182. [EX] BEFORE THE REGRESSION
Name: Park Jiwon
Race: Reincarnated Human
Lv: 420
HP: 34510/34520
MP: 19808/19032
DEF: 11490
STR: 12546
DEX: 10390
AGI: 10680
INT: 7652
LUK: 10
.
Skills:
[Appraisal] [Magic Regeneration (A)] [Parallel Thinking Processes (S)] [Limiter Break (SS)] [Inventory (S)] [Sharpening (A)] [Telekinesis (S)] [Heart’s Eye (A)] [Air Step (A)] [Cooking (S)]
.
Unique Skills:
[Pandora’s Box (?)] [Otherworld language]
.
Titles:
[Reincarnated Otherworlder] [High Elf’s Blessing] [Magic Chef] [Survivor]
===
Name: Laura Rozchld An. Aria
Race: High Elf Enchantress
Lv: 502
HP: 40444/40676
MP: 80002/80040
DEF: 9004
STR: 8826
DEX: 15202
AGI: 9902
INT: 18756
LUK: 10
.
Skills:
[Appraisal (B)] [Magic Reinforcement(A)] [Spirit Magic (SS)] [Hymn of The Spirits (S)] [Respire (A)] [Augmented Invocation (S)] [Air Step (A)]
.
Titles:
[High Elf’s Blessing] [God of Magic’s Blessing]
===
Erudite Kingdom.
The last kingdom ruled by a human king.
The morning sky was black, swirls of grey coiling the sky, forming whirlpools. Flakes of white fell, covering the world in snow.
“Rika-dono, what is the status!?” running, Her Royal Highness Siesta asked in almost a yell, waving her hand as if to attract someone’s attention.
Foowhh..
With an outward breeze, the white dragon landed at the docking port.
Sweeping her messy black ponytail behind her, Rika got off the dragon. Patches of white snow could be seen stuck to her face.
“Your Highness.. The numbers exceed our forces by a large margin, it’s not something we can deal with without incurring significant sacrifices. A mixture of various races, including humans from the other kingdoms. It doesn't seem like they’re been brainwashed or enslaved, all of them were prepared to serve in the cause of the revolt.”
“Rika, did you catch sight of the demon lord?”
“If you’re talking about the guy with the balck robe with ominous horns then yes. There were also the other demon lords present,” brushing the nape of her dragon familiar, Luna, it purred as if a cat.
“I see..”
“There’s no choice other than evacuation,” Siesta muttered with a pale face.
“But if we do that then...” Park Jiwon raised his suspicion.
“Sensei.”
The one who cut his words short was Sasaki Ishida, Sasaki being his family name. The bearer of the true title of a hero that had been summoned to this world more than a year ago.
He wore light holy armour made from the highest grade material to be found throughout the continent of Imagi. Orichalum and Phosporilite.
“Notify your father to initiate the evacuation operation to the Duchy of Baroque, we’ll regroup there after cutting down they’re numbers here,” Ishida then said.
“I will go at once!” Siesta ran back into the castle.
“Ishida-san, I should probably call the other dragons shouldn’t I?” Rika asked, her pupils narrowed to a reptilian slit.
“How many by your estimate? The number of soldiers?”
“About ten thousand.. or was it twenty thousand? It’s difficult to make a guess when I don't even know how big it is, all I know is that it stretches across the entire western front, even reaching the northern side.
“Doesn’t that mean they’ve surrounded the kingdom?”
Why would they choose to evacuate in this sort of situation then? Jiwon couldn’t make sense of it.
“Yes. That’s why, Sensei, we need your strength in the evacuation to break the encirclement,” Rika said.
“That wasn’t what was planned..”
“Sensei, sorry,” Rika turned her back on him and mounted her dragon, “That’s just my opinion, do whatever you want.”
With those parting words, Rika together with her dragon, Luna shot towards the sky.
“Sensei,” Ishida called out.
“What is it?”
“You need to prepare yourself, now isn’t the time to ponder about these things.”
“...”
Jiwon watched Ishida’s back as he returned back into the castle. Gazing towards the horizon, the line of troops that served the Demon Monarch, equipped with various weapons of war, he felt his stomach churn to a bad premonition.
===
“So you’re planning to use concept magic to support our soldiers?”
“Yes, that is my plan.”
“Hmm..” Aoki Kaito closed his eyes and leaned against the wall. His hand was kept busy with the revolutions of the dagger between his fingers. “What would you do about Jiwon?
“I’ve decided.. me being by his side is only going to attract the angst of the demon that’s why.. “ Laura bit her lips.
“What will you do if he rejects your opinion?”
To his question, her pointy ears jerked for a moment– she held her scepter closer to her chest.
“You can.. do something about that right?” she said with a quivering voice.
“Don’t regret it.”
“Y-yes..”
Princess Siesta broke into the room and said.
“It’s an emergency order! Please evacuate immediately!”
“It seems the time has come,” Kaito said with an apathetic smile. Pushing up from the pillar, his black coat fluttered slightly. His clothes were adorned with various black belts and potion pockets. The jet black sword that hung at his waist that had the shine of a nebula– dot’s of various colours of the galaxy could be seen within, shimmering in infinity.
“Laura-sama, please evacuate..” Princess Siesta tugged at her clothes.
“Sorry, I’ve decided to stay.”
“Huh? Why?”
“We’ll do our best to hold off the enemies.”
“Based on my calculations, Laura’s support magic should be able to increase the success rate by 20 percent at the very least,” Kaito said, taking out a short dagger, he started spinning it..
“T-then.. “
At this time, Jiwon and Ishida entered at the same time.
“Excuse me, Laura, we need to go.”
“Ah.. Jiwon-oppa... sorry. I can’t,” Laura's voice trailed off. Her face stiffened when she realized how she had just blurted that.
“What do you mean?”
“I-I’ve decided to stay.”
“Why?”
“Sensei, she’s doing this for your sake, you should be glad she’s going to die together with you on this battlefield..”
“No, Sensei has been relegated to the evacuation team,” Kaito’s words were cut short when Ishida said that with a stern expression, “The entire kingdom has been surrounded, we need his strength to drill a path into the army to allow the people and supplies to get through.
“Oh, is that so?”
“Then Laura doesn't need to stay in the kingdom, there’s..”
“So very much like sensei, like a chicken, always running away,” Kaito clicked his tongue at Jiwon’s plea.
“Kaito,” Ishida admonished.
“Oppa.. no. The Demon Monarch will only continue to chase us down if I continue to stay by your side. That's why..”
“That’s why what? You’re saying you’re just going to die here and leave me to survive on my own?!”
“Yes,” Laura lowered her head.
Jiwon grabbed both her shoulders, Laura raised her head. Their eyes met.
Visible from beneath her soft blonde hair, her ears were lowered. Verdant coloured eyes stared back at him with a mix of tears of resolve glistening at the edges. Her expression proved that she wanted to flee together with him but.. she knew she couldn’t.
She tipped her head, brought herself close and sealed his lips.
As long as she was present somewhere, anywhere. The Monarch himself would come find her using all means to get her for himself.
Laura looked at the scar on Jiwon’s lower neck. A large black patch, the flashback of his near death experience shadowed over her judgement.
She couldn’t let him be hurt anymore than this.
This was goodbye.
Siesta, who watched the scene, buried her face in Ishida’s shoulder.
Then they parted.
“Aoki-sama,” Laura called out.
“Are you sure?” Kaito confirmed.
“Please.”
“Laura.. why..” Jiwon gritted his teeth. His hold on her shoulders tightened and pain started seething into the expression on her face.
“Sensei, one piece of advice..” Kaito took a step forward, “You should stop being so delusional, your childish acts and ignorance, the world isn’t as happy and cheerful as you think it is.”
“Motherfuc..”
Kaito’s hand moved before he could finish. He grabbed Jiwon’s skull, his eyes lost focus and shoulders loosened.
“Recitation of Order. Go support the evacuation team and avoid civilian casualties exceeding 10 percent.” Kaito said, his eyes glowing in a blood red shade.
“Understood,” Jiwon replied in a mechanical voice. He removed his hands from Laura’s shoulders and walked right out of the room.
Tears fell from her face.
“Laura, you made this decision, don’t regret it,” Kaito said before exiting the room.
“I-I know that..”
She fell to her knees as her tears soaked the carpet below.
“Laura Rozchld An. Aria,” Princess Siesta’s voice lowered a few notes, her eyes fixed upon Laura, “That’s very foolish of you.”
“H-Huh?”
That cold look in her eyes, discerning, calculating– her current self was unlike anything Laura knew of her to be, “May The God of Fate’s blessing be upon you.”
“Siesta… you..”
“I’ll do my best to protect him– after your death that is. I’ll at least do that much. Right, Ishida-san?”
“Siesta.. really you..” Ishida looked at Siesta as if looking at a troublesome animal.
“I won’t have mercy if you die, return alive,” Siesta took a few steps forward, grabbed his armor, pulling him to almost a kissing zone and glared daggers at him.
It was a moment of silence.. rather, the sounds of erratic footsteps and turmoil could be heard echoing through the halls.
“Understood.”
“Good, then stay safe..” her voice returned to her usual childish one, her expression, one of concern was seen by Laura before leaving.
“T-That is the princess?”
“Yes, the real person in question,” Ishida sighed to Laura’s question.
ss2.
Amongst the whirlpools in the sky, a red vortex appeared, with Erudite Kingdom at its center. From within, lightning flickered, a chorus of thunder resounded. Signalling both the start and the end.
Dragon riders surrounded a large group of sky ships, blimps, and autonomic Sentinel crystal arranged in a defensive formation. Those part of this group were privileged nobles of various statuses. Even the king himself sat inside the largest of ships.
As for those below, they had no choice but to evacuate via the land route. A long line formed from the industrial site and out the northern gate of the kingdom. Viewed from the sky, it was like white worm wiggling out from an apple.
The hum of magic engines, weapon-fill carts being pulled by war horses, food supplies carried on wagons, slaves and commoners that followed on foot.
Knights, mages, adventurers, golems, tamed monsters and reincarnated humans guarded the outer perimeter. As for magic equipment, there were crates full of consumable detonators, talisman crown of wardings, autonomous magic turrets and magic powered rifles.
Jiwon who sat on one of the coachmen seats of a carriage. One holding a ton of explosives.
His unfocused eyes affixed to the wall of flesh and iron ahead.
They had to pierce their way through, and hold the opening long enough for everyone to escape the encirclement.
“Sensei..”
Suzuki Ayaka, who wore a priest-cum-witch mage clothes called out to him from the side of the carriage.
“Are you alright?”
“...”
“Ayaka,” another person, this time Sakurai Reina, Ayaka’s friend who wore typical loose adventurer clothes admonished.
Ayaka lowered her head and retreated a distance.
Jiwon didn’t spare them a glance. He didn’t even notice their worries.
His role was only, and that was to prevent casualties exceeding 10 percent for the evacuation group. Nothing more, nothing less, that was the absolute order.
“My fellow followers, citizens of Erudite,” an amplifying device echoed His Majesty's voice, “Warriors, knights, mages, and all people, forgive This foolish king of yours. Lost we might be the way we once had, where the future is fraught with despite, we shall seize the light forward no matter how small! Fight forwards and advance for the fate of your family, our future, for those who have lost for us do not. Steel the courage in your hearts, shed the fear in the soul, our trial begins here. O’ people, the last wish of this foolish king, make this our last rite!”
At his command, the explosion of cannons, deafening roars of rifles and torrent, bombardment of magic and plasma beams.
It was a stupid decision to proceed an attack at this distance however..
Holding up her staff, Ayaka yelled.
“Exclasis, Boost!”
A howling gust of wind swept over them, like a roaring dragon, directing the attacks forward. Unsuspecting enemies in rows of hundreds were gouged from the ground up. Incinerated.
““”ONWARDS!!!”””
The march of the people sped up, carriages roared, horse hooves punched the ground, those on foot now breaking into a run.
Jiwon heightened the output of the magic engine to its maximum and drove forward, breaking apart from the crowd and into the front line.
The straight bombardment continued as the enemy started flanking on both the left and right.
Jiwon felt a hundred riflemen and dozens of advanced mages aim at him. Adhering to his instincts, he destroyed the brake of the carriage and escaped into the air.
“Limiter Break.”
32 blades of Crismon Ether formed an eclipse around him.
The shouts of the rifle explosion resounded, at the exact moment 32 swords bloomed.
Intercepting the rifles with a magic barrier, 32 swords rend armor and tore through flesh.
The wails of the injured, the screams of the dead. He couldn’t hear. It was unrelated to his order, there wasn’t a need to register these sensations.
Projectiles that managed to bypass the defenses of adventurer and knights were blocked by the talisman crown of warding, a rod held by a central mage all along the line of evacuates to create this protective bubble around them.
“Permission to detonant given!!” a yell could be heard from a receiver hanging from Jiwon’s waist.
At that cue, dozens of explosions rang out. Blood shot towards the sky, flooding the ground in pools of ash and dirt.
Beyond the charcoal and smoke were heaps of corpses piled on top of one another. Defensive talismans from the corpses burnt into ash as they descended to the ground.
It was pointless wasn’t it?
Killing a thousand when tens of thousands remained?
“Initiating support from the sky, retreat from enemy flank!” another command yelled out.
JIIIIIIIIIIIIII..
Magic turrets and plasma cannons attached the sky ships and blimps started condensing energy, Sentinel crystals hovered upon enemy lines like a drone.
The next voley of projectiles rained upon them.
Jiwon charged into the flames.
===
Hearing that drowned out speech from the king, Ishida asked.
“Do you think we’re going to die?”
“Hahaha. What a ridiculous question, even Jiwon’s little miss elf is going to die holed up in the castle on lockdown. Of course we will,” to Ishida’s question, Kaito replied with a sneer.
The army of thousands behind them, ranging from infantry, to mages, to riflemen and weapon specialists. It was peanuts compared to the tens of thousands of troops prepared by the demon.
“It’s inevitable, everyone here will become sacrifices.”
Ishida turned his head towards the north, the evacuation team. Thundering explosions rang out one after another. Causing flashes of blinding light to sparkle in the sky.
“When world left no more,
And what’s what’s left is tomorrow,
The hope we see,
Forever will be.
Raise and stand,
For the night hasn’t end.
Thought that we lied,
That we may not die.
Seize the time,
Of our last life.
Fight to the bitter end...”
This voice was none other than Laura’s.
The hymn of strength echoed throughout the entire battlefield, alongside that was a kingdom scale dome barrier that had been erected.
Ishida turned back to face the army closing in, knowing that most of their lives would end this very day. Ishida grit his teeth and in one breath yelled.
“Today let us live to our very last, hope or despair there is no other path to light except this. In the name of the hero, lend me your strength!! FOR THE EMPIRE!!”
“””FOR THE EMPIRE!!!”””
“””FOR THE EMPIRE!!!”””
“TSk. That’s some heroic speech, even though it’s just bullshit” Kaito said disinterestedly.
“It’s not like I know how to weave words toge...”
“Shit! They’re going to initiate first!!?”
“W-Wha..”
A jet black energy beam from the enemy backlines tore through the sky. The kingdom barrier was smashed in an instant. Continuing as a straight beam, it melted every last one of the air ships..
Ishida couldn’t believe his eyes.
“STOP STANDING THERE AND CHARGE FORWARDS!!! EVERYONE CHARGE FORWARD!! CHARGE FORWARD!! KILL THEM!! KILL-THEM-ALL!!” Kaito yelled and exploded towards the enemy lines.
The war had begun.
===
The hymn.
Her voice.
Jiwon slit the throat of another enemy knight. Blood danced in the air, some splattered on his clothes.
Swirl.
31 Crimson Ether blade projections bisected another few dozen people.
[LEVEL UP]
Something was off.
A mage was killed, a rifle was stolen and drilled into the head of the next person.
Cutting the knight that was just about to hit him from a blind spot, he held his head and used his shoulders as a foot hold. He made a turn in the air and bisected three heads in one swing.
Using [Air Step] he propelled himself to dodge the lasers that aimed right at him from the sky ship above. The ground exploded, limbs and heads flew.
There had to be some limits to friendly fire right?
Another explosion.
Another another head.
Another arm.
Another life.
Something was wrong.
[LEVEL UP]
Her voice.
This feeling of strength bubbling inside of him.
Laura’s voice.
With another swing of his sword, another head popped.
A shell of bullets hit his magic shield, an ice storm whipped up and threw even the still living soldiers at him.
“Why the..”
Jiwon guarded against a heavy blow that finally tore through his magic defense, his mana gauge was more than half-empty. It was unfortunate level ups don’t reset stats.
“What am I..”
Kicking the knight away, dozens of varying magic rained upon him. At command, 31 Crimson Ethers projections formed a shield and absorbed the attacks. It was reflected it as a mana shockwave.
Jiwon made a foothold in the air and jumped out of the encirclement.
That split second in the air as he observed the situation, he realized that he had gone too far out from the main group. The crown totems were starting to break apart, but none of those in the barrier were injured.
31 blades swirled around him before once again blossoming outwards with a boom.
Something was wrong.
These knights, riflemens and mages..
Weak.
They were weak.
Fear and hesitation could be seen from their eyes.
What was this? Something about this war was wrong, very wrong.
BBBOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!
Jiwon looked up.
A black beam darker than the already black sky pierced the sky, and in a single moment, flames engulfed the world, debris from giant machines descended from above.
This was..
The king.. the nobles.. the official..
Everyone was..
All of them were..
dead.
Dead.
Despite it all, her ethereal voice continued to ring in his mind.
The jet black beam traced an arc, headed straight towards the castle..
“FUCK!!”
Jiwon finally regained himself.
“LAURA!!!” he extended his hand—
===
“YOU WON'T HAVE IT YOUR WAY!!!”
Shooting through the sky at a speed that left afterimages–
It’s pure white wings spread apart, golden eyes that looked down upon the word.
The dragon of Genesis.
With a single roar, a large complex magic circle formation appeared with it in the center of the barrier.
Two lights sparked, another roar was unleashed. Rika’s ear drums broke, blood started dripping from the orifice but she bore with it. She had to.
Tilting the magic formation, the black beam was reflected upwards, towards the center of the vortex in the sky.
Zooooooeem..
Then lazer died down, a hole tore through the clouds, the cerulean sky revealed itself.
Beautiful, Rika thought.. but the thought only lasted for a moment. She felt her stomach sink and her line of sight drop.
“W-Wha?!!”
At the corner of her eye she saw the other dragon’s rush over. Her trusty sidekick Luna dove down and held her in its mouth. It’s eyes glossed over.
The Genesis dragon fell into the Royal courtyard with a thud, dust clouds scattered into the sky..
With a dumbfounded face, Rika stared at it as it happened.
In just one attack.. The mother of dragons, the dragon of Genesis had died just like that.
ss3.
“SENSEI?!”
He opened his eyes.
What Jiwon saw was a wooden ceiling. He could feel the hard floor rock his body up and down. Part of the feeling transmitted were the vibrations from the magic-powered engine.
He was in a carriage. He could still smell the blood from the battlefield.
“Sensei!” Ayaka embraced him.
“Ow, ow.. ow.. what happened..” he could feel her soft breast pressed against his chest. Looked like his armour had been removed.
A buzzing noise shot in his ear, his vision waning and a painful headache assailed him all at once.
“W-where.. where I am.. where are we..”
“On the way to the duchy of Baroque.”
Jiwon shook his head, Ayaka released him and prepared some water in a cup using magic.
“Sensei, drink this.”
“Thank you, Ayaka-san.”
A soft smile appeared on her face.
“Sensei is up?”
“Oi, Oi, how’s his condition?”
“Yes!”
The person that peeked through the curtains of the carriage was Sakurai Reina and Wada Haru.
“What happened.. ow..” Jiwon felt his body ache.
“You almost died!” Ayaka shouted.
“She was really concerned about you. You left the line and started creating craters everywhere. Almost the entire front left flank was managed by you, thanks to that, the others were able to focus on the other more crucial areas.”
“Really sensei, you were on par with Kaito-san and Ishida-san.”
“No. That’s because the enemies were weak..”
“No but,” Reina paused and thought for a bit, “huh.. now that I think about it, you’re right.”
Jiwon held his head and tried to process the situation. He was currently in a carriage following the evacuation group, he must have passed out in the middle of battle, but somehow made it out alive?
His memories were fuzzy, a lot of it didn’t make sense.
Why did the enemies at the north not have siege weapons? Why did they not have any high powered plasma cannons or why didn’t they set traps on the ground? What exactly was the point of the evacuation? Even if they did kill the Monarch in this war.. there were still other demons out there to be found.
And..
“Laura..”
Jiwon looked around the carriage and found Crimson Ether on one of the boxes.
“Sensei, you can’t.. you should rest..” Ayaka stared right at him.
“No… there is.. I have too..”
“Sensei. They’re gone,” Reina said bluntly. A heavy air fell on him.
Jiwon closed his eyes.
“Just let me go,” he said softly.
“What are you going to..”
“I’m going to get some fresh air,” He got up on his feet, thought unstead, and with Ayaka’s help managed to exit the carriage and view the outside surroundings.
Bright fields of blue and purple flowers glowing in a pale light, plains of snow and trees. to the east was the orange sun just peaking above the horizon. A long line of people moving down this dirt ridden path. All of them, marching towards their last place of salvation..
It wasn’t salvation.
The reason why so many survived was because–
This was a trap.
Jiwon tossed the Crimson Ether to the ground, and with a clank, the three other people looked at him with a confused expression.
“I’m going.”
“Huh? Sensei, don’t tell me you’re..” Haru said.
“I’m going to see Laura.”
“But… but..”
“Sensei, do you not value your life?!”
“Shut up. This whole thing is a trap. Why did the kingdom have to evacuate? Think about that for a second,” Jiwon stepped on his sword.
“You're right,” Siesta’s voice hummed.
She was in a loose dress, on her shoulder slugged a magic rifle. She was supposed to be on the airships, why was she here? It was as if she knew that this would happen all along.
“What were you thinking?”
“It’s to reduce the number of casualties.” her voice was sharp. She gave Jiwon a cold gaze you could even feel with your skin.
“Does this mean we’re now allied with the demons?”
“What else could it be? At the cost of the lives of the nobles, my siblings and even my father-sama, in the end, I decided to prioritize the citizens.” Siesta smiled.
“H–HUH? What, I’m not getting the situation.. I thought we left this..”
“So why.. why did we have to..”
Haru and Ayaka exclaimed as if in disbelief, Reina remained silent as she bit her lips.
“So the tiger has finally shown her fangs huh?”
“I thought you already knew? There’s no point putting up this facade anymore, the destruction of even the resource ship was beyond my calculations, our life as a refugee is going to become incredibly difficult. You’re pretty smart to have grasped the entire scheme, I’m sure you’ll have many uses.”
“I won’t be coming,” Jiwon replied.
“She sacrificed her life for you.”
“And who was the one that influenced that decision of hers?”
The Crimson Ether levitated slightly with him on top.
“Isn’t the answer obvious?” Siesta said, coming closer she whispered, “It was you.”
Disregarding all respect to his weapon, Jiwon propelled himself opposite the direction of the flow. He headed towards the direction of the kingdom.
===
Around 10 percent of his mana remained, his health had almost recovered completely thanks to Ayaka.
Viewing the dark silhouette of the end of the kingdom under the light of the coming day, it had this feeling of a ruin he had explored in the past.
Both armies had disappeared, left now was a sea of blood. The snow was soaked in red everywhere. Black craters here and there, the corpses of the people, dead iron scattered on the ground..
One footstep at a time, he dragged himself forwards.
The hymn had long stopped. Her voice had gone.
So why was he still here? What did he want to accomplish?
Jiwon didn’t know.
He only wanted to see her face one last time. His heart ached. But there was nothing he could do about it.
The ring of an explosion could be heard from inside the kingdom walls. A flash of red, a golden streak of a cross. The sounds of something crumbling down could be heard.
Had it not ended?
Jiwon broke into a run.
===
“To think you’ve come personally, what an A hole,” Kaito got up from the ground and spat out blood.
“Kaito.. how..” the hand which Ishida held the Holy sword of Origin twitched. His armour was tattered, blood of the many lives he culled covered his body.
He pointed his blade towards him–
Demon Monarch Javiel.
He spoke not, just hovering there in silence, with not a smile nor a frown– total apathy.
All other enemy soldiers had been either killed or fallen back in retreat. As for the other demon lords.. there was no need to mention as they never even made their appearance to begin with.
“He’s not even taking us seriously, this scumbag, HEY HEY! Give us sometime to..”
An explosion occurred under Kaito’s feet, sending him into the air.
“HAHAHA. YoU’reNOt gOIng toSAY ANYthing AFtEr all thiS? YouDiDn’t neEd to COme yoU knoW? Or dId you WANt to CONfiRM mY DEAth by YuOr hands?!”
The blade that shone like a nebula pierced the ground and in a moment, collided with a black barrier erected around Javiel. Sparks flew and the painful shrill of the impact sent a shockwave that blew surrounding infrastructure away.
“Say something YOU HAG!!!” Kaito yelled, whatever strength left he had into his measly sword.
“KAITO! MOVE!”
Ishida shot forward in a piercing motion with his sword clad in a mix of gold and mint light. Kaito bent his body, the sword broke a hole into the barrier and went straight towards Javiel–
He bent his body.. the holy sword followed, tracing an arc. Javiel disappeared and reappeared behind Ishida.
5 magic circles snapped into existence, chains flew out.
It was about to restrain Ishida– but they were all intercepted by Kaito.
Then a shockwave, the three of them retreated a distance after that exchange.
Rumble.
As Kaito and Ishida attempted to regain their stance, dozens of magic circles rose from the ground around Javiel.
Rumble.
Debris of the scattered houses came together and merged into rock golems. An army of them, each at least 2 stories high.
“Ishida.”
“What..”
“At this rate we’re going to lose, he’s not even serious,” Kaito stabbed his sword into the ground.
“What are you..”
“Don’t waste this chance.”
As if to counter Javiel’s magic, an ominous purple-red magic circle that stretched the length of the entire kingdom rose from his feet.
ss4.
That battle wasn’t something Jiwon could take part in with his current strength. Rather than help, he would become a burden. He had no choice but to leave it to them and return to his main objective.
Scaling the castle walls he headed for the top most area– the large open arbor-like hall that overlooked the entire kingdom.
Jiwon felt chills, the air inside the castle made him want to puke. There wasn’t any sort of blood or foul stench, it was a hard-to-describe air. He didn’t know if it was because of how empty the place was or.. that he knew what to expect.
Where was Laura? Where could she be?
“It has to be the grand ball..”
It would usually be where kingdom parties would be held. But in this situation, it would be the perfect stage to set up a large-scale amplifier.
With his heart beating louder by each second, he reached the entrance. The chills he felt here were the worst. He placed his hands on the large doors.
And pushed it open.
The aura of death permeated his skin.
“H-hhuh.. sensei..”
“Rika?”
It was the dragon rider girl, Rika seated leaning against one of the pillars. Her left arm had become black and her face was pale. She had difficulty breathing.. and there was a pool of blood below her.
Lying beside her was now a dead dragon, it’s eyes closed, put into a state of eternal rest.
“S-sor-sorry sensei.. she d-didn’t make it.. hah.. I- I killed her..” with a feeble laugh Rika said.
A shockwave erupted from the battlefield out in the commoner’s district.
Jiwon disregarded his confusion and quickly came over to Rika’s side. A large gash from the top of her shoulders down to her left arm, it looked to be a curse as the black patches continued to spread around her body.
How did this happen?
He took out elixir from his inventory and poured it all over her. He held his hands up close to the wound.
But her hands grabbed his wrist.
“Just.. just kill me,” Rika said in one quick breath, her voice shivered, “Kill me..”
“No I can heal this,” green light appeared from his palms, slowly melting away the blackness, flesh came back together and turned into healthy skin.
“Sensei.. stop..” she writhed in pain, crying. “I couldn’t protect them.. They died.. all of them died..”
“So what?”
“Kill me..”
“Shut up.”
“Why sensei..”
“Where’s Laura?”
“Sh..she’s dead.”
“Where is she,” he pressed further in a strained voice.
Jiwon rose back to his feet and supported Rika up to a more comfortable sitting position.
“There.. at the balcony edge..”
Leaving Rika to lean against the pillar, he went to the direction she pointed.
Stepping out into the light where the sky revealed to himself, at the open platform that overlooked the kingdom that no longer existed– what he saw wasn’t a blond haired elf. No, there wasn’t even a trace of it being once the elf he knew.
But there was no denying it. That dress, and that scepter..
He took slow steps, shaking and fell to his knees.
“Laura..”
“She turned into a lich. I’m sorry. I wanted to stop her but..”
“Why.. she didn’t need to do this..”
Rika got down to her knees too and embraced Jiwon from behind.
Reaching out his hand, he grabbed the scepter, the crystal portion in the center had a large crack running through it. The bright iridescent shine had turned dull, no longer reflecting the divine power it once had.
He held it in his hands and wept.
Rika embraced him tighter.
…
..
.
“What did we fight for..”
“I don’t know.”
Jiwon raised his head and stared beyond the kingdom walls. A sea of red painted the now hole-riddened pasteur. Enemy troops that had receded, corpses stretched as far as one could see.
Homes destroyed, streets obliterated..
The scene of two heroes against a single monarch.
Jiwon stored her scepter into his inventory, saying his prayers to Laura, he rose to his feet, pushing Rika aside.
“I think I get it now.”
“Sensei..?”
“I’ll kill them. Those demons. I’ll kill every last one of them.”
Jiwon said with an empty laugh.
Without saying anything, she got up, holding up her dragon scale halberd.
Crimson Ether separated into 32 pieces and floated around them.
“Don’t regret it...”
An ominous red light consumed their vision.
===
From the ground grew black thorns. In the hundreds, it crawled around the corpses. Like feelers with mouths, it started sucking away at the remnants of death, it’s stem pulsing in a dirty mix of purple and red.
Blood drained from the battlefield, the white snow came into view.
Flesh turned into bone, bone into dirt, dirt into dust. What’s left were the armour and weapons.
As if their existence never mattered, the corpses disappeared from the world.
And all the energy converged in one point.
Kaito spat out a pool of blood. The veins in his arms were crawling around him like worms.
“Kaito.. you..”
“You HAG! LOOK AT ME!!”
Black chains grew from the earth and tore through the golems. They wound themselves around the monarch in an instant. Purple lightning flickered as blood red light coursed through it.
In the air, the monarch remained unmoving, staring at the ground as it hung its head limpy, not even sparing them a glance
More chains flew from up from below and wound around him into a cocoon.
Kaito raised his sword into the air, the ground beneath him sunk into a crater, a pressure so large it blew away all the building and forced Ishida to cross his arms.
“DDDIIIIEEE!!!!”
One swing.
The sky parted. The earth parted. The world parted.
Everything in its path returned to oblivion.
A deep long trench gouged the ground that reached the very end of the world.
“Ha.. ahahahaha.. BUEEkk,” Kaito coughed up even more blood and fell to the ground.
With flickering movements, Ishida held him up from falling.
“Ishida.. I’m sorry.. cough.. for everything.. it’s not over.. finish him.. finish..”
“KAITO?!”
Before Ishida spoke another word, before his tears touched the ground, light disappeared from Kaito’s eyes. His body went limp in his arms. A satisfied smile hung on his face. Slowly his body crumbled into dust, carried by the wind.
Nothing.
“Damn it.. why..” Ishada punched the ground, powerless.
Getting up from his knees, he dragged his sword behind him and marched. A magic signal still persisted at a distance.. which meant that the demon monarch had not died..
Fueled by wrath and rage, the fact that his friend lost his life for him– Ishida raised his sword..
“What..”
Hesitation flashed over his eyes.
What was this?
WhAT wAS ThIS?!
It was a lie.
Everything about this battle was a lie.
A ploy.
A coverup.
A trap.
They were but mere tools. Chess pieces used for some larger agenda.
The one they fought wasn’t the monarch.
It wasn’t even among the demon lords they knew.
With hundreds of talismans stuck to her frail naked body, her arms were no more than twigs– feeble, weak. Her cheeks sunken as her crimson eyes flickered between consciousness and death. Together with her blood, velvet hair spilled across the ground. Four crown horns on her head.. all were cut in half.
With everything she had, she opened her mouth and left her parting will.
“I’m sorry..”
She was but a girl.
With no strength left to move, she could only stare back at him.
Ishida couldn’t stop the tears, the rage and sorrow, the pain and guilt. He didn’t know what to think, he didn’t know what to do.
He just.. swung his sword.
She closed eyes.
===
“Ishida!”
“What..”
Rika and Jiwon who arrived at the scene found themselves staring at Ishida on his knees, a blade thrusted into a corpse.
The corpse of a girl.
A girl that was also a demon lord.
Liliath Toren.
“I thought that was the monarch.. this..” Rika couldn’t help but shiver.
“It’s a lie.. we’ve been set up. This wasn’t a war, it was.. a betrayal,” Jiwon clenched his fist.
“She did nothing wrong,” Ishida croaked.
