Bzzzzttt.
Azazel eyes snapped open at the sound of a strange machine coming alive.
Eyes narrowed shut as the light from the screen suddenly became brighter.
A movement caught his attention, from the strange machine, words were being assembled in strange animations.
About a second or two, they read.
WORLD OF FALLEN PARAGONS
→ Continue ↑
← Exit ↓
Azazel watched with interest, he hadn't seen anything like this before but that wasn't all, because a moment later the door clicked softly, the silhouette of a person approaching, but Azazel couldn't make out the features, or rather the face of the person.
All he could discern were slight features like, the hair which was a glossy black, and a white skin.
The person wore strange clothings quite different from the one he'd long been accoustumed to.
A round necked vest and gray baggy pants.
Although Azazel didn't know what to identify them as, he only knew it was something he hadn't seen before.
He'd heard of a particular place on liefher where the populations identified their eccentric creations as technology but he wasn't one to be bothered in the slightest, there wasn't even a need to venture outside the Dukedom, as a Westernern, he had everything he needed at the comfort of his home.
He'd only heard, but never seen.
The figure sat on the chair, just behind the desk where that same strange machine rested.
His hands grabbed a certain object which looked like a huge mouse and before Azazel knew it…
It was dawn.
He stood there, watching with interest but there was an undeniable expression of annoyance on his face.
The machine had been playing different scenarios on screen while the unknown person whose face he couldn't identify kept clicking and moving the mouse object on his hands.
For one he came to understand that what was playing on the screen was something called a game and not just any game but one that seemed to be based on events that had happened and was about to happen on liefher.
'How is this possible?' Azazel asked himself, with shock clearly written on his face but no matter how much he thought about it, there was simply no answer to his question.
The part that irked him the most, however, was his 'supposed' role in the game.
Which was none
He was barely relevant, no… even that was sugarcoating it.
He was just a walking death flag.
He'd only appeared during the flashbacks of his sister Leona and in those flashbacks he was killed by her.
Yet it was never explained, what he did to deserve those deaths.
Yes deaths.
It wasn't a one time thing, Leona killed him at least five times before the main story started.
As for the rest of the playthroughs, he either died from poisoning… a crossfire, an ambush, or by named characters hands, mostly unfortunate luck of simply being around during a massive battle or something.
Anyway, the list went long and it was the same almost in every playthrough of the game, he, Azazel Von Astavore was fated to die and even worse… he was doomed to die in loneliness.
He barely mattered, so he was barely remembered.
The story didn't really mention much on house Astavore, and in some playthroughs, tragedy always befell them at certain points before the main story.
There was nothing of relevance he could offer within the story, he knew that all too well but he still watched.
He stared at the screen intently, following each scenario act by act, without missing a single detail.
When morning came, the figure left his chair and headed for the bathroom to freshen up.
The device was still turned on but he was no longer within the game, instead he was on a specific site where information on the game basically flew around.
Hidden mechanics, new maps, compatibility of items with each respective classes.
The figure spent a few minutes within the bath but had a change of clothes already awaiting his arrival.
While he dressed himself, Azazel explored every hidden knowledge the game had to offer.
He got lost into the lore of the game, the more he read the more he feared, if everything contained within this strange device was true then they were done for, truly they were all dead men.
He let out a shaky breath before turning, just to see the faceless figure staring at him.
'Can he see me?' He couldn't help but question but the next second the figure brought out another strange device, this one much smaller and different than the one sitting on the desk.
It beeped for a few seconds before a voice sounded on the other end of the line.
"Oi Javier… Mhmm… but Maria said… oh? alright give me about twenty minutes, I'll be there."
Azazel could only watch with a confused look on his face, it felt like the figure was communicating with someone, but that someone was no where to be found.
He instinctively knew that it was the device connecting both the faceless figure and the person on the other end of the line.
Strangely enough something within his mind told him that the device was called a phone and the other resting on the desk was a portable computer.
A wave of nausea hit him like a tsunami while a splitting headache followed, his body swayed and with a groan he fell to his knees.
"H-How… Why do I know the name of that device? What's this strange place… why am i—"
Drip…
Drip…
Crimson liquid stained the cold floor red.
Azazel moved his hand, slowly reaching for his face.
Sure enough it was as he suspected.
"Blood?" He muttered weakly.
Just then a flicker of movement in his peripheral vision caused him to narrow his eyes.
"Azazel." The faceless figure said, as though he was just muttering to himself, "What a pitiful character."
'Huh? Me, pitiful? How dare this audacious—'
Before Azazel could complete his words however, the world froze then began shattering into tiny fragments.
Pain assaulted every single nerve Azazel had in his body, he opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out, in the end he could only suffer in quiet agony, while a strange voice uttered words into his ear.
[Your understanding of the character Azazel has increased.]
[Synchronizing with the character Azazel Von Astavore… 50% » 80%]
[The character ■■■■■ has gained a deeper understanding of the character Azazel Von Astavore, giving access to hidden memories » » » ERROR…]
[The soul accepts but memories reject.]
[Access denied.]
[Progress deeper into the story to unlock the hidden truths.]
[May the trickster's Gambit guide your path]
With one final message from his soul mirror, Azazel fell unconscious.