บท 19: Freedom.

"Haaah!"

My eyes fluttered open, my vision blurred, and my mind felt groggy.

"Argh..."

As I struggled to regain my senses, a sharp pain pierced through my body, causing me to gasp for breath.

Looking around, I found myself lying on a narrow bed in a sterile, hospital-like room, surrounded by the soft hum of medical equipment.

"Huff... huff..."

My chest heaved as I tried to draw in air, each breath sending waves of agony through my body.

My muscles protested with every movement, and I felt as though I had been battered and bruised from head to toe.

Panic surged within me as I tried to piece together my surroundings.

Where was I?

How had I ended up here?

My memories were hazy, fragmented, but I quickly remembered what happened before I lost consciousness.

With a trembling hand, I reached out to touch my forehead, only to find it slick with sweat.

My heart pounded in my chest, its drumbeat echoing in my ears.

"Stop moving so much."

I struggled to sit up, feeling a pair of hands helping me, as I heard a familiar voice.

"Dr. Grayson," I muttered through gritted teeth, my voice barely above a whisper, as I struggled to move my broken body.

"Take some rest, your body can't handle too much stress right now," she advised as she tried to make me lay on the bed. Ignoring her, I leaned against the bed, not fully lying down.

"How many hours have I been here?" I asked as I tried to calm my breath.

"Twenty-five," she replied as she passed a glass of water to me. "Adaliah brought you here exactly a day ago, and you have been sleeping since then."

I greedily drank all the water from the glass as I took deep breaths.

"Where is she?" I asked as I looked at the woman. "Where is Adaliah?"

"I have informed her; she should be arriving here any time now," Dr. Grayson replied, and I nodded my head.

"Argh."

Then I started to remove the needle that was supplying me with nutrients.

"What are you doing!?"

Dr. Grayson hurriedly stepped forward to intervene, but I waved her off.

"Careful, you might reopen the wound," she warned, her tone laced with concern.

Ignoring the pain that flared up with each movement, I pulled myself upright, my muscles protesting with every effort.

Even as I stood there, I felt a surge of nausea wash over me, but I gritted my teeth and pushed through the discomfort.

"Where are you going?" Dr. Grayson asked me again as I walked towards the door.

"I only have fourteen days left, and I can't waste them by lying here," I replied to her as I opened the door of the room and walked out.

The corridor of the castle greeted me as I moved towards the hallway.

"For fuck's sake, I will kill that bitch someday," I whispered under my breath as I walked, ignoring all the pain my body was feeling.

Adaliah, true to her words, made sure that I couldn't move for fifteen days, and if I were the previous Azariah, I would have surely laid on the bed, using all the injuries as a shield to avoid training.

But too bad for her, I am not that Azariah.

As I continued down the hallway, each step made my body ache, with every breath, I could feel the lingering soreness in my chest making it harder to breath.

And I reached the end of the hallway, where a gust of wind greeted me, along with the woman who was the reason for my suffering.

"Never thought you would try to get up from the bed," Adaliah commented with sarcasm as she looked at me.

Ignoring her comment, I walked towards her and extended my hand.

"What do you want?" Her voice was curt, devoid of any warmth as she regarded me with cool detachment.

"Keys," I said bluntly, my tone brooking no argument because I did everything in my power to land one fucking hit on her, and guess what, I fucking did it.

Adaliah's gaze narrowed slightly, as if she was considering my request.

After a moment's pause, she reached into a pocket, producing a small keyring which she tossed to me without a word, along with a metallic card.

"989699," she said, but I ignored her as I made my way towards the entrance.

I pushed open the doors, and the cool breeze hit my skin.

And there, parked in the courtyard, was the sleek, black motorcycle, its polished surface gleaming in the sunlight.

Beside it lay a jacket and helmet, and without hesitation, I shrugged into the jacket and fastened the helmet securely onto my head.

[You are eager to run away, aren't you?]

As I straddled the motorcycle, the voice within my head once again echoed.

'Yeah, I just want to fucking run away from here,' I replied as I started the engine.

Vroom!

The engine roared beneath me as I took a deep breath, despite it not even being a few days, I deeply missed the feeling of riding a bike.

Vroom-vroom!

Twisting the handlebar a few times, I familiarized myself with the bike.

Click! Vroom!

Shifting the gears and twisting the handlebar, I eased the bike out of the courtyard and rode my way towards the main gate.

Click! Vroom!

Shifting the gear again, I rode the bike outside of the gate, which was opened up for me.

Vrooooom!

And the moment the bike reached outside the reach of the castle, I did not hesitate to speed up, riding as fast as I could.

The wind whipped past me as I accelerated down the open road.

{<100 km/h>}

And it didn't take long before the bike reached a hundred kilometers per hour.

Click! Vrooooom!

Whoosh!

I changed the gear again as I kept on accelerating, leaning forward to reduce wind resistance, and pushing the bike to its limits.

{<140 km/h>}

Vrooooom!

The roar of the engine echoed in my ears, drowning out all other sounds as I focused solely on the road ahead.

The sensation of speed was exhilarating, almost intoxicating. I felt alive, more alive than I had in a long time.

Screech!

Swoosh!

As I approached a sharp bend in the road, I leaned into the turn, my body instinctively adjusting to maintain balance.

{<200 km/h>}

[It's all good and all that you are enjoying, but where are we going?]

Screech!

Skid!

Amidst the exhilaration, a voice echoed in the back of my mind, which made me slow down the bike as I had been riding at full speed for an hour now.

'Yeah, let's go eat something first.' I replied as I made my way towards an open store to eat anything. I had been starving for a whole day.

It was still the middle of the day, so there were quite a few shops that were open, but I tried to find a good one where I could at least use the card that I had.

Purrrrr...

Clunk!

I stopped the bike at a parking area of a shop as I lowered the kickstand, parking it.

Taking off the helmet, I made my way towards the shop and opened the front door.

"How can I help you, sir?" a lady in a uniform quickly greeted me as I walked towards the counter.

"Give me anything to eat," I said as I passed the card that Adaliah gave to me.

"Um, any preference or anything specific you want to eat, sir?" she asked as she took the card from my hand.

"Give me anything that is good," I replied as I looked at her.

It's not like I can taste anything even if it's good.

She nodded softly before swiping the card, entering the amount, and passing it back to me to type the code.

989699.

"It will take a few minutes. Would you please take a seat and wait till then?" she asked with a slight bow, and I nodded in response.

I walked towards the chair and sat down, waiting for my order.

'So,' as I leaned on the chair, I said, calling the voice in my head, 'Are you the silent type or you just don't want to talk?'

[I was in a battlefield just before I was bound to you, so I needed time to process what happened.]

'So you really are not my system?' I asked with a doubtful voice.

[Again, what is a system?]

'..... Nothing,' I replied as I leaned back further, making the front legs of the chair move in the air.

'So, what are you?' I asked, still unsure of what this thing in my mind was. 'Last I remembered, I had a dream of a man killing an army of Angels, was that you?'

[....Maybe.]

Thud.

With a thud, I sat up straight, closing my eyes and taking deep breaths while tapping my fingers on the armrest of the chair before asking my next question.

'So. Are you an Angel... Or maybe are you a fallen Angel?'