prickled with unease.
A Sinner! And an unusual tree!