《Demons of Zenora》


 Chapter 1 - The Beginning

    The sun shone down brightly amidst the clear, blue sky, its warmth touching the skin of my face. Blades of tall grass grazed the edges of my body, and as I lay staring up at the sky, I reached an outstretched hand towards the sun, feeling the heat on my palm and the cool, pleasant shadow that fell on my face.


    It was said that Aere created this world out of pure loneliness. Being the first and only thing that ever existed, there was nothing in the beginning of time except for a vast space of emptiness¡­ And so, it was then, that Aere created man.


    Giving everything that man could possibly ask for, man grew to resent and despise Aere for his overindulgence. Eventually, man was so consumed by malice that man lashed out violently at Aere, banishing Aere away from the world he, himself, created.


    Aere was broken by man¡¯s malevolence. Aere couldn¡¯t understand how the very being that he created, loved and cared for, could in the end come to regard him with so much hatefulness and spite.


    It was then that, after thinking for a very long time, so long in fact that man forgot Aere existed, Aere decided to create the Sun in the sky, hot and fiery, so that man would long for the cold. Then when the Sun fell, Aere made the Moon to rise, icy and cold, so that man would then long again for the heat. But that wasn¡¯t all Aere did. Aere created opposing elements for all the perfections that once existed in man¡¯s world.


    For without pain, man could not feel pleasure.


    ¡°Hey, Kei.¡±


    A voice sounded from behind me, breaking my thoughts and I pushed myself up from the grass, turning around. A girl with long black hair and innocent brown eyes greeted me. She was slightly on the shorter side of things in terms of height and gave off the feeling of blissful youth. It was my little sister, Ali.


    ¡°What are you still daydreaming here for?¡± Ali teased, a big grin on her face. ¡°We have to get back to the village, it¡¯s almost nighttime now.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, Ali.¡± I laughed, lifting myself up from the ground. Seeing Ali always made me feel airy inside. Perhaps it was my big brother instincts being activated, or perhaps it was just that dumb, goofy smile she always had on her face. Whatever it was, it made me feel good to be around her. ¡°I¡¯m getting up now.¡±


    ¡°Jeez.¡± Ali said, watching as I pulled myself up from the grass. ¡°We were only supposed to get some water from the river for mum and dad, and we ended up taking ages!¡±


    ¡°Hey! You were the one that started a water fight in the river.¡± I retorted jokingly, picking up two buckets that was identical to the one that Ali held.


    ¡°Did not!¡± Ali laughed, her face blushing. ¡°Anyways, you better not tell mum and dad!¡±


    I walked ahead of Ali, pretending not to hear her. ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t catch that.¡±


    ¡°H-hey Kei!¡± Ali laughed, running after me as we headed back to the village.


    <hr>


    Our village was on a remote and peaceful side of Zenora, the world that we lived in. Because of that, we did not have the typical number of fighters or hunters that a normal village would have. Instead, we relied mainly on gatherers to sustain life in the village. The downside of this was that we were far away from the city and the kingdom of Rize where we belonged as citizens. But to be honest, I quite frankly didn¡¯t mind this.


    Rize was one of the three kingdoms that ruled the lands of Zenora. The other two were the kingdoms of Lunthia and Azrael, and for as long as I could remember, there has always been an eternal struggle for power between the three kingdoms. At the moment, there are rumours spreading that a full blown war between the kingdoms could erupt at any time. I didn¡¯t want to be involved with any of that, so the fact that our village was remote from Rize naturally didn¡¯t bother me at all. All I cared about was my family and the village that we lived in.


    ¡°You guys are late!¡±


    My mother¡¯s worrying voice jolted me from my thoughts as Ali and me approached our house. It was a small rural house, just big enough to fit a family of four. Mother was standing outside, waiting for us, her arms by her side. She looked like an older version of Ali, with the same long dark hair and brown eyes, although the youthful exuberance was now replaced by the worrying face of a mother. ¡°Did you stop to play in the river again?¡±


    ¡°S-sorry mum!¡± Ali quickened her pace, the bucket bouncing in front of her as she held on with both hands. ¡°I just¡ª¡±


    ¡°It was my fault.¡± I interrupted. ¡°I thought there was a shortcut to the river, and Ali insisted there wasn¡¯t, but I told her to just follow me.¡±


    ¡°Jeez.¡± Mother gave me a look that said she knew I was trying to cover for Ali. ¡°Just try not to be late next time.¡±


    ¡°Sorry mum¡­¡± Ali repeated, then murmured a quiet thank you to me.


    Ali pushed open the wooden door to our home and I followed her inside, while mother stepped to the side to close the door behind us. The interior of our home was modest much like the outside, the only luxury being the small fireplace in the corner which was commonplace around the village.


    ¡°Where¡¯s dad?¡± Ali asked, looking around as she placed the bucket of water down near the wall. ¡°Isn¡¯t he home?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m here.¡±


    Father¡¯s heavy voice boomed from upstairs, and sturdy footsteps came marching slowly down as he came into view. Father was a large man with rugged features, scars from his time as a soldier of Rize could be seen all over his body. He had short jet black hair, and a matching set of black eyes that told of a rough life. Similar to how Ali looked like mother, I was more resembling of my father except that my hair was longer. I had also inherited his tall height.


    ¡°Did you get the water from the river?¡± Father asked, speaking to me.


    ¡°Yes, father.¡± I replied, lifting up the buckets in my hands slightly, then placing them to the side where Ali placed hers.


    ¡°Good.¡± Father nodded solemnly. ¡°We are going to need some more fresh water this season. The kingdom of Rize is going through difficult times at the moment.¡±


    ¡°Ah, right¡­¡± Ali stared down as the mood in the room darkened.


    I knew father was talking about the heightened tension between the three kingdoms and the possibility of war, but I didn¡¯t know if Ali knew much about it. After all, our village was so far away from everything that news of what happened at the capital often didn¡¯t reach us. Furthermore, I¡¯ve always made an effort to shield Ali from these things.


    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s have dinner!¡± Mother said cheerfully, breaking the negative mood as she headed to the kitchen. ¡°We are having roasted chicken for tonight.¡±


    ¡°Yay!¡± Ali¡¯s face brightened up as it usually did at the mention of food. ¡°I¡¯m so sick of eating just fish and potatoes!¡±


    I laughed at Ali¡¯s comment as I followed my mother into the kitchen to help out in preparing dinner. Ali watched and helped out where she could, while father kneeled down by the fireplace, setting up the fire for tonight.


    <hr>


    I swung up from my bed, covered in sweat, my eyes wide open. It was nighttime and the cold seeped into my clothes without the cover of the blankets. Everyone had gone to sleep after eating dinner. A faint memory of Ali laughing during dinner time as she told me about a joke she heard from her friend flashed in my mind as my brain slowly started working again. The memory of my dream disappeared with my thoughts, but the adrenaline was still pumping in my body.


    ¡°Ah, it was just a nightmare¡­¡± I muttered to myself, although I couldn¡¯t remember any specific details. I turned to the window to look outside. Judging from the darkness, it was still pretty late.


    I pulled myself out of the bed, sighing. It wasn¡¯t like I was going to go back to sleep any time soon. I decided to head out for a stroll to try to ease my mind. It had become some sort of a late-night routine of mine recently.


    Changing my clothes to something more warm, I stepped out of my bedroom then glanced at the closed door of Ali¡¯s room. I should probably make sure she¡¯s asleep. With that thought in mind, I walked to her room, gently pushing open the closed door. I could make out her figure in her bed, her innocent sleeping face pointed towards me. I felt myself relax at the sight of her.


    Quietly, I closed the door then I walked down the stairs into the living room. The fire had burnt out now, sizzling to ashes. The smell of burnt wood filled my nose. I went outside the house, unlocking and pushing open the front door.


    I was greeted by the cold, starry night, a soothing wind gushing past me as the door opened. Whenever I couldn¡¯t sleep, I would always come out to walk alone. At this hour of the night, there was not a single soul walking around in the village. It felt as though I owned the place, being the only one outside.


    One day, I would probably join the army of Rize to be a soldier like my father. He always told me that I had to protect those that I loved because I had the strength to. I guess his influence was why I was so overprotective of Ali.


    I remembered a time when we were kids and she had been bullied by the daughter of the village head. The daughter was feared by the other kids because of the reputation of her parents. Not caring for any of that, I tried to teach the girl a lesson by tying her up to a tree for all the other kids to laugh at. Of course, I was severely punished for my act, but seeing Ali smile when she saw what I did for her made everything worth it.


    Something moved in the sky, breaking my thoughts and I rubbed my eyes, thinking that there was a problem with my vision. Taking a closer look, I saw the dark outline of something big rapidly approaching.


    ¡­


    What the hell?


    I could make out what appeared to be wings flapping at its side, but it was definitely not a bird. It was way too big and it was moving way too fast.


    The feeling from my dream came flooding back to me, and fear etched across my mind, paralyzing my body. It was closer now and the size of it was truly tremendous. It must had been as big as the tallest tower in the Rize Kingdom, which was the capital city of Rize. I had only seen hand-drawn pictures of the towers from books, but this thing in the sky was definitely as big as what the pictures indicated.


    The sound of wind breaking came with every flap of its shadowy wings. Fiery red eyes, glowing fearsomely, sat atop a gaping jaw, its teeth razor sharp and dripping with a dark red substance. Clunks of horn pierced out from its head of varying sizes. Its figure was similar to that of a human, but there was something seriously wrong with it. The more I stared at it, the more frozen I became as I started to realise what it really was.


    A demon.


    I couldn¡¯t just stand here and do nothing. I had to warn everyone, I had to tell my family, I had to tell Ali. We had to get out of here. And quick. I unfroze from my spot, and spun around, throwing myself into a sprint for my house. Quick. Quick, Kei!


    ¡°E-EVERYONE! WAKE UP!¡± I screamed at the top of my lungs into the empty village. ¡°THERE¡¯S A DEMON COMING!¡±


    Luckily, I wasn¡¯t too far away from my house, and I kicked the front door open, not caring for how loud I was or the damage I may have caused. That thing outside was no ordinary demon. I had seen what demons looked like from books, but the ones in the books were much smaller than what I just saw. I ran as fast as I could, maneuvering through the house, stomping as I reached Ali¡¯s room, hurling the door open.


    ¡°Ali!¡± I yelled, marching to her bed. ¡°Get up!¡±


    Ali¡¯s figure jolted from the sound of my voice. She rolled away from me, raising a hand to rub her eye. ¡°K-Kei?...¡±


    I grabbed onto her hand, jerking her up from the bed. She yelped, her eyes now wide open. ¡°W-what? Kei? What¡¯s wrong?¡± She asked, her face extremely concerned.


    ¡°We¡­ we have to get out of here. Now.¡± I breathed heavily, trying to structure my thoughts. ¡°We can¡¯t stay here.¡±


    ¡°Why? What¡¯s going on, Kei?¡± Ali asked, now frightened. ¡°Y-you¡¯re scaring me¡­¡±


    I took a deep breath and stared her in the eye. ¡°There¡¯s a demon outside.¡± I said.


    ¡°Demon?¡± Ali mouthed. ¡°A-are you¡­¡± She saw the serious look on my face, then swallowed, nodding. ¡°Okay, Kei, let¡¯s go¡­¡±


    I pulled her with me, not letting go of her hand. Instead, I only gripped it harder, probably hard enough to cause pain, but she didn¡¯t say anything. We walked outside of her room and to our parent¡¯s room.


    ¡°Mother! Father!¡± I kicked their bedroom door open, cracking the hinge. ¡°There¡¯s a demon outside, we have to get out of here!¡±


    Mother rose from the bed, her face alert and terrified, while father jumped out immediately, rushing to the closet. Instead of opening the closet, he threw the closet aside, smashing it into the floor. Then, he raised a feet and without thinking, kicked his heel into the wooden wall, shattering the planks. He reached into the wall and pulled out a giant sword.


    It was the first time I had ever seen his sword. It was silver from the top down to the handle, and the blade was thick and sturdy. There were no marks along the blade, despite the fact the dirt on it indicated that it had been used for a very long time.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go!¡± Father yelled, pushing past me and heading down the stairs. ¡°Hurry!¡±


    ¡°Follow your father!¡± Mother shouted, as she pushed us down the stairs.


    Father was already out the house when we got to the living room, the front door was smashed open. He had knocked it down with his sword judging from the marks that were left behind. I remembered opening the door when I entered, but it must had closed again from the wind.


    ¡°Kei!¡± I heard my father shouting my name.


    We hurried outside, and saw my father staring up into the sky. The demon was in the air, right above the village now, its wings paused but still it was floating. It was hideous, horrifying, and something undeniably malicious reeked from its aura.


    Father turned to look at me, his face pale and sweat dripping down from his temples. It was the first time I had ever seen him look like that. ¡°Kei, get Ali out of here now.¡± He said. ¡°This is the real deal.¡±


    ¡°W-what about mum?¡± Ali cried, tears were gathering at her eyes. It made my heart hurt to see her like that. ¡°We can¡¯t leave without you guys!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, Ali.¡± Mother gave Ali a stern look. ¡°I need to wake everyone else in the village. We need to save as much people as we can.¡±Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°We will go with you.¡± I said. ¡°We can help too¡ª¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Father cut me off, bellowing. ¡°You need to go now, Kei!¡±


    ¡°But¡ª¡± I started.


    Father grabbed me by the collar on my neck and pulled me towards him, shocking me with his strength. ¡°Get. Your. Sister. Out.¡± He said behind clenched teeth.


    ¡°O-okay.¡± I nodded, frightened by his seriousness. I gave them one last look before gathering my resolve. Father was right. I had to protect Ali first and foremost. That was what I had been doing my whole life.


    Mother gave me a tired smile, while father¡¯s face was back to its usual calm, stoic manner. He turned away from me to face the demon.


    ¡°Go Kei.¡± Mother said. ¡°Please protect your sister.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡± I replied, then I tugged at Ali¡¯s hand. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Ali looked up at me, scared and worried. Tears were streaming down her face. ¡°O-okay, Kei¡­¡± She choked, trying to force back her tears.


    I pulled her with me, and we ran to the forest, towards the river. I turned around, looking back for a second, and saw father charging towards the demon, wielding the sword above his shoulder. I couldn¡¯t see any more as I turned back to focus on our path.


    A terrifying screech pierced the air, and suddenly the ground exploded followed by my vision disappearing. I felt a terrible heat soaring throughout my body, burning the very essence of my being, an unbearable pain beyond anything I could ever imagine. Despite all that, I still did not let go of Ali¡¯s hand.


    When my vision returned, I was lying on the ground. The forest had disappeared entirely, and instead my surroundings represented that of a barren wasteland. A high-pitched noise buzzed in my ear, covering any sounds around me.


    I suddenly screamed, realizing the horrible pain I was in. My entire body was hurting from the ends of my toes to the tip of my scalp. I lifted my head shakily, afraid to look at my body and saw a sight that stopped my heart.


    My skin had torn right off completely, revealing the flesh underneath as it pulsated in a grotesque manner. I could make out broken bones on parts of my body where the flesh were missing. Dark blood gurgled up my mouth, spluttering into my own face, causing even more pain. I couldn¡¯t hear my own screams because my eardrums were blown out.


    Ali. Ali. Ali. The thought of her came to my head and panic flooded my mind. Where was she? Was she safe? I looked to my side and saw my hand holding onto something that barely resembled a human.


    No¡­ no¡­ this couldn¡¯t be happening. Just a while ago, we were all eating dinner, having fun, she was telling me about her day, and mother and father¡­


    Ali¡­


    I tried to close my eyes, but felt no eyelids to cover them. The physical pain was nothing compared to what I was feeling right now. I looked up into the sky, cursing the world around me. How could something like this happen? Why?! WHY?!


    I pushed myself to my side using all the strength I could muster, then fell to my stomach. I could make out a winged figure disappearing in the distance of the sky and an intense hatred surged through my body, urging my body to move. I needed to get revenge. I needed to avenge my family. I needed to kill the demon. I needed to tear it apart. I needed to¡­ for Ali...


    I pictured her face in my mind, that goofy smile she always had on, the sound of her laugh, and the image gave me the strength to move forward, pushing the ground beneath me, dragging my body through the dirt, tearing my flesh against it. I crawled onwards, my shaky hands pushing me, one hand at a time. I needed vengeance¡­ I needed justice¡­


    I found my father¡¯s sword buried in the dirt, but no sign of him anywhere. I grabbed the handle of the blade, pulling it with me. It was incredibly heavy, but I could feel nothing but hatred.


    <hr>


    ¡°Stop!¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°There¡¯s something on the road¡­¡±


    ¡­


    The sound of a horse carriage slowing down grew louder, though still barely audible to me. Iron cladded boots strapped with laces came into view, seemingly belonging to a female, and I watched their feet walk down the steps of the carriage, then towards me. They stopped right in front of me, but I had no strength to look up to see anything besides her shoes.


    ¡°You poor thing¡­¡± A gentle whisper came from above. Her voice was sympathetic, caring, and there was an accent that hinted at aristocracy.


    I felt her getting closer, bending down to me, and a gentle hand touched my cheeks, somehow causing no pain. Perhaps I was already in too much pain.


    She whispered something under her breath, and the hand that was at my face grew warm. The warmth eventually spread to my entire body, relaxing my muscles. My breath slowed down, and I felt myself inhaling deeply.


    The girl reached her other hand towards me, lifting me up delicately from the ground. She placed my head on her lap, and I stared up into her face.


    A girl, no older than myself, perhaps even younger stared back at me. Azure hair highlighted by silver fell past her sholders, and enigmatic lapis lazuli eyes gazed into mine. Her eyes were illuminated by a mystical glow, emphasising the distinct colour of her eyes. She had a dainty nose, and a face that seemed to have no faults. She was extremely beautiful, breathtaking beyond all doubts. A strange black mark was imprinted on the right side of her face, just beneath her eye. It looked like an ancient symbol of sorts.


    Staring into her face, I felt my consciousness fading as the warmth in the centre of my body grew hotter.


    <hr>


    I was lying on something soft, and there was a caressing comfort all around me. A pleasant scent filled my nose, and there was no longer the unbearable pain or the high pitch screech of my broken eardrums ringing in my head. Instead, my body felt well rested and in better shape than I had ever been before. My mind though was still a wreck. My memory was foggy and I couldn''t remember how I ended up here.


    ¡­


    Where was I?


    I opened my eyes slowly. I was in a bed, a massive bed. It was nothing of the sorts I¡¯ve seen before. There were marble pillars at each corner of the bed, and velvet lining raised at the top. I had multiple blankets laid on top of me, smooth and seemingly made of silk.


    I looked around the room, and saw surroundings much like the bed. An astounding room, multitudes larger than my living room, with giant portraits of what appeared to be historic paintings hung up on the walls. Whoever¡¯s room this was, they must have been a very high-ranking noble in Rize.


    At the side of the bed was my father''s sword. I never really got a good look at it before, but now I could actually see it properly in the light. The sword was massive compared to the ones I had seen in books. Its length, from the tip of the blade to the handle, almost matched my height, and the width of the blade was around the length of my forearm. There were inscriptions written alongside the middle of blade, appearing to be in another language. I couldn''t believe that I had had managed to carry it with me.


    At that moment, the door of the bedroom creaked, and I snapped my head in its direction, feeling alert. A girl stood by the door, one hand keeping it open. It was the girl I saw from the horse carriage, the one with azure hair. Looking at her again, I realised she wasn¡¯t as tall as I thought. She almost looked like a child even, but not quite. She was wearing a milky white negligee that took on the illusion of being transparent even though it really wasn¡¯t.


    "You..." I tried to ignore the girl''s clothing, staring at her face instead. "Where am I...?"


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re finally awake.¡± She said, walking up to the bed. Her azure hair trailed behind her at a length just below her shoulders. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting a long time.¡±


    "Huh?" I didn''t understand her last statement. "What do you mean... a long time?"


    "You''ve been asleep for four months."


    "...!"


    ¡°Well,¡± the girl plopped herself down on the side of the bed near me, and I instinctively edged backwards cautiously. Her lapis lazuli eyes had a cold undertone to them, like someone that had seen too much. ¡°How do you feel?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± I didn''t know what the hell was going on. Why was I even here? ¡°I, uh¡ª¡±


    Suddenly, I found myself coughing and a strange pain stabbed itself into my lungs. I moved my hands away from my eyes, now covering my mouth.


    ¡°Ah, you¡¯re still not fully recovered yet.¡± The girl gave me a concerned look, though her eyes were still cold. ¡°You should be careful not to exert yourself.¡±


    The pain gradually resided, almost as sudden as it came, and I glanced up at the girl. ¡°W-was I... in an accident... or something?¡±


    She nodded, giving me a sympathetic smile.


    I guess that must meant that she was the one taking care of me the whole time.


    ¡°What is your name?¡± I asked, giving her a sincere look. I wanted to thank her for taking care of me.


    ¡°My name¡­¡±


    The girl paused, and for a second, it seemed like she was debating on whether to tell me her name or not.


    ¡°Lily.¡±


    She finally said, then stood up from the bed, bowing in an elegant manner. She was definitely a noble of some sort.


    I felt at edge, seeing her bow. I didn¡¯t know how to respond. I had never been around nobles before.


    Instead, I gave a grunted cough, feeling embarassed.


    ¡°I¡¯m Kei... It¡¯s nice to meet you, Lily...¡±


    ¡°And the same to you too, Kei.¡±


    A pause.


    "I guess you must be the one that was taking care of me after my accident." I glanced around the room. It certainly didn''t seem like a medic''s place. It seemed more like a royal bedroom to be honest.


    "That is correct." Lily said.


    "Thank you." I turned my gaze back to her, staring into her lapis lazuli eyes. "For taking care of me. I really appreciate it."


    She nodded her head, acknowledging my gratitude.


    "So, I guess I''ll just get going then." I made a move to get off the bed. "I have to go back to tell my family I''m alright."


    "Do you remember what happened?" Lily suddenly said. "How you go into an accident?"


    I stopped, thinking about her words.


    I tried to think back, before I woke up in this room. But my memory was failing me.


    Damn it...


    How was it that I ended up here?


    For some reason, no matter how hard I thought, I couldn''t seem to remember having an accident.


    The last memory I remembered was eating dinner with my family. Father, mother, Ali¡ª


    Something flashed into my mind for a brief second, but I felt myself pushing it down.


    "I..."


    I tried to think harder, my eyes looking around at my surroundings in a dazed state.


    "I was..."


    "It''s okay if you don''t remember." Lily said. There was concern on her face as she watched me.


    I glanced down from my surroundings and at the bed instead. I raised my hands up from the quilt of the bed, staring into my palms.


    "I was eating dinner with my family... and then..."


    A distant voice shouted inside my mind.


    "Kei!!"


    It was Ali''s voice.


    I got up from the bed, surprising Lily and she moved out of the way to let me go.


    "I-I''m sorry, Lily. I need to go... now." I said, sweat dripping from my forehead.


    "Where are you going off to?" Lily stared at me curiously.


    "I..." I walked to the door that Lily came in from. "I-I need to go find my family."


    Reaching the door, I felt myself falling onto the door, leaning against it to stay standing. I felt dizzy and out of breath. I grabbed the door handle roughly, struggling to open it. My hands were shaking.


    "Kei..." Lily called out to me softly.


    "I-I need to go...!" I kept trying to open the door but it wouldn''t open.


    "When I found you," Lily was speaking to me from behind, but I was still trying to open the door. "You were almost dead. You had no skin and you were dragging your flesh on the ground because your legs had been blown right off."


    "Y-you''re lying..." I muttered to myself. My palms were so sweaty, and it didn''t seem like I could get the door open. Did she lock the door?


    "I tracked down the route that you came from," Lily continued, "and I found a village that was completely destroyed and burnt down."


    "T-that''s...!" My heart was pounding inside my chest. I turned around to face her, completely pale. "Y-you''re lying. I know you''re lying. M-my family, my family is..."


    "They''re probably dead."


    My eyes widened, and the beating of my heart was getting uncontrollable. "T-that''s impossible...! I was... I was just eating with them... I was..."


    I couldn''t breathe.


    I felt myself falling down onto the floor on all fours, struggling to stay conscious. The clothes I had on me were completely drenched in sweat.


    "A-Ali... Ali...." I mumbled incoherently, staring down at the ground. "N-no..."


    ¡°You were very lucky to have lived after the wounds that you suffered...¡± Lily stared down at me from the bed. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t had been able to save anyone else that suffered the same wounds that you did.¡±


    "Y-you..." I felt anger bubbling inside me, and I forced myself to raise my head up. "You''re lying to me, you''re making this up..."


    "I"m not."


    "Y-you...!" I jumped up from the floor and stormed up to Lily. "Where are you keeping my family?! Why did you lock me in here?!" I shouted at her, then made a move to grab her.


    I felt a sudden supernatural force throwing me backwards with immense force, and I flew across the room, my back slamming against the wall hard.


    I dropped down onto the ground, rolling around in pain.


    "If you try to touch me again, I''ll kill you." Lily said.


    "I-I..." I rolled around on the ground, my face disillusioned. "Father... Mother... Ali..."


    "Jeez." Lily sighed, getting up from the bed, then walked to the door that I had struggled to open. "I''ll come back when you''re better."


    She opened the door easily, then the door closed, leaving me alone in the room.


    I lied on the ground, staring emptily at the ceiling.


    Were they really all dead? Was my village really gone?


    ...


    I could remember now...


    There was something that came to our village on that night...


    I had tried to warn everyone, but...


    I winced, rolling sideways on the floor.


    Lily was right.


    My family was dead.


    <hr>


    Lily came back into the room the next day, and I was lying on the bed, my back up against the wall, staring outside the window that was on the opposite end of the bed. All I could see outside was endless plains of grass.


    I didn''t bother to look at her when she came in.


    "Hey." Lily spoke to me softly, walking up to the bed. "Are you feeling better?"


    I didn''t respond.


    "..."


    Lily watched me silently, then sighed, turning to walk out the door.


    She kept coming to check up on me in the following days, and the days after that, but I kept ignoring her. This went on until...


    "I got you some food..."


    Lily placed a tray of food on the bed. She had been getting me food persistently, but I had yet to take a single bite. I was wondering when the hell I was going to die from starvation.


    I was still staring out at the window, watching the fields outside.


    The tray laid on top of my lap, untouched.


    "You''re not going to die, you know?"


    Lily''s words pierced my mind, and I glanced at her on my side. She was sitting on the bed, staring at me.


    "Yes I will..." I said tonelessly.


    Lily sighed, placing a hand on her forehead. "You haven''t eaten for three weeks now, haven''t you wondered why you haven''t died yet?"


    T-three weeks?!


    Has it been that long?


    To be honest, I couldn''t remember.


    "If you''re under my care, you''re never going to die." Lily said.


    "Just let me die..." I said. "Please..."


    "Don''t you want to revenge your family?"


    "...!"


    "Or are you just going to sit here and die with them?"


    "I..."


    Lily picked herself up from the bed, walking out of the room. The door closed behind her.


    I glanced down at the food on my lap.


    That''s right...


    That was what I had wanted to do...


    I needed to get revenge, right?


    I had forgotten all about that day, because I had tried to just push everything out of my mind.


    Slowly, I raised my hand up from the shelter of the bed. I reached for the food in front of me, picking it up to my mouth.


    <hr>


    "Lily, why am I still alive?"


    Lily was sitting at the side of my bed, having placed another tray of food in front of me.


    "Shouldn''t I be dead?" I asked her.


    "Who knows." Lily replied.


    "I... I was in the village with them... they all died, except for me..."


    Lily didn''t respond.


    "Lily, you''re a sorceress, right?"


    "Yes..."


    "Can magic bring people back from the dead?"


    "..."


    "You healed me with your magic. Why can''t you bring my family back from the dead?"


    "There is no magic that allows you to bring people back from the dead, Kei."


    "..."


    I sat there silently, staring at the food she placed on my lap.


    "Why are you so nice to me, Lily?"


    Lily shifted, hearing my question. "You ask too many questions, Kei."


    "You should have just let me died when you found me."


    "..."


    "I... I have nothing to live for anymore... except revenge..."


    "That''s as good of a reason as any other, isn''t it?"


    "I just... I just feel empty inside... do you know, Lily?"


    "Maybe that''s because you''ve been sitting in this room, in the same position for two and a half months now."


    "..."


    I glanced up at Lily. She was still sitting by the bed, her lapis lazuli eyes staring down at the ground.


    "Lily..." I called out to her.


    She glanced at me.


    "Will you help me get revenge?"


    "..."


    Lily paused as though she was thinking about it.


    "Sure." She said.


    "Thank you... Lily..."


    <hr>


    I woke up again, seeing the sunlight entering from the window. It was another day.


    But... today was different.


    Today I was going to...


    I stared at the door of the bedroom.


    I''m going to get out of this bed, and leave this fucking bedroom.


    I was sick of being a burden to Lily, and I was sick of waking up in the same position, doing the same thing, staring at the same bedroom every day.


    I''m... I''m going to do it!


    I lifted the quilt from on top of me slowly, then placed one leg outside of the bed. I could feel the cold air, touching the skin of my feet.


    That was a sensation I haven''t felt in a while.


    I pushed myself further out of the bed, sliding closer and closer to the edge of the bed.


    As I tried to put my feet down on the ground, I saw an image of the demon flashing in my mind, fire burning up the village, people screaming, my family''s voices.


    I quickly scuttled back inside the bed, going back to my sitting posture.


    I was panting now, a sweat dripping down my forehead.


    Come on, Kei.


    What the fuck.


    You''re just trying to get out of a bed! You''re not trying to compete in an athletics competition.


    ...


    I took a deep breath, recovering myself, then stared back at the door of the bedroom with renewed strength.


    You can do it, Kei.


    Do it for Lily.


    Do it for your family!


    I pushed myself quickly out of the bed, swinging my legs out and throwing myself onto my feet as I stepped out onto the cold hard floor.


    ...


    I was now standing at the side of the bed.


    I had done it!


    I felt triumpth falling over me, and I took slow steps towards the bedroom door.


    I reached the door, placing my hand over the handle.


    Another uncomfortable memory was quickly surfacing when I touched the handle, but I forced it down, and pushed open the door.


    The door opened, and I was faced with the sight of a lavish hallway much like the bedroom inside.


    I breathed out, taking in my surroundings.


    This was the first time I had seen something other than the inside of that godforsaken bedroom and the grassy fields outside the window.


    I walked around, taking slow steps.


    I was dressed in a sleeping wear of sorts, that Lily must had got me. Nothing special, just plain pants and shirt.


    "L-Lily..." I called out to the empty hallway as I moved further and further out.


    My voice echoed inside the hallways, but no one responded.


    God damn, this place was big.


    I kept walking, eventually coming to the top of a grand hall. I was on the upper level, looking down from the stairs.


    "Lily!" I called again.


    Nothing.


    I walked down the steps.


    There was a large grand door at the end of the grand hall, which must be the front door. It seemed unnecessarily large, being able to fit in way more than just a regular human.


    I walked to the grand door, facing it, studying the details of the door.


    "Congratulations."


    I spun around, hearing a voice from behind me.


    Lily stood there, facing me, a soft smile on her face. She was wearing a dark travelling cloak around her, that covered up her entire body except for her head.


    "L-Lily!"


    "You''ve finally made it outside of the bedroom. I''m surprised you got this far on your first try."


    "I-I..."


    "I would had thought you would had needed another month before you could actually get out of the bed." Lily continued.


    I shook my head, trying to control my emotions. "Thank you, Lily... I''m ready now... for revenge."


    Lily''s face showed a hint of disappointment, hearing my last words. But, it quickly disappeared again. "Are you really ready?"


    "Yes!" I gave her a firm look.


    "Well... I said I would help you to get your revenge." Lily sighed. "We will have to do a Blood Pact then."


    "A Blood Pact?"

 Chapter 2 - Blood Pact

    "What''s a Blood Pact?" I asked, staring at Lily.


    "It''s a magic contract that binds two people together."


    "Why do we have to do a Blood Pact?"


    "Because... you have something I want."


    "..."


    I paused, not understanding her.


    "In exchange for me helping you get your revenge, Kei." Lily said. "You have to give me something in return."


    Lily had been taking care of me the whole time, so I guess it was fine for me to give her what she wants. Although, I had no idea what it was.


    "Sure, name your price." I said.


    Lily paused.


    "Your soul, mind and body." She said. "Bound to my ownership."


    "...!"


    I stared at her, but her face was absolutely serious. "That''s..."


    "Otherwise, we have no deal."


    "...!"


    I was thinking carefully about Lily''s offer. Even though she was the one that had saved me and took care of me the whole time, did it make sense for me to sell her my soul, mind and body for my revenge?


    "Why do you want that?" I asked Lily.


    "That''s none of your business."


    "..."


    She really wasn''t giving me anything to work with here.


    "So, what would it mean... if I gave you my soul, mind and body?"


    "It means that you would have to bind those things to me. Essentially, you would belong to me, completely, for the rest of eternity. You will not answer to anyone else. You will not kneel before another. If this contract was to happen, I would become your everything."


    ...


    I was hesitating...


    But, she had done so much for me.


    If it wasn''t for her, I''d be dead.


    And, it wasn''t like I had much else to live for anyways. All I wanted was my revenge.


    "Have you done this pact with anyone else before?" I asked.


    "Never." Lily smiled, seeing that I was understanding her words. ¡°This pact, should you accept it, would connect us through the spirits of Aere. I would have my duties that I owe to you, and you to mine. It is an unbreakable vow bounded by magic.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I needed another moment to think.


    ¡­


    Whatever. It wasn¡¯t like I had anything else left for me.


    Let¡¯s just do it.


    ¡°I will do it.¡± I nodded solemnly.


    She smiled, hearing my answer.


    Suddenly, the air around us grew lighter, causing Lily¡¯s hair to seemingly hover. I felt a strange feeling surging through my innards. I gasped, shocked by this new sensation, when a glowing circle appeared beneath us, shrouded in mysterious symbols that I couldn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°I, Lilionel Estobel Zilich, call upon the spirits of Aere to grant thee to enter the Blood Pact with this one before me.¡±


    Even though, Lily was speaking right in front of me, her words were directly resounding inside my head in a way that I had never experienced before. It was something that should had been an intrusive feeling, yet somehow, didn''t.


    Lilionel¡­


    For some reason, that name seemed familiar to me¡­


    ¡°By this Blood Pact, I swear to do all that is in my power, even in my dying breath, to aid this one on his desire for vengeance. In exchange for this oath, this one shall henceforth and till eternity bound himself completely, soul, mind, and body, to my ownership.¡±


    The shining circle on the floor was shifting, moving around in an erratic fashion as she spoke. I was lost, completely bewildered by the extent of sorcery she was displaying. This was the first time I was witnessing her magic like this.


    ¡°Kei¡­¡±


    I looked up from the ground, hearing Lily¡¯s voice, and found myself eye-to-eye with her lapis lazuli eyes, now glowing mystically. She reached a hand to me, then stopped, letting it hang in the air between us.


    ¡°Do you accept this Blood Pact, Kei?¡± Lily asked.


    I thought about it for a second more. Now was probably the time for any last thoughts to come out. I had no idea whether this ¡®magic contract¡¯ that she was making was actually legitimate or not. For all I knew, this contract could just be a farce to simply sell off my soul and body for nothing in return. Perhaps, I was getting in way over my head here¡­


    But, I stared into Lily''s face.


    I trusted her.


    She was the one that had saved my life. I owed my life to her...


    ¡­


    ¡°I accept.¡±


    As soon as the words left my lips, the wind around us got harsher, twirling in a whirlwind-like motion. At the same time, the air around us felt heavy and thick, as though a strange gravitational force was pulling me down, keeping me from flying off into the wind.


    "Argh¡ª!" I let out a short cry, wincing, as the wind that was twirling around us, cut me on the edges of my body, namely my back and the side of my arms that was out towards the wind. The wind sliced Lily in the same way as well, although she didn''t react to the pain. Droplets of the blood from our wounds were spinning slowly around us, floating against the wind. They were mixing together around us, the droplets merging into one.


    The circle underneath us was glowing brighter still, reaching a point where its light was shrouding my vision completely. In the last second before my vision faded, I saw Lily¡¯s face smiling at me, and the sensation of her hand grabbing mine.


    Then, all became black.


    <hr>


    The sound of horse trotting was the first noise I heard when I finally awoke again. A slight bump on the surface on which I was lying on made my eyes flinch, but everything was still slowly coming back to me.


    Reluctantly, I opened my eyes to see that I was lying on the seat of a carriage, and in front of me, on the opposite seat of the carriage, was Lily.She was wearing the same outfit as that day she found my body. White, lightly-armoured pants and top embellished with strange markings, hidden behind a dark cloak of unknown material, and boots with laces that ran to her shins.


    She was looking out the window of the carriage, her chin resting firmly on her hand, a bored look on her face.


    I shifted on the seat, groaning, then rose up gradually into a seating position.


    Lily glanced at me momentarily, the bored look on her face did not change.


    ¡°You¡¯re awake.¡± She said, then turned her eyes back to the outside of the carriage.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I coughed slightly, finding my voice again. Surprisingly, I didn¡¯t feel any different to before. I would had expected something to happen to me after entering into that strange contract. ¡°So¡­ when do I start getting superpowers?¡± I joked.


    Lily glanced at me again, smirking. ¡°Soon.¡± She shifted her posture so that she was now facing me, instead of the window. ¡°But you¡¯ll have to lick your master¡¯s feet every time you want access to your powers.¡±


    ¡°Seriously?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Lily sighed, shaking her head. ¡°There are no superpowers. Did you listen to the terms of our contract?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ yeah.¡± I said, then paused. Lily continued staring at me, and I realised she was waiting for me to repeat the terms. ¡°I get my revenge, and you get my soul, mind, and body. Simple.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Lily¡¯s eyes softened, seeing that I got the correct answer. Then, she turned back to the window.


    I felt a weird sensation on the inside of my right forearm, and I raised my arm up, lifting up my sleeves.


    On the inside of my forearm was a faded sigil, lightly imprinted on my skin. It was a symbol of sorts, but I couldn''t make any sense out of it. I blinked, rubbing the sigil with my other hand, but it wouldn''t come off.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    "Lily... what''s this?" I asked, staring down at the sigil.


    "Oh, that?" Lily turned an uninterested eye down at my forearm. "That''s a sign of our contract."


    ...


    I stared at the sigil.


    I guess this was it then.


    It''s going to be on me forever.


    I pulled up my sleeve, hiding the sigil again. I didn''t really care. I had accepted that things were probably going to change after the Blood Pact.


    ¡°Lily¡­¡± I followed her eyes out to the window. We were travelling past a meadow of sorts, great mountains could be seen in the distance of the horizon, though that wasn¡¯t where we were heading towards. ¡°Where are we going?¡±


    ¡°The Rize Kingdom.¡± Lily replied shortly.


    I had never actually been to our kingdom, despite living in the Rize territory my whole life. That was because my village was so secluded and distant away. To travel to Rize from the village would had probably taken two weeks by horse. A journey that I never had a reason for undergoing.


    ¡°And, why are we going there?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I have some errands to run.¡±


    Lily didn¡¯t say anything more, so I didn¡¯t push on about what the errands were.


    "So when are we going to find the demon that destroyed my village?" I asked.


    Lily glanced at me. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry, Kei. I¡¯ll get you your revenge, even if that means me dying.¡±


    ¡°Okay...¡±


    I trusted Lily, although there were some doubts at the back of my mind about whether she could actually help me out or not. The demon that had destroyed my village didn''t seem like any ordinary demon. It must had been a very powerful one, to inflict that type of damage to the village.


    ¡°Do you know who the demon that attacked your village was?¡± Lily asked.


    I froze, glancing up from my thoughts to look at Lily. ¡°You... you know who it was?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    I stared at Lily, shocked.


    ¡°I could tell who it was just from a glance at your wounds. I just didn''t know when was the right time for me to tell you.¡± Lily said. "Not any demon could had given you those wounds that you had."


    "I''m... I''m ready now." I said, staring at her with anticipation.


    "The demon''s name is Balzard.¡±


    ¡°Balzard...?¡± I repeated.


    ¡°It was during the Great War between the three kingdoms of Zenora that Balzard was born. I guess it must had been over five hundred years ago now.¡± Lily said, glancing upwards as though she was thinking back. ¡°Created from the darkness of mankind, when the world¡¯s ground ran blood, and more than half of humanity¡¯s population had been slain. An entity of pure hatred rose up from the abyss, galvanised by the worst parts of humanity.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Even I knew about Balzard from fables I had learnt in school. I had always thought it was just a myth to scare kids into behaving, but to learn that it was now true? I had a hard time swallowing what Lily was saying.


    ¡°Eventually, Balzard became so strong, it took a place amongst the demon gods that ruled the underworld. Strange, because usually demon gods have always existed since the beginning of time.¡± Lily shook her head. ¡°Anyways, the problem was that Balzard wasn¡¯t living in the underworld, Balzard was running free amongst the mortal realm.¡±


    ¡°So how did they kill it...?¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t.¡± Lily chuckled, surprising me. It didn¡¯t seem like a right moment to laugh, when you¡¯re talking about having to fight a demon god with your life on the line. ¡°At the brink of extinction, the three kingdoms of Zenora agreed to a peace treaty, putting their differences aside, and casting away all their darkest emotions.¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°It seemed that Balzard was fuelled by those dark emotions exhibited by humanity.¡± Lily said. ¡°With the war ending, and the three kingdoms agreeing to an ¡®alliance¡¯,¡± Lily emphasised the word alliance in a sarcastic manner, ¡°Balzard suddenly disappeared, never to be seen or heard of again.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I fell silent for a moment, letting her words sink in. ¡°Are you saying that this¡­ ancient demon god¡­ has arisen again,¡± I said, ¡°and to defeat it, we should get the three kingdoms to come to another alliance?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. The three kingdoms will never come to an alliance. The peace treaty constructed at the end of the Great War was just a temporary agreement.¡± Lily said. She leaned back against her seat, breathing out and making herself comfortable. ¡°And it wouldn¡¯t be fun that way either. We¡¯re going to find Balzard and kill it with our own hands.¡±


    ¡°Killing a demon god...¡± My face darkened, thinking about the gravity of her words. Was that even possible? It seemed like a suicide mission, but it wasn''t like I was going to say no. I would gladly die to get my revenge, and if that''s not possible, I would settle for seriously injuring the demon god.


    But...


    Now, that I thought about it. It seemed selfish of me to drag Lily into my suicide mission.


    What the hell was I thinking?


    "Lily, I think this journey is too dangerous for you. You don''t have to help me. I... I didn''t think we would be facing a demon god. I am happy to do this alone."


    Lily''s eyes furrowed in annoyance. "What are you saying? If I let you go alone, you''ll just walk into any demon without a second thought and die straight away."


    "..."


    I stared down at the floor of the carriage grimly.


    "And stop being so depressing." Lily sighed at me. "It''s like I''m at a funeral, sitting here with you."


    I tried to smile at Lily. "Is this better?"


    "Do a bigger smile."


    I showed her my teeth, stretching my mouth upwards.


    "Okay, that''s just scary." Lily said. "You can stop now."


    I let my smile fall down.


    Lily was right... I had to stop being such a grouch!


    "So, how are we going to kill a demon god?" I tried to crack a joke. "Garlic and crosses?"


    "That''s for a vampire."


    "I-I know."


    "And, that doesn''t actually work."


    "I know that too..."


    Lily was taking my jokes as though I was serious. I wanted to try making her smile, but I didn''t know how.


    "Hey Lily, what¡ª"


    The carriage suddenly stopped, jerking me forward and I fell into Lily, landing face-first into her chest. There was little there to soften the impact.


    ¡°Arg¡ª!¡± I minimised the lurch slightly by instinctively placing my hands out, my palms hitting the side of the carriage wall with Lily¡¯s body in between my arms. My face however was still firmly planted on her chest as a result of the abrupt stop.


    ¡°Y-you¡­!¡± Lily¡¯s face went completely red, and her knee shot up, hitting a sensitive spot.


    ¡°Gargh¡ª!!¡± My body went stiff, and I fell down onto the carriage floor, rolling into a fetus position.


    ¡°How dare you touch your master like that?! Argh!¡± Lily¡¯s face was still burning red. She got up from her seat, turning away from me and walked to the carriage door, opening it. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with you later¡­¡± Her shoulders were visibly shaking.


    "I... I didn''t mean to..." I groaned, but Lily was already out of the carriage.


    The pain was making it hard for me to think, and I rolled around for a few more seconds before trying to get back up on my feet, grabbing onto the seats as support.


    Gradually recovering, I stepped out of the carriage to peer outside.


    ¡°Lily?¡ª¡± I started.


    To my horror, I caught the glimpse of a pack of monstrous creatures standing in front of our carriage. They were much taller than the average human, perhaps twice as tall as a normal man. Green-skinned, and ugly beyond description. Lily was standing by the doorway of the carriage, glaring at these creatures.


    Trolls! Those creatures were definitely trolls. I had saw what some looked like in the books taught at school. Obviously, I had never seen one in real life but there was no mistake. They wander around the lands, often looking for travellers or carriages to ravage. And it so happened, we were unlucky enough to cross by them!


    They are known to be a merchant¡¯s worst nightmare as described in the books, due to the amount of travel required for a merchant. That was one reason why I didn¡¯t like to travel. Tthere must had been at least¡­ six of them!


    Why the hell was Lily just standing there looking at these creatures?!


    She needs to move! Now!


    I jumped out of the carriage, quickly making my way in front of Lily to draw the attentions of the troll. If I could manage to get them to follow me, then maybe Lily would be able to get away!


    ¡°Run, Lily!¡± I yelled. ¡°I¡¯ll distract them!¡±


    She didn¡¯t respond, but I didn¡¯t have time to check on her. My focus was on the trolls.


    The terrifying appearance of the trolls made my heart freeze, as they bared their fangs, opening their mouths wide, saliva drooping out. Some were holding battered clubs, covered in a sticky, red material.


    One of the trolls laughed. ¡°Does this human really think he can fight us?¡± Its voice was as ragged and unpleasant as its appearance, sounding like a cross between a pig snort and a wolf howl, although much louder and deeper.


    I didn¡¯t let their appearance faze me. I ran at the trolls head-on, screaming as I did.


    ¡°ARHH¡ª!!¡±


    At least this time I die, I can save Lily.


    Suddenly, I heard Lily¡¯s voice whispering behind me, and the trolls exploded right in front of me, sending me flying back with a powerful force.


    I landed on my back, my ears ringing. A wave of blood flung into me, drowning me for a second, and I was instantly drenched.


    ¡°W-wha¡ª¡± I coughed out the blood, gazing around me dazzled, as the place where the trolls stood now was just a pool of blood, gnarly bones and disembowelled organs. ¡°What the fuck¡­?¡±


    There was one remaining troll that was for some reason left alive. It was also just as confused as me. It glanced around at its fallen comrades, then turned to Lily. ¡°Y-you¡ª¡±


    ¡°Zos Es Nilac.¡±


    Lily whispered under her breath, and the wind picked up around her, sending an ominous feeling down to the core of my spine. She was standing unarmed, her lapis lazuli eyes glowing enigmatically in a magical blue sheen.


    ¡°You bitch!¡± The troll roared in its deep, jagged voice, then charged for Lily, its club raised high in the air. ¡°I¡¯m going to tear you apart!¡±


    It took one step before it froze, unable to continue further. Instead, a horrified expression overtook the troll¡¯s face. I turned to see what the troll was looking at, it was staring behind Lily. My face also took a turn for shock.


    Suspended in mid-air behind her was endless lines and lines of blue glowing sword-like objects, all of which were pointing at the troll¡¯s exact direction. There must had been at least a thousand of these swords. Except, that the swords had no physical shape, seemingly ethereal in nature, but it was still unmistakably obvious that they were lethal.


    The air around us became unnaturally quiet, no sounds of wind or breathing, despite the troll¡¯s conspicuous snorting just mere moments ago. Lily raised one petite hand up amidst the deathly silence, and our eyes followed her hand, not daring to move.


    ¡°P-please, don¡¯t! Spare me!¡± The troll dropped his club, realising the atmosphere of the situation. ¡°I-I will become your servant, I will do anything you want!¡± The troll dropped to his knees, bowing before Lily. ¡°I have money and treasures, lots of them! My brothers are all dead, you can have them all! I-I will lead you to them!


    Lily smiled at the troll, her eyes glistening in its eerie blue glow. Then, her fingers snapped, and the swords shot forward instantaneously, each one a millisecond later than the other.


    The first sword pierced into the troll with such force and intensity that the troll exploded on contact, sending pieces of flesh flying into the air. Each sword that came after, struck the flying pieces of flesh, disintegrating the troll¡¯s existence completely and letting nothing left unscathed, not even a single strand of hair.


    The explosion of the swords piercing the troll and striking into the ground was causing an unnatural earthquake, and I had to grip on to the floor violently, hoping that the ground beneath me wouldn¡¯t break.


    The ordeal lasted a whole minute, although it felt like a lifetime, and in the end, nothing was left of the troll, not even its blood, which must had been covered by the dust and debris that had piled up, reforming the ground.


    I raised my head slowly, my heart racing, anticipating more explosions, but the air was now deathly quiet again.


    Just what the fuck happened...


    Did they all just...


    I glanced over at Lily, staring at her. She didn''t seem fazed at all, her eyes had its usual deadpan expression.


    Lilionel...


    Suddenly, I remembered why that name had sounded familiar to me. A first-person memory of a time in my childhood came to me. A book that I had found¡­ hidden in the deepest corner of the village library¡­


    The book was lying in front of me, and I was sitting cross-legged, staring down at the tattered book. It had no title, no pictures, and only was about a few pages long.


    The book opened itself, its pages flipping, then stopped. On the page it stopped at, I found myself peering at the words hesitantly, a strange fear overwhelming me. It read:


    Scattered, were the bodies.


    Limbless, eyeless, endless pain.


    A pallid plague exists in Zenora.


    Wandering, roaming, a curse on all that cross its path.


    Between realms of burning souls and singing angels.


    Lies a sinister scourge.


    With magic feared by mortals, demons, and gods, alike.


    Beware a sorceress blessed by Aere¡­


    No¡­ the Witch¡­


    Named Lilionel.


    The memories rushed away, and I found myself back in the present time, staring up at Lily.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t have to run right at them like that, Kei.¡± Lily approached me, the sound of her boots clattering lightly with each step. ¡°Are you really looking to die that bad?¡±


    "I..." I was just completely shocked by Lily''s magic. "Thank... thank you, Lily... You saved me again..."


    Lily stopped, then shook her head with a sigh. "I''ll forgive you for before... just because I know you tried your best to protect me. Although, it was stupid as hell."


    "..."


    ¡°Come on.¡± Lily gave me her hand, reaching down to me. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± I grabbed her hand, and pulled myself up from the ground.


    That memory¡­


    Could Lily be the Witch, Lilionel?!

 Chapter 3 - Rize Kingdom

    ¡°Wait a second.¡±


    Lily stopped, staring at me for a second before flicking her hand.


    ¡°What are you¡ª¡± I started.


    A gust of wind surged towards me, and my eyes widened. What the hell was that? I raised my arms, shielding myself with my eyes closed.


    The wind pushed past me harmlessly, and I lowered my arms, opening my eyes slowly to realise that all the blood and dirt on me from the fight was now gone.


    ¡°There.¡± Lily said. ¡°I didn¡¯t want you to get all that dirt on the carriage.¡±


    ¡°R-right¡­¡±


    Lily walked back to the carriage, waving at me to follow her. ¡°Come on, Kei. We have to get going.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± I called out, quickly running over to join her.


    That fight¡­ That book¡­ Everything was still trying to piece itself together in my mind. I couldn¡¯t believe how Lily could just kill all those trolls and not mention another word about it.


    I glanced at the two horses toiling the carriage. There didn¡¯t seem to be anything unusual about them, except for the fact that there was no one at the front of the carriage controlling the horses as you would expect from a normal horse carriage.


    I pushed past the door of the carriage, returning to my seat in front of Lily, and the carriage started moving again.


    Lily was staring outside the window once again, not saying a word. Did she really just not care about all that happened earlier?


    ¡°Uh...¡± I tried to get Lily''s attention. ¡°Lily?¡± I felt like I had to be more careful around her. If she really was the Witch, Lilionel, that I had read about. Then I was probably in a deep load of shit.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Lily flicked a glance at me.


    ¡°Uh¡­ that magic earlier¡­¡± I didn¡¯t know how I was going to ask her the questions I wanted without causing alarm. ¡°You just killed all those trolls¡­¡±


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I didn¡¯t know how to proceed. ¡°Was that¡­ necessary?¡±


    ¡°They were going to kill us if we didn¡¯t kill them.¡± Lily sighed. ¡°I did what was necessary.¡±


    You could had just disarmed them or send them flying away harmlessly if you were that strong! I thought in my mind, but I didn¡¯t say that.


    ¡°Right¡­¡± I nodded as though I was agreeing with her. ¡°That was some powerful magic.¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡± Lily said. ¡°I barely casted a single spell, and they all just died.¡±


    I nodded again as though I could relate to what she was saying. What the hell was she on about? She made those trolls explode from the inside out and wiped any trace of their existence straight out of this planet. How was that ''barely a single spell''?


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Kei.¡± Lily spoke, taking me out of my thoughts. ¡°I will teach you how to defend yourself soon enough.¡±


    ¡°Ah, yeah. That would be good.¡± I said, surprised. I doubted that I would ever be as strong as Lily.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t had just ran at the trolls unarmed.¡± Lily sighed, she raised a hand to her forehead. ¡°I mean, that was very courageous of you, but¡­¡± She glanced down at the side of my seat, and I followed her glance. Leaning by the seat and against the carriage wall was my father¡¯s sword. She had wrapped it with a dark parchment, covering the blade, but still showing the handle. I didn¡¯t even notice it was there.


    ¡°You should had at least taken your sword with you.¡± Lily sighed. ¡°There¡¯s a reason I bought it along for you.¡±


    My father''s sword!


    I reached out to the sword, grabbing it and pulling it closer to me.


    "Thanks, Lily." I said. "That means a lot to¡ª"


    ¡°Do you even know how to wield a sword?¡± Lily asked dubiously, ignoring my gratitude.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I thought back to a time I had spent with my father. I had told him I wanted him to teach me how to use a sword. He had given me a long stare at that moment, then turned away, refusing to teach me. When I asked why, he had just told me that the sword is a tool that only brings misery to the user and those that you use it against. There was no point in learning how to hurt others. Or so he said.


    ¡°Forget it, you don¡¯t have to answer that.¡± Lily said. ¡°You''ll just have to learn.¡±


    ¡°Are you... are you going to teach me how to use a sword?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a sword wielder.¡± Lily shook her head. ¡°I won¡¯t be able to help you with that, Kei.¡±


    ¡°What about magic?¡± I asked. If Lily taught me how to use her magic, then I doubt that I would ever even need a sword. ¡°You could teach me that, right?¡±


    Lily glanced at me again, but this time, she was staring at me for a long time. It felt unnerving, as though she was peering deep inside me. I tried to stay still, allowing her to judge me.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have much affinity for magic.¡± Lily said flatly, closing her eyes after being satisfied with what she saw.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°But, you will be able to use it. There is, at the very least, something there.¡± Lily continued. ¡°I will teach you when we have time.¡±


    ¡°Ah," I relaxed, hearing that. "That¡¯s good to know.¡±


    ¡°I don''t understand how you survived after Balzard attacked your village¡­¡± Lily muttered, thinking to herself as she looked out the window. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be possible¡­¡±


    I nodded my head.


    ¡°That attack should have killed you¡­¡± Lily glanced at me with her lapis lazuli eyes. ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    ¡°W-what are you thinking?¡± I was put off by her stare.


    ¡°Maybe, I should try killing you myself.¡± Lily replied. ¡°To see if you live again.¡±


    ¡°L-Lily?!¡± All my muscles tensed.


    She laughed at my reaction, waving her hand at me. ¡°Just kidding.¡± She had a very childish laugh, in that it was completely pure and genuine. I had never saw someone laugh the way that she did.


    I felt myself blushing, seeing her laugh. ¡°That wasn¡¯t funny¡­¡± I said. But I was actually happy inside to see Lily laugh.


    <hr>


    Eventually, the carriage reached the outskirts of the Rize kingdom, and I was standing by the window, staring intently out at the sight. I had heard stories of how great a sight the kingdom was, and seen pictures drawn in books, but the real sight blew everything out of the waters. The Rize kingdom was a giant city filled with pillars that towered into the sky, and at the centre of it all was the actual palace where the royal family lived, along with the King of Rize.


    Surrounding the palace and filling up most of the city, was the many shops, houses, buildings that lined up endlessly in a magnificent architectural design.


    There was activity going on everywhere that I looked, shops opened, people walking around, dressed in fancy clothing, children running around, cries of joy and chatter. I was beyond amazed, having never witnessed something like this.


    On the other hand, Lily was sitting quietly in her seat, reading a parchment in her hands. She glanced up at me, watching my reaction.


    ¡°You seem amazed.¡± Lily commented.


    ¡°Yeah, of course!¡± I replied. ¡°Come, have a look at this, Lily!¡±


    ¡°No thanks.¡± Lily replied, returning to her parchment. ¡°People disgust me.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± I gave her a confused look, then shrugged, turning back to the window.


    Knights, cladded in heavy armour, walked past the streets, surveying the area. I stared at them, amazed. This was the first time I was seeing a knight before. You had to undergo rigorous training for years to become a knight. They were the foundation that supported any army, and were highly respected by normal citizens.


    My father used to be a knight, fighting for the Rize Kingdom. He had never mentioned much about the stories of his time as a knight.


    Although, the streets seemed festive and joyful, I noticed a number of homeless people scattered along the streets. People were walking by them, ignoring the homeless as they begged for scraps. It kind of put a bad taste in my mouth. In my village, we didn¡¯t have any homeless people. Everyone just helped each other out.


    I sat back down on my seat, feeling put off. Lily was still reading her parchment.


    ¡°What are you reading anyways?¡± I asked Lily, trying to forget about the homeless people I saw. ¡°You¡¯ve been staring at it for a while now.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a request from the King of Rize.¡± Lily said. ¡°Apparently, there¡¯s a demon that has infiltrated the city. He wants me to find the demon and kill it.¡±


    "A demon?" I stared at her, alert.


    This was it... my chance to practice fighting a real demon...


    Lily glanced in my direction, seeing the expression on my face. "Don''t be so excited, Kei. Or you''re going to end up making a fool of yourself again."


    "I-I''m not..." I lied.


    "Listen, Kei." Lily said, placing the parchment down on her side. "I don''t want you to fight anything until you get some proper training first."


    I nodded. What she said sounded reasonable. But there was a part of me that just wanted to find something to unleash my anger at.


    "By the way, did you say you got a personal request from the King of Rize?" I tried to change the topic, chuckling. "That''s a good one, Lily." Then I stared at her for a few seconds. She stared back at me blankly. She wasn''t joking.


    ¡°Normally, I wouldn¡¯t do these types of requests unless it¡¯s something interesting.¡± Lily continued, glaring at me. ¡°However, I thought we could get some useful information from the demon about Balzard. Not to mention, we¡¯re going to at least get paid handsomely even if we don¡¯t get any useful information. The king has attached a heavy reward to this request, moreso than any other request he¡¯s asked from me in the past. Probably because he¡¯s getting desperate.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t believe that Lily was actually getting personal requests from the King of Rize. You would have to be someone extremely important to get a direct request from the king. Could she really be the Lilionel that I read about? I mean, everything seemed to be pointing at that conclusion at the moment¡­The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    I stared at Lily, watching her carefully. There was no way anyone could tell she was powerful enough to slay six trolls in the blink of an eye just from her appearance. She was short-statured and had a body that almost resembled a child. Her chest was undeveloped, but her face was extremely pretty. She was no doubt¡­ cute¡­


    There was also that strange symbol underneath her right eye that I never asked her about. It was a black imprint that didn¡¯t detract away from her beauty.


    If you had to ask me, I would say that she looked entirely harmless. But the truth was far from that.


    I sighed. Maybe I should just straight up ask her¡­ but it wasn¡¯t like she was going to tell me the truth anyway¡­


    ¡­


    Well, I guess it was worth a try.


    ¡°Hey, Lily¡­¡± I started.


    ¡°Yes, Kei?¡±


    ¡°I just wanted to ask y¡ª¡±


    The carriage halted, coming to a peaceful stop. She glanced away from me and at the door, getting up from her seat.


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± She announced, unlocking the carriage door and opening it. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± Dammit. I didn¡¯t get to ask her. Oh well. I will just ask her later.


    I followed her out the carriage, squinting as the sunlight hit my face. The carriage window deflected much of the light, so it was a while since I had faced direct sunlight.


    We were standing in front of an inn, that was quite poor in quality. In contrast to the other inns I saw along the way, this was probably the worse. There was very little people around the inn, and this part of the city was also less extravagant than the other sections.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to be staying here tonight.¡± Lily said, confirming my suspicion.


    ¡°Uh¡­ it¡¯s great.¡± I said, trying to be enthusiastic.


    ¡°No need to put up an act.¡± Lily sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t like it too. I¡¯m used to living back at my castle.¡±


    I almost forgot that Lily owned and lived in a castle all by herself. Compared to me, who lived in a village house with a fireplace as a luxury, this must be a lot worse for her.


    I started heading inside the inn, but Lily stopped me.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± She asked, grabbing onto my shoulder.


    ¡°Uh, inside?¡± I replied.


    She indicated at the back of the carriage with her head. ¡°You need to carry your master¡¯s stuff into the room first. There isn¡¯t going to be anyone at this inn that will help us carry it.¡±


    "Ugh..."


    I guess this was the price of the Blood Pact.


    I tried to make another joke.


    "Lily, what if we took turns carrying your stuff?"


    "Took turns?"


    <hr>


    There were two large visible bumps on the top of my head due to the ass kicking I received from Lily. Fortunately, she didn¡¯t use any of her magic on me, otherwise I would had probably been dead.


    I was now carrying her stuff inside the inn. This was probably the fourth trip I¡¯ve taken, due to the amount of stuff she was carrying. It was also the last of her stuff, so I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that I wouldn¡¯t have to do the trip again.


    Our room was located at the third floor of the inn, and the stairs were making this into quite a heavy workout. Luckily, I was used to carrying heavy things at the village.


    I pushed the door to our room open and saw Lily lying on her stomach atop of the bed, her feet resting comfortably in the air. She was eating some snacks she had in her bags, and was still reading the parchment, which I now realised contained a map of the city, with certain parts highlighted. Probably where the demon was rumoured to be.


    I dropped her bags onto the ground. ¡°Your bags are here¡­¡± I said. Lily glanced at me, waiting. ¡°Master¡­¡± I finished reluctantly.


    That was what she made me call her when she was beating the crap out of me.


    ¡°Good.¡± Lily said, closing her parchment and wrapping it up in a roll. ¡°Let¡¯s get going now.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± I said, surprised. ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    ¡°I told you that we had some errands to run.¡± Lily got off the bed, placing the parchment inside her cloak. ¡°We still have time left in the day.¡±


    "Sure, no problem."


    I was about to follow her lead and leave the room, when she stopped me.


    ¡°Hey, aren¡¯t you forgetting something?¡± Lily asked.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    Lily sighed, resting her forehead on her fingers. ¡°Kei¡­ you need to carry your sword, wherever you go¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh, right...¡±


    I rubbed the back of my head, feeling embarrassed.


    I was not used to Lily¡¯s style of thinking. Back at the village, we never ran into any threat or harm so there was no need to carry a weapon. I guess I had to get used to it now.


    I turned around, running to a stack of bags where I had dropped Lily¡¯s stuff. I pulled the sword out of the mess, almost falling into the pile as I did so.


    S-shit.


    I underestimated the weight of the sword.


    I could hear Lily sighing behind me.


    Quickly, I strapped the sword to my back, then joined Lily by her side at the door. I was making myself look like such an idiot in front of her. I felt my cheeks flushing at my side.


    ¡°Are you sure you can even carry your sword?¡± Lily asked suspiciously.


    "O-of course!"


    I hated looking like an idiot. Especially, in front of Lily.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go then.¡± Lily turned around, leaving the room and I followed her, trailing behind her back as we headed down the stairs and out of the inn. The innkeeper, a strange old man, gave us a nod as we walked out. Lily ignored him, but I gave the innkeeper a short nod back. I was used to acknowledging everyone I passed, as a habit from my life at the village.


    We joined the handful of people out on the street as we walked along a path. Where to, I did not know.


    ¡°Hey, Lily, when do you think I''ll be ready to fight a demon?¡± I asked her from behind.


    "It depends."


    "On what?"


    "When you can learn to carry a sword without falling over."


    "H-hey, I can carry the sword fine." My face was getting red again. I raised the sword up slightly from my back to show her that I could carry it with one hand. "I just wasn''t used to the weight! It surprised me, that''s all!"


    Lily wasn''t looking, she was looking straight ahead as she walked.


    "Hey, Lily! You''re not looking! See, I can carry the sword!"


    She still didn''t look. It seemed as though she was purposely not looking to get me riled up.


    "Lily!"


    <hr />


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Lily announced, stopping in front of a shop.


    I peered into the shop, there were displays of armoury at the window. All of which were made in different shapes and colours. Some didn¡¯t even seem like it could fit a human.


    Lily had already walked inside the shop, so I quickly entered as well, pushing past the door as it rang a bell announcing our entry.


    Surprisingly, the shop was empty, and we were immediately greeted by whom I can only presume to be the shopkeeper.


    ¡°Welcome!¡± A voice that seemed way too high-pitched for a guy greeted us, then appeared a befitting owner of the voice from behind the counter. A muscular yet androgynous guy, with feminine mannerisms. ¡°How are you lovely darlings doing on this fine evening?¡± He asked, feverishly approaching us.


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± I wanted to grab Lily and get the hell out of here, but Lily didn¡¯t seem to mind the shopkeeper.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to get some armour for my partner here.¡± Lily said, indicating at me to the shopkeeper.


    I was surprised she called me partner. I would had definitely thought she would call me ¡®servant¡¯ or ¡®slave¡¯.


    ¡°Oh, is that right?¡± The shopkeeper said, squeezing his palms together. He must had thought that it would make him seem feminine, but it only seemed to flex his bulging muscles. ¡°I will see what I can do for this young gentlemen.¡±


    He walked over to me, much to my dismay, and I inched away as best as I could without seeming impolite but it was futile. Without any sense of personal space, the shopkeeper grabbed me by my shoulders, pulling me towards him, as he took my measurements with just his eye.


    It was impressive, but I was too distracted by the horrible feeling of being touched by him to care.


    ¡°Oh my, you have very lovely arms.¡± The shopkeeper said, lifting my arm up against my will. ¡°Sturdy, solid. You have indeed not lived an easy life.¡±


    I laughed queasily. Please. Just let me go.


    I glanced at Lily, praying to her for help, but she didn¡¯t seem to notice my discomfort. She was staring at the shopkeeper with a serious expression, waiting for him to finish his measurements.


    Finally, the shopkeeper set me free, and I breathed out in joy, despite my body feeling dirty and tainted. ¡°S-so, what¡¯s the verdict?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You¡¯re slightly smaller than the guests that normally come to our shop, but I think I have just the thing!¡± The shopkeeper said cheerfully as he hopped to the back of the store, from where we saw him come out from earlier.


    It didn¡¯t take long before he came back out, holding onto a set of golden armoury. The design was intricate, and I could even see my own reflection off the surface of the armour. I looked at the armour in awe.


    ¡°Try it on!¡± The shopkeeper urged.


    I picked up the chest piece, letting it slide down on top of me, until it fit perfectly. The armour shielded everything completely, leaving not a single space unprotected.


    ¡°We should get this!¡± I turned to Lily, while looking down at the armour, impressed.


    Lily didn¡¯t seem convinced, her eyes staring at the armour skeptically. She walked up to me, tapping onto the armour softly with her knuckles. It made a clanging noise, reflecting the sturdiness of the armour.


    ¡°How much is this?¡± Lily asked.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± The shopkeeper picked up a book from his counter, staring at the contents. ¡°It usually sells for $1,500,000, but I¡¯ll give it to you for $1,350,000.¡±


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Lily made a face that said it was too much for her, shocking me.


    Isn¡¯t she supposed to be rich or something? She lived in a freaking castle! And she gets personal requests from the King of Rize all the time!


    ¡°Do you have another set of armour?¡± Lily asked, glancing around the store. ¡°Something less expensive?¡±


    ¡°H-hey, Lily,¡± I tried to stop her, ¡°I need something good, you know...? To protect myself¡­¡±


    ¡°I-I can¡¯t afford that.¡± Lily whispered to me, her face reddening. ¡°I¡¯ll get you something else, okay? And I¡¯ll make sure it¡¯s good!¡±


    I gave her a doubtful look, then sighed, taking the armour off my chest. Farewell, expensive golden armour. It was good while it lasted. I returned the armour to the shopkeeper, and he went back to the back of the shop to look for something else.


    ¡°Hmm¡­ how about this one?¡± The shopkeeper emerged holding onto a full-suited silver armour. It was similar to the one worn by the knights I saw. ¡°It goes for $800,000.¡±


    ¡°Something else!¡± Lily immediately replied, hearing the price.


    The shopkeeper went back to the storeroom, and this process repeated for a few more times, until finally¡­


    ¡°Well, I guess the only other thing I have is this second-hand piece of armoury here.¡± The shopkeeper didn¡¯t seem tired, despite Lily¡¯s continued insistence of a different armour. Even, I was getting tired and I wasn¡¯t the one having to carry out a different armour each time. ¡°It might not be the best-looking thing, but¡­ it will probably get the job done¡­ I think¡­¡±


    The shopkeeper held a dusty set of bronze armoury. The colour seemed to be fading on the edges of the armour. I gave the armour a distasteful look.


    ¡°This one¡­ heck, I will give it to you for $1,000.¡± The shopkeeper said, shaking his head. Even he felt ashamed selling us the junk he was holding.


    ¡°Try it on.¡± Lily said to me.


    ¡°Lily¡­¡±


    ¡°Try it on, Kei.¡± Lily turned to me, crossing her arms, pouting.


    I gave a defeated sigh, then took the armour off the shopkeeper, trying my best to wipe the dust off before putting it on.


    The armour came in several pieces, covering the body, elbows and shins. Somehow, even though I was covered, it didn¡¯t feel like I was protected at all. The armour wasn¡¯t the right size, and hung slightly forward off my chest, clanging around as I moved. There were unprotected spaces in various places on the armour, which I guess was the places that were seldom hit¡­ or the designer probably just wanted to save money on construction.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Lily stared at me, as I turned around in a circle unwillingly to show her the armour. ¡°I guess this will have to do.¡±


    The shopkeeper seemed as shocked as me by her statement. ¡°A-are you sure?¡± The shopkeeper asked. ¡°Perhaps you could think about it for a day¡­?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Lily shook her head, ¡°this one will do. We don¡¯t have much time. We¡¯re only staying at the kingdom for a night.¡±


    The shopkeeper opened his mouth to protest, but decided against it. Instead, he turned to me, resting a hand on my shoulder. ¡°Goodluck¡­ for whatever it is, that you guys are planning to do¡­¡± The shopkeeper said to me, then muttered a quick prayer for the dead.


    I¡¯m not even dead yet, you bastard!


    Lily paid for the armour, and we left the store in silence, heading back to our inn. The streets were mostly clear now as shops closed up and people returned home for dinner.


    When we got back to our room, I threw the armour off quickly as it was hurting my shoulder to wear it. It was heavy and didn¡¯t fit me at all. I placed my sword next to the bed, sighing.


    Lily closed the door behind us, locking it, and glanced at me with a frown. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Kei?¡±


    ¡°The armour¡­ it¡¯s annoying to wear¡­¡± I complained, crouching next to the bed and resting my head and arm on the surface.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Lily didn¡¯t say anything, so I didn¡¯t say anything either. She walked up to the bed, placing her robe down on the bed, before heading to the bathroom. The door to the bathroom closed, and I was left by myself.


    I glanced at Lily¡¯s robe. How much money did she even have? I couldn¡¯t believe that all she had was $1,000 to spend when she was that powerful.


    With that thought in mind, I searched her robe for her wallet, eventually finding the pouch that I saw she used to pay for the armour earlier. Opening the pouch, I found¡­


    ¡­


    She had $100.


    Really? Was that all she had left? I couldn¡¯t believe it. I searched her robe some more, but couldn¡¯t find anything else besides the parchment for the king¡¯s request.


    Lily had spent all her money on my armour¡­


    ¡­


    Now, I felt bad for complaining about the armour.


    I placed everything back where I found them, before going back into my thoughts.


    The door to the bathroom opened again when she was done, and she was wearing the negligee I saw her in when I first woke up.


    ¡°I¡¯m done with the bathroom, you can use it now.¡± Lily said, her voice monotone.


    ¡°Hey, Lily.¡± I said. ¡°Listen¡­ I¡¯m sorry about complaining about the armour earlier¡­¡±


    She listened to me quietly.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to make you feel bad¡­¡± I gave her a sincere look. ¡°Sorry¡­¡±


    The silence went on for a while more, before Lily spoke.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Kei.¡± She lifted her head up, smiling at me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± I shook my head. ¡°Thanks, Lily¡­¡±


    <hr>


    After I was done with the showers, Lily was already lying in the covers of the bed, her back facing towards me.


    Hang on¡­ I glanced around the small room. There was only one bed here¡­


    Does this mean we have to sleep together?!


    I stared at Lily¡¯s back, the thin straps of her negligee clutching loosely to her shoulders. One side had fallen further to the side, revealing more of her neck, which made me dizzy.


    Calm down, Kei! Just lie on the bed and pretend everything is normal. Don¡¯t overthink it.


    I stumbled light-headedly to the bed, before sliding into the covers. Lily was on one side of the bed and I was on the other. However, the bed wasn¡¯t that big, and I could feel the warmth of her back next to me.


    She was so close! I could touch her if I just stretched a finger out to her.


    ¡°Candle.¡± Lily said.


    ¡°Huh?¡± I said, breaking out of my thoughts.


    ¡°Turn off the candle.¡± Lily turned to me with an annoyed face. ¡°Do you sleep with the lights on?¡±


    ¡°Oh right¡­¡± I said, then got up from the bed, walking in a zombie-like fashion to the candle and blowing it out, before returning back to the bed.


    It was completely dark now, and I could hear my heart beating like a drum. I wonder if Lily could hear my heart beating. I was staring up at the ceiling, my face red, and my body frozen.


    This was the first time I was sleeping with a girl.


    ¡°If you touch me, I will kill you.¡± Lily said.


    I continued staring at the ceiling, not replying, but I could tell she knew that I heard her and understood. Was this what sleeping with a girl was like?

 Chapter 4 - Demon

    In the end, I didn¡¯t get much sleep after hearing Lily¡¯s threat. On the contrary, Lily slept soundly without any problems. I watched as the sunlight filled the room from the window, hearing birds chirping outside. My eyes had dark circles underneath them, and my nose was dripping because of the cold night. Lily had somehow managed to take the whole blanket for herself during the night, and we only had one due to the cheap quality of the inn.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Lily yawned, picking herself up from the bed, stretching her arms. She seemed well-rested. She glanced at me in surprise, momentarily forgetting that I was in the bed too. ¡°Oh, right, Kei¡­ you were here.¡±


    ¡°Yep.¡± I was clutching onto my sides, trembling from the cold. ¡°I-I am here...¡±


    ¡°You look terrible.¡± Lily commented, getting up from the bed. ¡°Didn¡¯t you get any sleep?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± I said. Thanks to you. I wanted to say, but held my tongue. I didn¡¯t want to get another ass kicking.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to the bathroom.¡± Lily said, then closed the bathroom door behind her.


    I sighed, grabbing onto the blankets that Lily had left on the bed and curling inside them. Ah¡­ it was so warm¡­ I didn¡¯t manage to get to sleep inside the blankets at all the whole night. It felt so comfortable¡­ and¡­ it smelt like Lily¡­


    My face was getting red from the realisation that her scent was all over the blanket. You¡¯re not doing anything perverted, Kei... I tried to cool myself down. You¡¯re just enjoying the warmth after being out in the cold all night¡­ There¡¯s nothing wrong going on here!


    It felt so good that I almost fell asleep, not realising how long I was there for, until the door to the bathroom opened, and I heard Lily¡¯s voice calling out to me from above, causing me to jump.


    ¡°Come on, Kei. We have a long day ahead of us today.¡± She said, standing beside the bed, looking down at me. ¡°You¡¯ve already had a whole night to rest. It should be enough.¡±


    I groaned, pulling myself out of the warm covers of the bed grudgingly. Lily was already dressed in her usual attire, now wrapping her dark cloak around herself. The cloak was big enough to cover her entire body, and had a hood that she could use to hide her hair and face.


    Lily gave me a repulsive look as I stood up from the bed. My hair was sticking out at odd angles and my posture was slanted due to my tiredness. She seemed unsure of whether she should bring me along or not.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯ll be fine¡­¡± I said wearily, but tried to force some enthusiasm. Today was probably the day we were going to look for the demon that has infiltrated the city. There was no way I was going to skip out on going along with Lily. There was so much questions I wanted to ask¡­ like why was my village the one that was attacked¡­?


    An image of my family flashed in my mind, and I felt an intoxicating pain stinging my chest. I pushed the image aside, burying it in the back of my mind, suppressing the emotions that were bubbling to surface.


    ¡°Kei, you okay?¡± Lily blinked at me.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m fine!¡± I laughed, walking into the bathroom.


    <hr>


    We were strolling the noisy, city streets together, me trailing behind Lily as I always did. Another reason why I was behind her was partly because the sword and armour was damn heavy to have on. It was taking a lot of effort for me to keep up to pace with Lily, but I didn¡¯t want her to complain about me lagging behind.


    She was pacing the streets with her head down, reading the map portion of the king¡¯s parchment intently. People that passed by glanced down at her curiously, as they moved out of her way, since she was almost walking right into people.


    I apologised as those that moved out of her way walked past me.


    Did she even know where she was going? I stared at Lily¡¯s back, sighing. There were times where she would abruptly change direction or walk back to a place where we had already been before. I was beginning to have my doubts.


    ¡°Hey, Lily,¡± I called out to her from behind, ¡°do you need help with the map? Maybe I¡ª¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Lily snapped, without taking her eyes off the map. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I can read a map without requiring assistance.¡±


    ¡°Suit yourself.¡± I shrugged.


    After several more wrong turns and dead-ends, we stopped in front of a large tavern at the corner of the city. The place looked extremely popular, there were lots of people walking in and out of the tavern. Those that walked out looked extremely cheery, their faces red, laughing in a group.


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Lily said, rolling the parchment back inside her cloak.


    ¡°Interesting¡­¡± I said, watching a group of drunk men walking out. ¡°Lily, are you sure about¡ª¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m certain!¡± Lily snapped at me. ¡°Now, let¡¯s go in.¡±


    I shrugged, following her lead as she walked towards the entry of the tavern. A tall, muscular man in fitted black clothing stood by the door of the tavern. He was even bigger than the shopkeeper we saw yesterday.


    As we tried to enter the tavern, the man stopped us, raising his arm to block the door.


    ¡°We would like to enter the tavern please.¡± Lily said, speaking in her polite aristocrat demeanour. It was the same way she spoke to me when I first met her. Oh, how quickly I found out it was all a persona.


    I could see a sword tucked onto the side of the man¡¯s belt. He had a long scar running down his face and a serious expression that said he meant business.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± The man refused to budge in front of Lily. ¡°No children allowed.¡±


    ¡°C-c-c-children?¡± Lily¡¯s persona was immediately shattered, her shoulders stiffening and her face lighting up like a tomato.


    The man glanced down at Lily. He was about twice her height, and had a good few inches above me too. He shook his head solemnly. ¡°This isn¡¯t a place for kids. You should go somewhere else.¡±


    ¡°I-I¡¯m not a child¡ª¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m serious.¡± The man interrupted, his face unmoving. ¡°You need to leave before I get your parents over here.¡±


    Lily¡¯s face darkened, her fists shaking by her side. I could tell she was about to explode. Even I was getting scared, standing by her side. I had never seen her this mad before, besides the time I accidentally fell into her chest.


    ¡°Haha, listen, man, you really don¡¯t want to get her mad,¡± I laughed anxiously, trying to step in between the two of them, ¡°just let us through, we won¡¯t cause any trouble.¡±


    ¡°You can go in, but she can¡¯t.¡± The man pointed down at Lily. ¡°There¡¯s a playground for kids a few streets away, I suggest you take this young lady there instead.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Lily raised her head sharply, her eyes murderous. She took heavy steps past the man, ignoring his warning, and the man tried to grab her, surprised.


    ¡°Hey, you can¡¯t go in¡ª¡±


    The man never got to finish what he was about to say. Before his fingers could even touch Lily¡¯s shoulder, he was immediately blown into the opposite direction with an ungodly amount of force. The air barrier broke, as though an explosion had gone off, and I covered my body with my arms to avoid the aftershock, watching in horror as the man was flung faster than a bullet into a building that was on the opposite side of the tavern.


    His body easily smashed through the concrete wall of the building, flying through the interior and out again on the other side of the building, pummeling through each wall he collided into as he disappeared in the blink of an eye. I couldn¡¯t even tell if he ever stopped.


    My eyes were wide open, witnessing what just occurred. He was thrown so fast, that even though the streets were crowded with people, no one saw what happened besides me, who was watching the man from the start. The ground was broken in violently from the pathway that he travelled, creating a long straight line that traced his flight.


    Was he even still alive? How was that even possible?! My mind was in disbelief as I followed Lily into the tavern. I could hear hysterical voices from behind me, as people gathered at the first building he crashed through, confused as to what happened. Luckily, no one knew it was us.


    Inside the tavern, the place was filled with people of many different background. Some were villagers, adventurers, plainly dressed nobles, and there were even a couple of off-duty knights sitting at the bar. All I could hear was the noise of people chattering, laughing, and moving.


    Lily was walking ahead of me, still in a bad mood.


    ¡°H-hey, Lily! Wait up!¡± I called amidst the deafening crowd.


    To my surprise, Lily stopped, turning to face me with her arms crossed. She waited for me to reach her.


    I pushed past a crowd of people, stopping in front of her. ¡°Thanks for waiting, I¡ª¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to search upstairs, you stay down here!¡± Lily shouted into my ear.


    I winced, covering my ears and nodding, showing her that I understood.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go anywhere!¡± Lily warned, before flinging around, tossing her hair as she stomped up the stairs of the tavern, where there was an even bigger crowd gathered.


    God damn, she seemed pissed. Whoever got in her way today was going to have a bad time.


    I sighed, feeling useless. Did Lily really just want me to stand here and wait for her? I thought she was going to take me along with her to find the demon. I didn¡¯t want to just stand around and do nothing all day.


    I glanced around the busy tavern, taking note of my surrounding. Well¡­ I might as well just make sure there was nothing suspicious going on down here. It wasn¡¯t like I had anything else better to do.


    Walking to the bar, I placed myself discretely next to the group of off-duty knights I saw earlier, trying my best to listen in onto their conversation. Maybe I could get some useful information from them. Their helmets were off, but they were still wearing the full-suited silver armour that was signatory for knights, the Rize symbol printed on their shoulders.


    ¡°¡ªand so, I told her that I was going to be sent off with a thousand other troops to Leighton to secure an important military point for the Rize kingdom, and could you guess what she said next?¡±


    ¡°What? Please tell me you at least got laid.¡±


    ¡°No! In fact, she just exploded and said that she didn¡¯t know why I was going over there anyways! She said something like ¡®that¡¯s not even part of Rize territory¡¯! I mean, could you believe that? I¡¯m doing this for the Rize kingdom, and all I get in return is one ungrateful woman!¡±


    ¡°What?! That¡¯s outrageous!¡±


    ¡°I know, right? Days like that makes me wonder what I am doing all this for.¡±


    ¡°Hey, hey. Don¡¯t forget this is all for the prosperity of the Rize kingdom!¡±


    ¡°Hear, hear!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s those damn women that don¡¯t understand anything! Dying in the name of Rize on the battlefield is the greatest honour for us knights!¡±


    Glasses clinked in unison, as the knights downed their beers together.


    I took a moment to digest the information I heard.


    From what it sounded like, Rize was trying to expand their territory at the moment. Leighton was a neutral city between the borders of Rize and Lunthia. It was probably a pre-emptive move in anticipation of the war with the other two kingdoms; Lunthia and Azrael. The thought scared me as it meant that the war tension was escalating at a faster rate than I had imagined. If there was another Great War¡­ the world of Zenora would most likely suffer heavily.


    The first and only Great War that occurred over 500 years ago between the three kingdoms ended up as a total catastrophe. As Lily said the other time, more than half the world¡¯s population was wiped out meaninglessly in a fruitless struggle for power. Pictures of the war I had seen in books showed a permanently darkened sky, raging intolerable weather conditions, and land that was devoid of life, and instead ran an endless stream of blood and disfigured corpses.


    The effects of the war could still be felt today, despite how long ago it had been.


    ¡­


    Could a second Great War really be on its way?


    Someone tapped my shoulder as I was deep in thought, and I turned around to see a girl with burning red eyes meeting my gaze. Dark, jet-black hair fell past her ears, running down to her shoulder bones. She was dressed in a gothic lolita-type outfit; her blouse revealing a healthy dose of cleavage, and her frilly skirt stopped above her knees. Long, black stockings, made of an almost transparent material, ran up her delicate legs. She was also wearing similar elbow-lengthed gloves that matched the rest of her attire.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.


    ¡°Hey¡­¡± The girl spoke with a playful smile. Her scarlet lips were contrasted by her snow-white skin. She was very pretty. ¡°Are you Kei?¡±


    I paused, slowly turning my body to face her. ¡°How do you know my name? Do I know you¡­?¡±


    ¡°So, you are Kei¡­¡± The girl mused, then glanced around her as though looking for someone. ¡°Listen, Kei¡­ um¡­ could you come with me, please?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I gave her a disbelieving look.


    She leaned towards me, surprising me, and I edged away, but she moved closer. That was when I realised she was leaning to my ear.


    ¡°Are you here to look for a demon?¡± She whispered, her warm breath touching the skin of my ear.


    I glanced at her, surprised and cautious. ¡°How do you know?¡±


    ¡°I can tell you where to find the demon.¡± She leaned back, that same playful smile still dancing around on her face. ¡°You just have to come with me.¡±


    I hesitated, thinking about her proposal. Lily told me to stay put¡­ and more to the point, I didn¡¯t trust this girl at all.


    ¡°No thanks, I¡¯m waiting for someone.¡± I said.


    She sighed. ¡°I guess I have to do this the hard way.¡±


    I raised my eyebrows, but was quickly shocked when she reached out to me, grabbing my arm with both her hands.


    ¡°H-hey¡ª!¡± I tried to push her off me, but she was surprisingly strong. She hugged my arm, pulling me towards her chest as she led me forcefully away from the bar. I could feel her chest pressing up against my arm. It was making me dizzy.


    ¡°L-let go of me!¡± My face was red, trying to pull away but it was futile. She was freaking strong! It was like trying to tug away at a machine. ¡°Where are you taking me?!¡±


    No one at the tavern was taking notice of what was happening. It was too loud and too chaotic to call out for help.


    ¡°I¡¯m taking you to safety.¡± The girl said. ¡°You¡¯re not safe with that person.¡±


    That person¡­ who was she talking about? Could she be talking about Lily?


    ¡°You saw what she did with your own eyes. You should know very clearly what she¡¯s capable of.¡± The girl said, her eyes looking ahead as she led me towards the exit of the tavern. ¡°Unless, that is¡­ you want to end up like the guy she killed just then.¡±


    ¡°Y-you saw that?¡±


    ¡°Uh-huh.¡± She nodded, glancing around again. ¡°We have to go, quick.¡±


    The sunlight hit my eyes, as we left the tavern. The noise of the crowd inside faded from my ears, replaced instead, by the sound of the bustling streets. There were knights gathered around, inspecting the damage that was done from what Lily did to the tavern¡¯s security guard.


    ¡°I really need to go back inside¡ª¡± I tried to say, but instead what happened next took me completely by surprise.


    The girl braced her knees for a brief moment, before leaping into the air, pulling me with her. I gasped, but instantly lost my breath. The ground left my feet, and an immense force pulled me upwards, feeling as though my innards was crushing, as the cold wind fluttered past us. All the blood in my body rushed to my head from the force at which she jumped.


    We were flying into the air at a rapid rate, and the streets quickly became an obscure part of the Rize kingdom as the city turned into an aerial view. I could see the entire city from the top-down, the royal palace of Rize in all its glory at the center of everything.


    I waved my arm and legs uselessly in the air, flailing around involuntarily. The girl pulled me closer to her, keeping me from falling down to my death.


    Suddenly, we were plummeting downwards, heading towards the outskirts of the Rize kingdom. My heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest. It was an experience I had never felt before.


    ¡°ARGH¡ª!!¡± I clenched my teeth as hard as I could, the wind felt icy and harsh, hurling past my body and pulling at my skin. The view of a forest at the edge of Rize was quickly expanding in my vision, as though I was staring into a magnifying glass that was constantly enlarging.


    We were heading down to a clearing in the forest, crashing down from the sky at an alarming rate.


    The ground hit my feet hard, and I fell down, feeling the girl release her grip off my arm. I rolled onto the grassy ground, my heart was pounding inside my chest, my breathing uneven and frantic.


    ¡°Geez, it¡¯s okay.¡± The girl said. She landed on her feet without any problem, now watching me with pitiful eyes as I was bent on all fours, my face staring at the ground. I was trying to recover my breath. ¡°You¡¯re fine now.¡± She said.


    ¡°I-I¡­¡± I exhaled, sweat dripping down my chin. The adrenaline was still flowing inside my body, and my ears were pounding from the blood rushing to my head. ¡°W-where¡­ where did you take me¡­?¡±


    I lifted my head up slowly, still not fully recovered, and glanced at my surroundings. We seemed to be in a forest outside the Rize kingdom. There were tall trees encircling us, their branches sheltering some of the sunlight.


    ¡°We¡¯re outside the Rize kingdom.¡± The girl said. ¡°I thought you said you wanted to find the demon.¡±


    I raised my head up, hearing the word demon. ¡°Y-you¡­¡± My breathing was slowly going back to normal. I was trying to recollect my thoughts. ¡°How did you jump like that?¡±


    She ignored my question, now turning her back on me. She was looking down at her hand, lifting it up to inspect it. ¡°Lilionel won¡¯t find us here.¡± She muttered, pulling her long black gloves off her hand, dropping it to the ground.


    I stopped. ¡°You know Lily?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± She said, then nothing.


    ¡­


    I was getting a bad feeling from this.


    ¡°Where is the demon you said you would take me to?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Here.¡±


    She turned around, her petite hand raised in the air. It had perfect skin, much like her face.


    I waited cautiously, but nothing happened.


    I was about to open my mouth to say something when suddenly, a small bubble expanded underneath the skin of her forearm, before disappearing back into flesh.


    I blinked. Did I imagine that or¡­?


    Another bubble expanded on her hand, but this time it didn¡¯t disappear. ¡°H-hey¡­¡± I said, but lost my voice as I saw what happened next. The bubble exploded, gushing blood down onto the ground. But that wasn¡¯t all. More and more bubbles were now rapidly surfacing on the skin of her exposed arm as though her skin was boiling right off.


    ¡°W-wha¡­¡± The words couldn¡¯t come out of my lips.


    The shape of her arm was violently twisting, stretching and wrenching in horrifying, impossible angles. The once perfect skin on her arm was melting off her flesh, dripping onto the ground like candle wax. What took form instead was a grotesquely deformed arm, with giant claws instead of nails.


    ¡°Your¡­¡± I raised a shaky finger, pointing at her arm.


    ¡°Oh, this?¡± The girl stared down at her arm. ¡°Try not to be too alarmed.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean¡­?¡± I edged away from her slowly. ¡°Who¡­ what are you?¡±


    She sighed, closing her eyes for a second, then reopened them. Instead of the burning red eyes she had on earlier, they were now inhumanely blood red, seemingly alive with a distinct eerie glow, illuminated by a sinister presence.


    My heart froze, seeing her eyes. For some reason, they were even more frightening than her horribly disfigured arm. It was like the atmosphere around us completely changed at the same time her eyes changed colours. The once chirping noise of birds and insects, and wing swaying past, disappeared, replaced by a tense, deathly silence.


    ¡°I¡¯m Zoel.¡± She said tonelessly, taking slow steps towards me. Her mutant arm was hanging loosely by her side. ¡°A demon.¡±


    At that moment, a pair of terrifying dark-feathered wings exploded from her back, sending black feathers and dark red blood into the air behind her. The wings extended out from her shoulder blades at a wide distance, covered in sticky blood, as though stretching, before fluttering behind her, causing the wind to blow out chillingly in a circle, sending even more blood splashing into the ground.


    There was a ominous aura emitting from her, keeping me from moving and paralysing me with an illusionary fear. Was this... was this a demon''s aura?


    I had felt the same thing too when I saw Balzard for the first time.


    My eyes moved slowly to the sword at my back.


    Fuck.


    I have to move!


    She was approaching me slowly, step by step. Her face as cold as ice.


    But, I couldn''t move my body. It felt like I had lost control of myself. Now a passenger in the vehicle that was my mind.


    She stood in front of me, towering over my frozen body that was lying on my behind, my arms keeping me up. I was staring up at her unmoving because of the aura she emitted.


    "I''ll make this quick." She muttered, staring down at me with hollow eyes.


    "...!"


    Her claw came rushing down at my face, and time seemed to slow, my view blurring in front of me.


    Was this it? Was this how I was going to die?


    She disintegrated in front of me, as the blurring worsened.


    What the¡­?


    ¡­


    Was I dead?


    ¡­.


    Gradually, my view returned, although everything still seemed blurry. My surroundings had changed. I looked around, confused. I was at the river where I gathered water for my family, and I could feel water streaming past my ankles, the rocky surface of the ground underneath my feet. Everything felt so real¡­ what was this¡­?


    ¡°Kei!¡±


    A voice called out to me, and I turned around.


    I couldn¡¯t believe my eyes at who I saw.


    Shoulder-lengthed black hair and brown eyes. An innocent face of a girl that had not experienced much of life¡¯s cruelty.


    It was Ali!


    She was holding a bucket in her hand, looking at me with a confused expression.


    ¡°Why are you just standing there, Kei?¡± Ali asked me. ¡°We¡¯re never going to fill the buckets if you don¡¯t help out.¡±


    I glanced down at my hands to see that I was holding two wooden buckets.


    I quickly looked back up at Ali, my mouth gaping. I threw the buckets away, running up to her as best as I could against the stream of the river.


    ¡°Kei¡ª?¡± She started to say, but gasped as I reached her and pulled her into a tight hug, refusing to let go.


    ¡°Ali! I thought you were dead!!¡± I shouted, tears gathering at my eyes. ¡°I¡¯m so glad to see you!¡±


    ¡°I-I¡­¡± Ali blushed, glancing away. ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you, Kei¡­?¡±


    ¡°I had this dream that the whole village was destroyed by a demon! I was then saved by this girl that was a powerful sorceress, a-and I made this weird contract with her to get revenge for you! Then, we went to the Rize kingdom, and somehow I was going to be killed by this demon girl!¡± I was speaking rapidly, the tears now streaming down my face uncontrollably. ¡°I-I¡¯m so happy it was just a dream!¡±


    Ali listened to me, letting me say everything that I wanted, then smiled gently. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Kei¡­ Everything¡¯s okay now¡­¡±


    I sniffed, unable to control my emotions, burrowing my face into her shoulder. ¡°I-I¡­ I¡¯m just so happy to see you again¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m always going to be with you, Kei¡­¡± Ali said softly. ¡°You¡¯re my brother... We¡¯re always going to be connected¡­ no matter what¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    Suddenly, Ali was blown away from me. The space in between us was distorting, the surroundings disappearing at a rapid rate. I lost my hold of her and I tried desperately to grab at her hand. My body was flying into the air, being tugged away at the opposite direction from her.


    ¡°Ali!!¡± I screamed at the top of my lungs.


    ¡°Kei!¡± She reached out with her hand, frightened and shocked. A strong force was pulling her away from me. I managed to grab onto her fingers, clutching onto them as tight as I could, but the force was unimaginably powerful. I felt excruciating pain all over my body as I grabbed onto Ali, but I still didn¡¯t let go.


    ¡°W-what¡¯s happening?!¡± Ali cried. Her body was up in the air, being pulled away.


    ¡°I-I¡­¡± I glanced around, the river had disappeared into a blur as though we were travelling at the speed of light. ¡°I-I don¡¯t know!¡±


    I looked back up at her, and she was gone.


    ¡°Ali!!¡±


    I felt myself rushing backwards, my view turning into a blur of green, until a forest appeared in place of the green, and I was back at the ground, watching Zoel''s claw flying into my face.


    ¡°AHH¡ª!!¡± I reached behind me, grabbing onto the handle of my father¡¯s sword and pulling it out, an insurmountable rage, that I didn¡¯t know I had, surging from within.


    Zoel¡¯s face flashed a look of surprise, and I swung the sword, deflecting her attack, then pushed myself off the ground, swinging the sword at her.


    She grabbed the blade in between the fingertips of her human hand, stopping it from reaching her. My hands were shaking as I pushed as hard as I could, but was unable to move it a single inch. I screamed, continuing to push the sword down, but it wouldn¡¯t budge.


    Zoel stared into my eyes curiously. ¡°Interesting¡­¡±


    ¡°I-I¡¯m going to kill you!!¡± I shouted between clenched teeth, glaring at her with an intoxicating look. ¡°I-I will kill you!!¡±


    Zoel pushed the blade away, sending me flying backwards into the air.


    I crashed into the tree behind me, snapping its giant trunk, and continued flying further backwards, unable to stop myself. My back continued smashing into trees painfully, but I could barely feel it against my anger.


    In front of me, I saw Zoel rushing towards me, her wings stretched, and her monstrous arm preparing to strike. She was travelling at a faster rate than I was flying back.


    Her claws rushed at my face, and I swung the sword, deflecting the blow. Her arm came again from the other side, and I met it with another swing of my sword, while flying in the air. The blade clashed with her claws, creating a sharp clanging noise.


    ¡°Tsk.¡± Zoel¡¯s eyes darkened, seeing that I was blocking her attacks. She mumbled something to herself and a shining red light appeared atop the palm of her human hand. The ball of light spun around violently, becoming a ball of flame in the span of a second.


    My eyes widened as she threw the ball of flame at me. I placed my sword in front of me, trying to block the attack, but the ball of flame caught onto my sword, quickly spreading to my entire body.


    ¡°ARGHH¡ª!!¡± I screamed. The fire was burning me everywhere, both the outside and inside. It was a scorching pain that sent blinding white flashes into my vision, hotter than anything I had ever felt before.


    Zoel flew closer to me, kicking me downwards with her heel.


    The power of her kick felt like a giant wrecking ball had dropped on me. I felt all the air in my lungs leaving my body, and I couldn¡¯t even gasp. The path of my trajectory quickly changed, shooting downwards with the movement of her kick


    I crashed into the ground, breaking the surface, sending pieces of the ground flying into the air, and slid further still, the ground tearing where I moved. Eventually stopping at a far distance from where I first crashed.


    I was still covered in flames, every cell of my body screaming at me to run away.


    Zoel landed a few feet away from me, watching me.


    I pushed myself up from the ground with all my energy, still clutching onto my sword as tight as I could. Despite the flames burning my entire body, there were only scratches on my body. The scratches went from the tip of my head to my toes, and blood was seeping out of the wounds.


    Zoel seemed impressed. ¡°You¡¯re still alive?¡± She glanced at the fire covering my body. ¡°You should have burnt to a crisp by now.¡±


    ¡°I-I said I was going to kill you¡­¡± I panted. The loss of blood was making me dizzy. Half my face was covered with blood. I could feel it seeping down from my hair and over my face. The fire on my body was gradually dying down.


    In my mind, I was trying to form a plan, glancing over her body for a sign of weakness, but seeing none.


    How the hell was I going to win against her?! She was so freaking strong! I couldn¡¯t even manage to get a scratch on her!


    Was this the power of a true demon¡­? Did I already give out everything I had in me¡­?


    No¡­


    I couldn¡¯t give up now. I couldn¡¯t just die here. I still had to avenge my family!


    I gripped firmly to the handle of my father¡¯s sword, bracing myself with the last remaining resolve I could muster.


    ¡°You still want to keep going?¡± Zoel sighed, then raised her human hand to eye level. Her eyes were suddenly very serious. ¡°Well¡­¡± A dark ball of demonic energy was materialising inside her hand, bending the dim rays of sunlight that passed through. ¡°Playtime¡¯s over.¡±


    I squinted at her hand, and felt my heart drop.


    A sphere of pure blackness was constructing itself out of thin air inside her hand. It was nothing like the ball of flame that she threw at me earlier. This¡­. was the real deal¡­ It was her true power. There was no doubt about it. I could sense an overwhelming killing intent emitting from Zoel¡¯s aura, unlike anything I had witnessed before. Sparks of destructive lightning cracked into existence, engulfing the ball with more power as Zoel whispered words I couldn¡¯t understand, her eyes closed in concentration.


    The ground suddenly jolted violently, and I lost my balance for a second before picking myself back up as fast as I could. I gapped to see that the ground was breaking beneath Zoel¡¯s feet, cracking as Zoel continued channeled her spell. All the wind in the area was being sucked into the black sphere, the giant trees bending, as the energy in her sphere continued to build up.


    I stabbed my sword deep into the ground, clutching onto the handle with both hands, to keep me from flying into the air. It was taking all of my strength to hold my position. The force was insanely tremendous!


    ¡°ARGH¡ª!!¡± My teeth was clenched, veins popping from my muscles. I could hardly even keep my eyes open, as the wind cut past my body, leaving deep scratches across my back. The trees around us was breaking now, flying towards the sphere, ripping entire roots from the depths of the earth, and evaporating into nothingness as it was sucked inside the sphere.


    I couldn¡¯t do anything but watch helplessly as the sphere reached the pinnacle of its power, and Zoel¡¯s eyes snapped open, now glowing even brighter than before, in its otherworldly vivid blood red colour.


    At the same moment her eyes opened, the sphere blasted out of her hand, flying towards me at the speed of a lightning bolt, tearing everything in its path, even the ground. I couldn¡¯t move out of the way no matter how hard I tried. The absorption force of the sphere was relentless, like she had just summoned a black hole in the form of that dark sphere.


    ¡°ARRRGGHHHH¡ª!!!¡±


    I stared directly into the sphere, feeling nothing but despair.


    This was it.


    There was no way I was going to live through that.


    The sphere came closer and closer until it was right in front of me, destroying all my hopes of survival. Then all of a sudden, a dark hooded figure stepped in the path of the sphere, their lips whispering.


    ¡°Del Tres Efante.¡±


    The figure raised their palm to face the demonic sphere of energy, and the sphere crashed into their palm, instantly vaporising from existence. The absorption force abruptly dissipated along with it, and the whirling wind around us stopped, turning into a calm, gentle breeze.


    ¡°Y-you¡ª¡± Zoel had a look of shock, then her face instantly turned pale with fear, when the figured slowly removed their hood, letting bluish hair with a silver tinge drop down to their back and revealing a pair of cold lapis lazuli eyes.


    It was Lily!


    Lily smiled, her eyes now beginning to emit an eerie blue glow.


    ¡°Playtime¡¯s over.¡±

 Chapter 5 - Power

    The part of the forest that we were in looked like a barren wasteland after the magnitude of Zoel¡¯s attack. The once viridescent landscape was now just a heap of blackish dirt and broken ground from where the trees and its roots were ripped off by the absorption force of the sphere. I was still in shock seeing how easily Lily managed to neutralise the sphere of destruction.


    ¡°L-Lily¡­¡± I stammered, staring up at her in awe. ¡°How did you find me¡­?¡±


    ¡°We made a Blood Pact, did you not remember?¡± Lily said, her back turned towards me. ¡°Anyways, I¡¯ll tell you the full story later.¡±


    ¡°A Blood Pact?¡± Zoel¡¯s mouth dropped open in surprise. ¡°You entered into one with him?!¡±


    Zoel glanced in my direction for a second, before her eyes darted to her surroundings, scanning hastily. The expression on her face had completely changed with the appearance of Lily. No longer calm and in control, she looked genuinely fearful.


    ¡°There¡¯s no escape.¡± Lily said flatly. ¡°You should stop wasting your time.¡±


    Zoel glanced away from her surroundings and at Lily instead, clenching her teeth. Her wings fluttered for a brief second, and suddenly, she shot forward at an insane speed. It was way faster than the speed at which I saw her move in our fight.


    She wasn¡¯t charging for Lily though¡­ she was charging at me!


    From the look of her movement, Zoel was trying to swerve past Lily to get at me, and I flinched, bracing myself quickly.


    In the middle of Zoel¡¯s flight, dark lightning engulfed her, and she shot out an energy wave in the path that she was travelling. The wave unleashed at a faster rate than her flight, and at the same time, she used the force of the wave to change her flight path, bouncing upwards into the sky at supersonic speed.


    The dark lightning left her body, following the wave as it bolted towards me, crackling fiercely like a cloud of storm.


    ¡°S-shit!¡±


    I tightened my grip on the handle of my sword, preparing to block the wave of demonic energy.


    But as the wave attempted to swerve past Lily, a loud ringing bang was heard, and the wave stopped dead in its tracks, disintegrating into the air. It was as though there was an invisible barrier surrounding Lily that extended towards me.


    Zoel was already far up into the sky at this point, and it seemed that she had flown too far for us to catch her.


    ¡°S-she¡¯s gone!¡± I said, pacing quickly next to Lily to get a better look at the sky. Zoel had attacked me in order to create a distraction for her to escape. I didn¡¯t think she would actually run away like that, considering how strong Zoel was.


    ¡°No, she¡¯s not.¡± Lily said calmly, but then her face twitched with annoyance, and she glanced sideways at me. ¡°¡­Kei, can you not stand so close to me?... You smell¡­ like blood¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, sorry.¡± I took a few steps away from Lily, feeling confused. Shouldn¡¯t she be focusing on catching the demon and not what I smelt like?


    Lily sighed, then raised her petite hand up in front of her, her palm facing upwards. She let her hand hover in the air for a while, then suddenly, she snapped her hand shut, curling it into a fist, and swung it down.


    At the same time, Zoel¡¯s dotted figure in the sky came rushing downwards, quickly enlarging in my sight, much to my disbelief. Zoel crashed down into the ground in front of Lily, the ground exploding loudly on impact. It was like a meteorite had fallen down.


    ¡°W-what the hell¡ª?!¡± I gapped, shocked by both what just happened and the sudden explosive force of Zoel¡¯s collision.


    Pieces of the ground dropped from the sky, but none of them hit Lily or me. A ring of dust now gathered in the area of Zoel¡¯s landing, but Lily swept her hand across to her side, and the dust was blown aside, leaving a clear view.


    There was a heap of blood where Zoel lied, her body curled up in pain. She was wincing, her eyes squeezed shut, and her shoulders shaking.


    She opened her eyes slowly, looking up at Lily. Her eyes were still vividly blood red.


    ¡°Ugh¡­¡± Zoel picked herself up from the ground, staggering. ¡°So, it¡¯s true after all¡­¡±


    Lily didn¡¯t say anything. She just watched Zoel silently.


    The wounds on Zoel¡¯s body were beginning to heal, sealing themselves up like nothing had happened. My eyes widened, seeing this.


    ¡°H-hey, Lily¡­!¡± I tried to warn her.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡± Lily said, then in a quieter voice. ¡°This is just going to be more fun.¡±


    ¡°Fun¡­?¡± I repeated, confused.


    Even though, the wounds on Zoel¡¯s body was now completely healed. Zoel didn¡¯t look confident at all.


    ¡°T-to have that much power¡­¡± Zoel gazed at Lily with a strange expression, her face pale. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be possible¡­¡±


    Lily smiled playfully. ¡°Wanna try it?¡±


    ¡°Tsk.¡± Zoel clenched her teeth. ¡°I can¡¯t beat you¡­¡±


    The smile on Lily''s face dropped, now looking disappointed. ¡°You haven¡¯t even tried¡­¡±


    ¡°I can see the magical potency inside you. You¡¯re reeking of it.¡±


    ¡°What about now?¡± Lily clicked her fingers, but I didn¡¯t see anything happening.


    Zoel¡¯s face took on a surprised look though. ¡°Y-you¡­ you can even control your mana? To that extent?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s refreshing, right? It¡¯s like facing a normal human.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Come on, you should be feeling much better now.¡±


    Zoel didn¡¯t respond, instead she took a slow step backwards.


    ¡°Are you really going to try to run again?¡± Lily sighed.


    Zoel turned on her heels, and her wings gave one powerful flap, sending her flying into the air. A strong gust of wind blew into us, and I shielded my eyes from the dust storm that followed.


    Lily swiped her hand again, and the dust storm was blown away. Zoel was trying to fly away like before.


    ¡°Zos Es Nilac.¡±


    Lily enunciated each syllable, as she always did when she chanted a spell, her words seemingly to echo. Her eyes began glowing a mystical blue again, and the air around her grew lighter causing her hair to hover.


    I gasped, seeing the blue ethereal swords from the other fight, appearing in the air above Lily, instantly shooting forward as they came into existence. This time they did not wait.


    The swords hurled themselves at Zoel¡¯s direction, travelling at a much faster rate than her flight.


    Zoel turned around in the air, her face grimacing as she saw the swords. She chanted a spell of her own, and a transparent barrier surrounded her, encircling her figure in the sky.


    The first sword slammed into the barrier, breaking it instantly, and Zoel¡¯s eyes widened as she swung her body sharply, narrowly avoiding the sword by the skin of her teeth. The second sword followed, whizzing violently as it pierced into Zoel¡¯s leg and she let out a blood curdling howl.


    She was forced to quickly regain her focus as the third sword came, and Zoel flew downwards, trying to move in a pattern that the swords couldn¡¯t follow. She flew at an insanely fast speed, but the swords were quicker, shooting past her as she mustered all of her strength to dodge their path.


    Some of the swords were missing, and some of them were hitting, piercing through her wings and limbs and spraying blood everywhere. Zoel swung her demonic arm at a sword that she could not dodge, trying to deflect it, but it pierced her arm, almost going through to her head as it came out.


    More and more swords were flying into her, most of them catching her wings since they were too large to move out of the way. Holes were now appearing in her wings, blood and dark feathers scattering into the air.


    It was a hopeless sight to see. There was no way for Zoel to dodge them all, and she couldn¡¯t even deflect them either. It was like watching someone fight an endless barrage of swords.


    She tried to cast a spell, her human hand stretched out in front of her, but a sword shot forward, piercing itself straight through her palm, and she shrieked.


    ¡°L-Lily¡­¡± I glanced at Lily, but she was staring up into at Zoel¡¯s figure in the sky coolly, her lapis lazuli eyes glowing vibrantly. She seemed to be concentrating, so I didn¡¯t disturb her.


    I turned my eyes back to the sky, and saw the inevitable outcome. Zoel¡¯s figure fell from the sky, her wings failing to work, and her body torn violently. She seemed unconscious, her arms and legs flailing in the air unyieldingly.


    She fell into the outskirt of the destroyed forest around us, into a section that was still unhindered. Her figure disappeared behind the trees, and I couldn¡¯t follow where she went anymore.


    Lily¡¯s eyes now returned to its normal lapis lazuli colour, the glow fading.


    ¡°Come on, Kei.¡± Lily started walking ahead of me. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± I swallowed, nodding. I was still stunned by Lily¡¯s show of power. She had completely defeated Zoel without so much as a sweat or a scratch on her body.


    I took a step forward, sheathing my sword behind me, and felt my mind getting dizzy, my body swaying.


    Lily turned to glance at me. ¡°Ah, I forgot.¡±


    I had forgotten too that I was worn out from my ¡®fight¡¯, if you can call it that, with Zoel. I was still covered in scratches, with dried blood all over me.


    I kneeled down on the ground, feeling the fatigue settling in. Without the adrenaline pumping inside my body, I could feel all the pain and tiredness that I had not noticed before.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Lily, I can¡¯t¡­¡± I breathed raggedly, staring at the ground. I wanted to just lie down and sleep.


    Lily walked towards me, kneeling down so that we were at the same height¡­ well sort of, she was still shorter than me. She reached out to me, her soft hand touching the side of my face. It was a gentle feeling, something that I didn¡¯t know Lily was capable of.


    The hand at my face grew warm, and I saw a strange light coming from her hand. Suddenly, I felt a pleasant feeling spreading from my face, going up to the tip of my scalp and down to the tip of my toes. It was that same feeling that I felt when Lily found my body after Balzard¡¯s attack.


    The pain and fatigue was gradually fading, and I slowly raised my head, surprised by the sensation. I found myself face-to-face with Lily, her eyes closed in concentration. My face reddened seeing her this close.


    She was actually very cute. Especially, when she was quiet and not sprouting rude things.


    Lily¡¯s eyes opened again, and I quickly glanced away so that she didn¡¯t catch me looking, feeling my heart racing.


    ¡°There.¡± Lily picked herself up from the ground, patting her cloak to get rid of the dust from kneeling down. ¡°You should be feeling better now.¡±


    ¡°T-thanks, Lily¡­¡± I got up from the ground, staring down at my body, my hands raised. I felt normal again, no longer tired and in pain. It was exactly as she said. The scratches on my body had disappeared too, leaving only dried blood.


    Lily flicked her hand at me, and the blood peeled off me, flying into the air behind me.


    ¡°Come on, we have to get the demon before someone else does.¡± Lily turned around, her cloak swaying with the motion of her turn.


    ¡°Yes!¡± I called out, quickly following Lily¡¯s lead. My body was all healed up and I felt the energy back inside me.


    <hr>


    ¡°Are you sure this is where she landed?¡±


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t ask me, you¡¯re the one that shot her down!¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t remember where she fell¡­¡±


    ¡°I thought you were watching her¡­¡±


    I sighed, trudging through the labyrinth-like forest, every path of ours looking the same.


    I was now leading the path due to Lily not knowing where she had shot Zoel down to.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just use your magic to find her or something?¡± I asked, calling out to Lily behind me.


    ¡°She¡¯s unconscious and on the verge of death I think. I can¡¯t feel her presence at all.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°If she is still awake, I could probably find her from her demonic energy¡­ that is, if she isn¡¯t too badly injured...¡±


    This was looking bad. We had no idea where we were walking, and it just felt like we were pacing around aimlessly, hoping for a miracle.


    The sun was setting, leaving a blistering sear of orange across the sky. We had been searching for a while now and my patience was waning.


    "Kei, you go that way." Lily said, breaking me out of my thoughts.


    She pointed to the left side of the path.


    I gave her a doubtful look. "Wouldn''t we get lost if we split up?"


    "No." Lily shook her head. "How did you think I found you when you were fighting Zoel?"


    "Uh..." I tried to think back. "You said something... about the Blood Pact."


    "Exactly." Lily was heading to the right path. Both paths were filled with heavy bushes, and towering trees, blocking the view ahead. "The Blood Pact allows us to sense where each other is. If you ever need me, put your blood on the sigil on your right arm. I''ll come."


    I watched her disappearing into the wilderness, then glanced down at my arm, raising it to pull down the sleeve.


    The sigil was still there on the inside of my forearm. A faded ancient symbol.


    I had almost forgotten about it.


    Everytime I saw the sigil, it reminded me of the Blood Pact that I had made with Lily.


    I pulled my sleeve back down, then sighed, heading to the left path that Lily had told me to take. I had my doubts about whether we would ever find Zoel again.


    I pushed past the leafy branches of the trees, trudging past bushes, as I delved further and further ahead. The path was now declining downwards, and I had to be careful not to slip. The surface was uneven and filled with dead slippery leaves.


    I also was trying to be quiet, in case I did bump into Zoel.


    I held one hand onto the handle of my sword, that was shealthed at my back.


    As the path eventually came to a flatter surface, I pushed past another bush, heading deeper into the forest.


    The smell of blood was now thick in the air. I could almost taste iron on my tongue.


    She... she had to be here!


    I was tense now.


    That smell seemed too strong to be an injured animal.


    Should I call Lily over?


    I thought about it, but decided to make sure first.


    I kept walking through the path, eventually coming to a small clearing, surrounded by trees.


    At the centre of the clearing...


    Was Zoel.


    She was covered in blood, lying motionlessly on the ground, her blond hair a scattered mess over her head. Her gothic-lolita attire was pretty tattered, much like the rest of her body which was covered in deep cuts. A massive gash could be clearly seen at the centre of her stomach, still leaking blood, her hands holding onto it.


    There were dark feathers surrounding her, looking dead, but no signs of her wings. They had probably retracted back inside her back.


    She looked completely like a human now, her demonic arm had returned back into its human shape.


    My heart stopped, seeing her. I tightened my grip on the handle of my sword, thinking about what to do.


    She didn''t seem to be moving.


    I should probably call Lily now.


    ...


    But... there was a part of me that wanted to kill Zoel myself.


    She was a demon after all... That meant she was the same being as the thing that had came to village on that night, destroying everything and killing everyone I ever knew or loved.


    I clenched my teeth, feeling anger surfacing inside me.


    I''ll do it.


    I''ll kill Zoel myself.


    I watched her carefully for a few more minutes, and once satisfied that she was unconscious, I slowly moved over, being extremely careful to make no noise at all.


    I had hunted animals back at the village, so this wasn''t something that was new to me.


    Although, this time it was a demon.


    Eventually, I stopped in front of Zoel''s lying figure. Her head was still face down onto the ground, her blond hair messily sprawled over it.


    I unsheathed the blade slowly, raising it up in the cold air above Zoel''s head. I stared down at her coolly, taking a quiet breath.


    This is for my village.


    This is for Ali.


    I raised the blade, holding the handle with both hands.


    As I prepared myself to swing the blade down, Zoel''s hand stretched out towards me, grabbing onto my ankle.


    "...!"


    Shit! She was still still awake!


    I... I had to do it fast!


    I swung the blade down.


    But then I saw her face.


    She was looking up at me with her burning red eyes, tears falling from them. Her face was cut and bruised, and wet blood was on her lips.


    "P-please... don''t kill me..." She whispered, her voice hoarse and weak.


    I stopped the blade an inch away from her head.


    What the fuck was I doing?


    Just fucking kill her!!


    The muscles in my arms were all tightly tensed. I was trying to force the blade down, but there was something in my mind, holding me back. The compassion I had before that night my family died. I thought it had died along with them, but it was still there, telling me to stop.


    "I... I don''t want do die..." More tears were falling down Zoel''s cheeks, mixing with her blood, her face pleading. "Please..."


    "I... I''m not going to let you live..." I breathed, my mind in chaos. "You''re going to die."


    Zoel broke down crying, her hand still clutching onto my ankle weakly. There was a blood stained handprint on my pants from her hold.


    "P-please..." Zoel continued begging. "I... I''ll do anything..."


    My teeth clenched, my jaw locking. "There''s nothing I want from you."


    "Please... please... please..."


    She kept repeating those words, her face now falling back down on the ground, her voice muffled by her hair.


    "...!"


    Fuck!


    I was trying with all my strength to bring the sword down.


    But, I couldn''t do it.


    Maybe it was because she wasn''t fighting back against me, or maybe it was because she looked like a human.


    Whatever it was, I couldn''t find it in me to kill someone begging on the floor.


    "You... you were about to kill me." I said, trying to reason with myself to kill her. "I''m just returning the favour."


    "I... I''m sorry... please... don''t kill me... I''m... sorry... please..."


    "..."


    This was too pathetic to witness. I needed her to fight me for me to find the resolve to kill her.


    "What the hell are you doing?"


    A voice sounded from next to me, and I turned to see Lily standing at the edge of the clearing, staring at me, dumbfounded.


    "Lily..."


    I didn''t know what the hell I was doing either.


    "Move aside, Kei." Lily started walking towards me, a cold blank look on her face. "I''ll show you how it''s done."


    "...!"


    I tried to move as she said, but Zoel''s hand was still clutching onto my ankle. Even though her grip was weak, and I could had easily pulled away, I felt myself stuck there.


    Lily''s lapis lazuli eyes started glowing as she approached, her left hand at her side illuminating a strange blue light, intensifying by the second. There was an enormous killing intent coming from her.


    "L-Lily, don''t do this."


    Lily stopped, the glow in her eyes fading, and so did the light in her hand.


    "What?"


    She asked, staring at me.


    "..."


    Did I really say that?


    Was I really telling Lily to not kill a demon?


    "I mean... she might have information about Balzard..."


    I didn''t know what the hell I was saying. I was just making up an excuse, feeling pathetic. My mind confused.


    Lily stared at me for a few seconds, before shaking her head. ¡°I don¡¯t understand you, Kei¡­ It¡¯s obvious that you just want to save her.¡±


    ¡°..."


    "Whatever." Lily started approaching again.


    "But... that''s what you said yesterday... right?" I glanced up at Lily. "About her having information..."


    "Yeah, but today I changed my mind."


    "...!"


    Lily stopped in front of me and Zoel. "So are you going to move aside or not?"


    "I..." I stared down at Zoel. She was now unconscious, there was so much blood coming out of her wounds that it was staining the grass where she laid, leaving them red.


    Slowly, I walked away from Zoel, lifting my ankle out of her grasp. There was no resistance since she was unconscious, but there was a bloody handprint left on my pants. I stared down at it, thinking, as I walked to Lily''s side.


    Lily''s eyes started glowing again, the palm of her left hand lighting up with that same mysterious blue light. She raised her hand up, pointing it down at Zoel''s lying figure.


    I remembered a time I was with Ali, hunting together.


    We had came across a deer in a forest, and as I was pulling back the bow to show her how to hunt.


    She pushed my hand, forcing me to miss my shot at the very last second.


    "Why did you do that?" I shouted at Ali angrily. I glanced back over at the deer, watching it as it fleed. "Now we have nothing to eat for dinner!"


    "K-Kei..." Ali winced, seeing me shout at her. "Don''t do this... this is wrong..."


    ...


    My eyes widened, and I was back by Lily''s side.


    "No..." I mumbled, then louder. "No...!" I grabbed onto Lily''s arm, pushing her outstretched hand away from Zoel.


    "Kei!" Lily staggered backwards from my push, surprised. The glow in her eyes and hand disappeared.


    I stood between Lily and Zoel. "Let''s... let''s take her with us. I''ll take responsibility. I''ll kill her myself if she does anything."


    "Y-you..." Lily was angry at me. "You can''t touch me like that!"


    "I... I''m sorry." I swallowed, trying to get my mind clear. "We shouldn''t kill her, but. Not like this."


    "..."


    Lily stared into my face, and for a while, there was nothing but a deathly silence between us.


    Suddenly, she sighed.


    ¡°Pick her up.¡± Lily said. ¡°And, let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Lily¡­¡± I said, surprised and relieved. I felt all the tension in my body relaxing.


    ¡°You¡¯re responsible for her.¡± Lily said, turning away. ¡°I could had just forced your body to move under the terms of our Blood Pact.¡±


    ¡°Thank¡ª¡±


    ¡°Hurry up and get her before I change my mind.¡±


    I nodded shortly, then turned to where Zoel lied. The blood coming out of her body was soaking up the grass, staining them in a murky red. I quickly scuttled over, bending down to pick her up.


    She was surprisingly light, and I pulled her onto my back, trying my best not to hurt her. She felt like a genuine human girl. I could hardly believe that Zoel was actually a demon when I saw her like this.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go already.¡± Lily complained.


    ¡°Yes!¡± I called out after her, then pulled Zoel closer to my back. Her face fell down on my shoulder and I felt her messy long hair prickling the skin of my cheeks, but I paid it no mind.


    As I started walking to catch up with Lily, I heard a faint whisper at the side of my face.


    ¡°Thank¡­ you¡­¡±


    I turned to look at Zoel.


    Her face was very close to mine and her eyes were closed. She was breathing slowly, looking as though she was still in pain.


    Bu-dump.


    My heart jumped, seeing her face that close, and I quickly looked back ahead of me, trying to regain my focus. Come on, Kei. It¡¯s not like you haven¡¯t been this close to a girl before¡­


    I thought back to the time with Lily on the bed¡­ but we weren¡¯t really touching each other when we slept together. On the other hand, Zoel was lying on my back, her face right next to me. I wasn¡¯t used to this much contact. Her soft chest was pressing up against my back, and I quickly walked faster to catch up with Lily, trying to forget about it.


    ¡°H-hey, Lily!¡± I called, as I caught up, walking next to her.


    ¡°Hm¡­?¡± Lily was staring forward as she walked.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you heal Zoel like you healed me?¡± I shifted Zoel on my back, trying to get her into a more comfortable position. ¡°You healed me completely just moments ago!¡±


    She glanced at me, then at my back to look at Zoel, then in front of her. ¡°Your wounds were nothing like what she suffered. I¡¯m not going to waste my energy to heal up some person I don¡¯t even know.¡±


    ¡°But, you healed me up when my whole body was seared by Balzard.¡± I said, and her shoulders flinched. ¡°I mean, that must mean you are capable of really strong healing magic, right? So, it should be no problem for you to heal Zoel.¡±


    ¡°Listen, that time when I healed you, it took a bunch of my energy, and several months of effort...¡± Lily said. ¡°I even had to use Phoenix Tears because my magic by itself wasn¡¯t enough. It was practically like trying to bring someone back from the dead.¡±


    ¡°But¡ª¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s going to be fine, okay, Kei.¡± Lily glanced at Zoel again, then back in front of her. ¡°She¡¯s a demon. They have powerful regenerative abilities. She¡¯s probably just going to need to take longer to recover from the wounds I gave her.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t think I thanked you enough, Lily¡­ for all that effort you put into saving me¡­ and for just then as well¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, just remember to wash my clothes when we get home.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°And, you need to clean the castle. I think the yard outside needs some gardening.¡±

 Chapter 6 - Royal Palace

    Walking through the streets of the Rize Kingdom, people were glancing at us, murmuring to themselves in hushed whispers, most of them pointing at the bloodied girl that I was carrying on my back. The comforting darkness of the night enveloped the city from above, but down here on the streets, everywhere we looked was lit by the city lights.


    I was following Lily from behind, feeling the stares of onlookers, but I did my best to ignore them. Lily didn''t seem to care either. She had the hood of her dark cloak covering her head, hiding the top half of her face. It only revealed her lips and chin.


    The sound of metal cluttering approached us, and out came a group of knights from the corner of the building ahead of us. They lined up in a row, creating a blockade in the path we were heading.


    Upon seeing the knights, people from around the streets quickly scuttled off, disappearing away. The shops around us closed their doors, their lights going off too.


    ¡°Lily¡­¡± I called out to her quietly, feeling alert by the appearance of the knights.


    I knew this was a bad idea, carrying Zoel through the streets when she was in such a badly damaged state, but Lily insisted on just going straight through the city directly to the Royal Palace, instead of trying to avoid people, because apparently it was a ¡®waste of time¡¯.


    We were trying to collect the reward for catching Zoel. Although, the deal from the parchment was to kill her, Lily said it should be fine for just catching Zoel.


    Lily didn¡¯t respond to me, she just kept walking, her head down.


    ¡°You there! Stop!¡±


    One of the knights at the centre of the group called out to us. He was standing ahead of the pack, and looked like the leader. His armour was distinct from the rest of the knights, sharp and more detailed, gold emblems plated the front of his suit. He carried a great claymore at the side of his hip, whereas although the other knights had similar style swords, they were smaller and thinner than the one he carried.


    Lily slowed down as she came in front of them, eventually coming to a stop. I stopped next to her, my arms holding onto Zoel¡¯s leg. Her arms were wrapped around my neck, keeping her from falling off. She was still unconscious.


    All the knights were wearing helmets, that hid their faces from view.


    ¡°Why are you carrying a bloodied girl on your back?¡± The leader of the knights pointed at me, his gauntlets had razor sharp edges on the top of the fingers. The knight¡¯s voice was elegant despite his foreboding appearance. He was definitely a noble.


    I didn''t respond to him.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to see the king.¡± Lily said, and the knights turned their attention to her.


    A chuckle could be heard from the group of knights, though I couldn¡¯t tell who it was from.


    ¡°See the king?¡± The leader of the knights repeated Lily¡¯s words as though he thought he heard the wrong thing. Then, he shook his head. ¡°You can¡¯t just simply request to see the king. He¡¯s a very busy man.¡±


    ¡°I insist.¡± Lily said firmly, then she nudged her head towards Zoel. ¡°We have something that will be of great interest to him¡­ a demon¡­¡±


    ¡°D-demon?¡±


    Instantly, the group of knights took their swords out of their sheaths, the noise was like thunder, metal sliding against metal. All of the knights now had their swords out in less than a second, the blades pointing towards us.


    I gritted my teeth at the sight of the swords. Were we going to have to fight them...?


    ¡°That girl you have there¡­¡± The leader of the knight¡¯s voice was now extremely alert and cautious. He was holding onto his sword tightly. ¡°You claim that she¡¯s a demon?¡±


    Lily nodded shortly, but said no more.


    ¡°Prove it.¡± The leader said, then paused. ¡°And, if you are found to be lying¡­ the punishment will be execution¡­ I hope you know that this is no joke, young lady¡­¡±


    Lily didn¡¯t flinch.


    But I shifted on my feet. There was no way I was going to die here...


    If it comes down to it, I would fight them all, myself... though I doubted that I could win.


    I knew that the strength of the knights in front of me were far greater than my own.


    Lily turned towards me, then reached out to grab Zoel. I glanced at her questioningly, and Lily frowned. ¡°Give her to me, Kei.¡± Lily said.


    Nodding, I slowly eased Zoel off my shoulder, and handed her carefully to Lily.


    Lily took Zoel, then turned back to face the knights. She bent down to the ground, placing Zoel gently down on the pavement by her feet, face-up.


    Lily placed her hand over Zoel¡¯s chest, murmuring to herself.


    The knights were watching intently, and so was I.


    A strange light was beginning to glow under Lily¡¯s palm, and I could see one of the knights tensing, his armour making a small metallic noise as he shifted.


    Zoel¡¯s face winced, and her teeth clenched. Her hands were tightening up by her sides, balling up into fists. She looked like she was uncomfortable.


    ¡°Hey Lily¡ª¡±


    I tried to say, but was interrupted when Zoel suddenly screamed, her body wrenching on the floor. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, her voice deafening. All the knights flinched, and I tried to make a move to stop Lily, but was stunned when something ripped out of Zoel¡¯s back, spilling blood everywhere.


    Dark blood splattered onto the knights, tainting their armour, and they stepped back, shocked. Blood fell onto me too, hitting my face.


    Two giant dark-feathered wings were now stretching from Zoel¡¯s back, its size frightening. Even though I had saw Zoel¡¯s wings before, they were still scary to see again. Although, they were badly damaged, it seemed like they had somewhat recovered slightly. There wasn¡¯t as many holes in them as I remembered.


    The wings fluttered behind Zoel¡¯s back, sending a gust of wind around, then slowly retracted, shielding Zoel. The wings were covering her body, as though protecting her. She still looked unconscious though, her eyes tightly squeezed shut and her face even more pale.


    ¡°T-that¡¯s¡ª¡±


    ¡°We have to kill her¡ª!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a demon¡ª!!¡±


    The knights were all speaking in unison, they voices overlapping one another, but there was a sense of fear in all their voices.


    ¡°Silence!¡±


    The leader of the knights raised his arm to his side, and the group of knights behind him quickly went quiet.


    He sheathed his sword back to the side of his hips, then raised his hands to his helmet, taking it off.


    A head of golden hair fell out of the helmet, revealing a young man with blue eyes. His face was as elegant as his voice, although there was also a strong sense of maturity and manliness about him. He held his chin up high, and looked us directly in the eye.


    ¡°We will escort you to see the king.¡± The young man said, holding his helmet by his side. He looked disturbed by the sight of Zoel¡¯s wings, but he was doing a good job at not showing it. ¡°My name is Gilbertus Alphons, a royal knight for the Rize Kingdom. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.¡± He bowed.


    A royal knight!


    That is one of the highest-ranking knights one could achieve, just below the Knights of the Order. They commanded a much greater deal of respect than a normal knight and would usually require that you accomplish a stunning feat.


    ¡°T-the same to you too, my name¡ª¡± I started.


    ¡°Lead the way to the Royal Palace.¡± Lily said, then motioned at me to pick up Zoel again.


    Gilbertus nodded his head, not seemingly to be affected by the fact that Lily didn¡¯t bother to introduce herself. Then, he ordered his knights to create a parade around us to shield us during the escort.


    I bent down to look at Zoel, and saw that her wings were retracting behind her shoulder blades again, disappearing from view. She was breathing more harshly, her condition seemingly to be worsened by what Lily did.


    Somehow, I felt sorry for her.


    Even though, she tried to kill me earlier, Zoel still looked like a girl in appearance. I had a hard time thinking of her as not human.


    I picked Zoel up gently, placing her back on my back as we went with the escort, walking silently as they led us through the streets. The sound of the knights marching filled my ears. Passerbys were quickly turning the other way when they saw the knights. Probably because the knights looked like they were carrying out a duty.


    It was a law to not interrupt during a knight¡¯s duty. Usually, when knights were out on duty, it meant that there was either crime or some other sort of violence happening.


    ¡°Lily¡­ are you sure about this?¡± I whispered to her, uncomfortable by the knights surrounding us. Gilbertus was leading us, the knights seemed to listen to him completely, which made sense since he was a royal knight.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure, Kei.¡± Lily replied. ¡°This is the quickest way to the Royal Palace. I don¡¯t want to stay another night at the Rize Kingdom.¡±


    I fell silent at Lily¡¯s reply, trying my best to trust her. I mean, sure, Lily has proved that she was extremely powerful, but to meet the King of Rize? I never imagined a day I would be in a position to do so.


    ¡­


    Hang on, did she just not want to stay another night, because she couldn¡¯t afford it?


    From memory, I remembered that Lily only had $100 in her pouch. That probably wasn¡¯t enough for another night of stay at the tavern, especially in the Rize Kingdom.


    ¡­


    <hr>


    We reached the centre of the Rize Kingdom, now approaching the Royal Palace that stood at the core of the city. We had to pass through several security checks, all of which immediately gave access, upon seeing Gilbertus. Such was the reputation of a royal knight.


    The Royal Palace was a massive palace where the royal family of Rize lived, and others of royal blood. There were golden structures almost everywhere around us, showing an excessive display of wealth. It was probably supposed to show the prosperity of the Rize Kingdom as a territory, but it just made me feel angry inside that they had all this money but wasn¡¯t helping out the homeless.


    Large flags carrying the Rize symbol decorated the side of our path towards the palace, and there was a vast garden, filled with intricate designs.


    The actual palace was an enormous structure with towers stretching up into the sky. It was a sight that stunned me, having never seen it before. I was overwhelmed by all the abundance of fortune I was seeing.


    A group of knights, in a different set of armour was standing at the door of the palace. They were much bigger than the knights surrounding us, and had much expensive equipment. Except for Gilbertus¡¯ armour, which might had been more expensive and better designed. I couldn¡¯t really tell to be honest.


    ¡°Ah, Gilbertus!¡± The knights immediately stood upright, seeing Gilbertus leading us. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you again!¡±


    ¡°I have to see His Majesty immediately.¡± Gilbertus said, his tone showing that this wasn¡¯t a time for small talk. ¡°We believe we have on our hands the demon that has been plaguing our city recently.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    The knights¡¯ expressions went to bewilderment. ¡°I-I¡¯ll let Noah know.¡±


    The knight that spoke quickly ran inside the palace, pushing past the grand door, and disappearing inside. The other knights stood outside accompanying us, waiting. They were staring cautiously behind Gilbertus and at us. I felt uneased by their stares.


    I gave them a weak smile, but they didn¡¯t smile back.


    Damn.


    What are you thinking, Kei?


    I shook my head, feeling stupid. I was way out of my place here. I couldn¡¯t believe that I was actually in front of the Royal Palace.


    The knight that had disappeared inside, quickly came back, his face showed signs that he was running. ¡°You can come in, along with the guests you brought.¡±


    Gilbertus nodded, then turned around to face us.


    ¡°I would like to remind you to that we are going to be entering the Royal Palace now.¡± Gilbertus spoke to us in a serious tone. ¡°You guys must follow me closely, and not make any sudden movements. If I have any feeling that you guys are planning something¡­ I¡¯ll kill you myself.¡±


    I was silent, hearing Gilbertus¡¯ words.


    Lily nodded as though he had asked her if she would like ketchup with her fries. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± She said.


    Gilbertus stared at Lily, as though trying to judge her.


    ¡°I would request that you take off your hood, young lady.¡± Gilbertus said. ¡°It¡¯s a big disrespect to the royal family if you are wearing a hood indoors of the Royal Palace.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Lily replied.


    ¡°E-excuse me?¡± Gilbertus was stunned by Lily¡¯s reply.


    ¡°I said no.¡± Lily said, annoyed. ¡°I¡¯m not going to be taking off my hood, until I see the king.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Gilbertus seemed at a loss. He glanced at me, then at Zoel, then shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll make an exception this one time¡­ because of the urgency of the matter¡­¡±


    He turned away from us, leading us into the grand doors of the Royal Palace. The knights that had escorted us were not allowed in, and stayed outside, waiting.


    Inside the Royal Palace, I was greeted by more sights of wealth, a grand hall much bigger than the one at Lily¡¯s place. Red carpets with golden edges laid on the floor, softening our walk. Lights with thousands of bulbs, encased in crystals hanged above us, giving off a sparkling glimmer. There were knights standing guard at the side of the hall.


    ¡°W-woah¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t help but to stare in awe at everything in front of me.


    ¡°Gilbertus!¡±


    A voice sounded from above the stairs, and another knight came marching down the stairs. This knight was dressed in a night black armour, a giant sword sheathed behind him. Streaks of gold paint detailed the ends of his armour, and there were spikes studded across all edges of his armour, creating a menacing appearance.


    Okay, this guy had the best armour out of the ones I¡¯ve seen.


    I looked down slowly at myself, then realised my armour wasn¡¯t on me. Damn. It was probably destroyed by Zoel during our fight.


    I glanced sideways at Lily who was staring ahead.


    Luckily, she didn¡¯t notice that my armour was gone¡­ She had paid for it with all her money¡­


    ¡°Is it true?¡± The knight in night black armour approached us. He had silver spiked up hair, and a pair of black eyes. He looked at the same age as Gilbertus, perhaps even younger. ¡°That you have managed to catch a demon?¡±


    ¡°Noah.¡± Gilbertus greeted the knight approaching us with a solemn expression. ¡°I didn¡¯t catch the demon, it was these two here that have brought it to my attention.¡±


    The knight Gilbertus addressed as Noah, glanced at Lily and me, then at Zoel on my back.


    ¡°Y-you¡ª¡± Noah quickly turned back to Gilbertus, his face turning to anger. ¡°Did you make sure it is under control?!¡± His voice was now raised, echoing in the grand hall. ¡°You¡¯ve brought a demon to the Royal Palace!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve made sure with my very own eyes.¡± Gilbertus said. ¡°I¡¯ve seen the demon, it is badly hurt. It seemed these two have managed to subdue it.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    Noah glanced back at Lily and me.


    I was extremely nervous, and not sure what the hell was going on. But it felt sort of nice that Gilbertus was giving me credit too, although I had nothing to do with catching Zoel.


    ¡°Very well then¡­¡± Noah said, his voice uncertain, but his eyes still watching Lily and me. ¡°I will speak with Botolf to grant them an audience with His Majesty¡­¡±


    Gilbertus nodded, and Noah turned away, walking back up the steps of the stairway in a rushed pace.


    Gilbertus turned to us. ¡°That was Noah, one of the Knights of the Order.¡± He told us. ¡°He is one of the best swordsman in all of Rize.¡±


    Knights of the Order!


    They were the highest-ranking knights in Rize. They were a small group of elite knights and sorcerers, and represented the best of the best. They were essentially the strongest people in Rize, and were usually trained straight out of birth or had been blessed with god given talent that far surpassed their peers.


    There were only eight Knights of the Order in the whole of Rize, and each one was said to be capable of defeating an army of a thousand, alone.


    I swallowed, hearing Gilbertus¡¯ words.


    We waited a while longer, before Noah appeared again, followed by a middle-aged man dressed in a royal robe, the ends of the robe reaching the floor.


    ¡°This is Botolf.¡± Noah said to Lily and me, as the two of them approached us. Noah indicated to the man in the royal robe to show who he was talking about. ¡°He is the Secretary of the Rize Kingdom, and also the right-hand man of the king.¡±


    Gilbertus kneeled down, as Botolf stopped in front of us. Botolf had a dignified appearance, standing tall, with white short hair signifying his age.


    Lily didn¡¯t kneel down, and I was torn apart on what to do. Was I supposed to kneel like Gilbertus or just stand like Lily?


    I didn¡¯t know what to do and was seriously confused, so I did a mixture of both by simply giving a short bow.


    Botolf glanced at me with a strange expression, then turned his eyes to Zoel, who was lying on my back.


    ¡°Excellent.¡± He smiled, seeing Zoel. ¡°That¡¯s definitely a demon. You guys have¡ª¡±


    Botolf stopped in the middle of his speech when his eyes turned down to see Lily. She was cloaked from head to toe, so there wasn¡¯t really much to see.


    But, Botolf¡¯s expression immediately changed. He coughed into his hand, his eyes downcast. ¡°I¡¯ll take you to His Majesty.¡± He said.


    ¡°Botolf, we have to make sure¡ª¡± Noah started.


    ¡°Noah, be mindful of who you are talking to.¡± Botolf interrupted sternly. ¡°That girl¡­¡± He glanced at Lily. ¡°She is someone very important to the Rize Kingdom.¡±


    Noah looked at Botolf confused, and so did Gilbertus.


    Botolf waved at them, indicating that their presence was no longer needed. ¡°You guys can go now. I will escort these two.¡±


    ¡°Okay¡­¡± Noah stepped aside, taking Gilbertus along with him, their eyes staring at us.


    Botolf smiled at us, trying to be friendly. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry about those two, you guys must have had so much hassle trying to get through.¡± His tone had completely changed. There was now a hint of nervousness underneath his voice. I was shocked. ¡°How are you two fairing on this evening? Should I get you a cup of tea?¡± He glanced in Lily¡¯s direction.


    ¡°Earl Grey, please.¡± Lily said, then glanced at me, waiting.


    I had never had tea before. But, I didn¡¯t really care about tea. I was just overwhelmed by this bizarre situation.


    ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯m okay¡­¡±


    ¡°Excellent!¡± Botolf motioned one of the knights standing by the grand hall.


    The knight looked confused, being singled out, but he walked towards Botolf slowly in an unsure manner, as Botolf continued to motion for him to come faster.


    ¡°Listen, get us a cup of the finest earl grey as fast as possible.¡± Botolf told the knight.


    The knight seemed bewildered. ¡°Your Excellency, I¡¯m a knight, I don¡¯t¡ª¡±


    ¡°Just hurry up and get it or I will have your head out on display on the streets by tomorrow morning!¡± Botolf snapped, and the knight quickly scuttled off, disappearing into one of the rooms.


    ¡°Sorry about you having to see that.¡± Botolf turned to us, all smiles again. ¡°He shouldn¡¯t be too long.¡± Then, he glanced at Lily, hesitating. ¡°U-uh¡­ how have you been¡­? I haven¡¯t seen you¡­ in a while¡­ Lilionel¡­¡±


    Lily didn¡¯t reply, leaving an awkward silence in the air.


    ¡°Um¡­¡± Botolf turned to me instead, seeing that Lily was ignoring him. ¡°How are you, young man? You must a companion of Lilionel.¡±


    ¡°Uh, yeah¡­¡± I replied. ¡°Um. My name¡¯s Kei.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Kei! Great name!¡± Botolf reached out to shake my hand, and I took it, shaking his hand awkwardly. ¡°I¡¯m Botolf, as Noah introduced earlier. I¡¯m His Majesty¡¯s most trusted adviser. I also manage most of the communication between His Majesty and his patrons.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡±


    ¡°We really appreciate you taking the time to come here tonight, you and Lilionel.¡± Botolf said. ¡°I can¡¯t stress how important your relationship is to us.¡±


    ¡°Um. And same to you!¡± I said, not knowing what else to say.


    Botolf laughed grandly. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s great to hear!¡±


    At that moment, the knight returned from the room he had disappeared into, now carrying a tray with a cup on top of it. It was weird seeing a full suited knight carrying a cup of tea.


    ¡°What took you so long!¡± Botolf snapped at the knight, then grabbed the cup of tea of his hand. ¡°If you were a second later, I would had ripped your bloody arms off myself.¡±


    ¡°S-sorry, Your Excellency!¡± The knight stuttered, then quickly scampered off as Botolf waved him away.


    Botolf turned to Lily, holding the cup of tea out in front of him. ¡°Here you go. Please accept this as an apology for the hassle you had to go through tonight.¡±


    We started walking, as Botolf led us up the stairs of the grand hall. Lily sipping onto her tea.


    Botolf yelled at people to get out of the way, as we moved past the extravagant hallways. The people scuttled off quickly as Botolf commanded.


    I was amazed at how well Botolf was treating Lily. None of the other people we encountered along the way seemed to recognise Lily.


    Eventually, we arrived at another grand door, its size towering over us. Botolf pushed the door open, leading us to the royal throne room. Even though, I was stunned at the sight of everything beforehand. Nothing came close to what I saw at the throne room.


    A giant window, laced with gold, stretched out at the end of the room. There were marble steps at the end of the room, leading up to the throne, a giant seat decorated by exquisite materials that I had never seen before.


    At the throne, sat the King of Rize.

 Chapter 7 - Kings Meeting

    The King of Rize was a sturdy man with sleeked back white hair, and a beard that was well taken care of. Wrinkles on his face told of a handsome appearance in his youth, now bygone by the passage of time. He wore an elaborate red surcoat, decorated with strange patterns seemingly to represent an ancient language. Above his head, was a golden crown bejewelled with precious stones, and in his right hand, he held a golden sceptre, fitted on the top with a fiery, red orb.


    We walked closer up to the end of the room, our footsteps echoing in the giant throne room.


    There were lines of even more fearsome knights adorned in distinct silver armour, imprinted with the royal family¡¯s sign on the chest plate. The Rize sign was imprinted on their shoulders. They were all standing motionlessly at both sides of the throne room, their heads looking straight ahead.


    We finally reached the end of the room, now standing right before the steps that led to the elevated platform of the throne.


    ¡°Your Majesty!¡±


    Botolf kneeled to his ground, one arm across his chest and his head bowed completely to the king.


    I was about to do the same thing when Lily grabbed me by my collar, pulling me up hard.


    ¡°Do you not remember our Blood Pact?¡± Lily said between clenched teeth. ¡°You¡¯re to kneel to no one except me.¡±


    ¡°R-right¡­¡± I whispered back, feeling like I was out of breath. I was just overwhelmed by the sight of everything, especially the king right in front of my very eyes.


    I couldn¡¯t believe that I was actually standing in front of the King of Rize.


    The king had a very dominating presence, and an awkward feeling came across me, as I stood there, waiting. It felt like I was being impolite by not kneeling.


    ¡°I have brought Lilionel here before you!¡± Botolf announced, his head still bowed. ¡°Also known as The Witch!¡±


    The king glanced down at Lily, interest lighting up in his eyes, but the rest of his face was like iron, cold and hard.


    ¡°Is it really you, Lilionel?¡± The king¡¯s voice was deep and clear, immediately stealing all of the attention in the room as it echoed around the air. There was something about the way he talked that forced you to listen intently.


    Lily bent down to place her cup of tea neatly on the ground, then stood up again. She raised her petite hands to her hood, pulling it back to reveal her azure hair, tinted by silver on the ends. Her lapis lazuli eyes stared directly at the king, meeting him eye to eye.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Lily spoke simply, and said no more.


    ¡°...¡±


    Instantly, the atmosphere of the room was changing. Some of the knights standing on guard shifted in their armour, indicating that they may know who Lily was.


    There was a sudden tension inside the room.


    It seemed only the really high up people actually knew who Lily was.


    Strange how I had read a poem about Lily from an unnamed book in my youth. Even then, I guess it didn¡¯t really tell much about Lily¡¯s identity.


    The king got up from his throne, shocking me, and walked down the steps of the raised platform. His heavy steps echoing.


    He reached Lily, standing in front of her. He was a lot bigger than Lily and judging from his size, he must had fought in the battlefield a lot in his earlier days.


    ¡°So, it is you after all.¡± The king said, staring down at Lily. ¡°It¡¯s been seven years since I saw you last.¡±


    ¡°Your memory doesn¡¯t fail you.¡± Lily smiled. ¡°I would had imagined you would had forgotten. Considering how busy you¡¯ve been lately.¡±


    Botolf shifted on the ground, hearing her last words. ¡°The situation with Azrael and Lunthia¡­¡±


    ¡°It is under control.¡± The king nodded, then he glanced at me. ¡°I¡¯m surprised, Lilionel. You actually have a companion accompanying you for once. Who is this young man here?¡±


    Lily glanced at me, waiting for me to talk. I thought she would answer for me.


    I was nervous as hell, standing in front of the king¡¯s presence. Every fibre of my being was telling me that I was out of place here.


    ¡°U-uh¡­¡± I coughed dryly, trying to find my voice. A sweat was dripping from my temple. ¡°Kei¡­ My name is Kei¡­¡±


    ¡°Ah, Kei.¡± The king looked me over. ¡°I remember your father. He was a knight here at the kingdom.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    I was astonished that the king knew who my father was, and that he could somehow figure this all out just from my name and appearance. I didn¡¯t know much about what my father did at the kingdom, except that he was a knight for Rize.


    I was left standing there speechless.


    ¡°That demon there.¡± The king¡¯s eyes moved over to Zoel. ¡°You haven¡¯t killed it yet, Lilionel? This is another surprise.¡±


    ¡°No. I¡¯ve decided not to.¡± Lily replied.


    The king gazed over at Lily, pausing. His face never seemed to show any expression besides his unwavering stare. ¡°This is not like you, Lilionel.¡±


    Lily didn¡¯t say anything.


    The king breathed a heavy sigh, turning around and pacing back a few steps. His sceptre made a thudding noise hitting the ground with each step he took. ¡°So then, what are you here for, Lilionel?¡± He asked. ¡°I don¡¯t imagine you just came here for a cup of tea.¡±


    ¡°The reward.¡± Lily glanced down into her cloak and pulled out the parchment she had from yesterday. ¡°I¡¯m here to collect the reward from your request.¡±


    ¡°The request says to kill the demon.¡± The king said, still walking slowly. ¡°Not capture it.¡±


    ¡°You wanted the demon taken care of.¡± Lily said, her voice was showing a hint of annoyance. ¡°I did my part. The demon¡¯s under my control now.¡±


    ¡°But, not to the terms of our agreement.¡±


    Lily clenched her teeth. ¡°What does it matter to you anyway? I got rid of the demon from your city.¡±


    ¡°L-Lilionel¡ª¡± Botolf sounded like he was about to say something about Lily¡¯s manner of speech.


    ¡°Silence!¡± The king boomed at Botolf, and Botolf immediately went as quiet as a mouse.


    The king was staring out through the giant window behind the throne, his back turned towards us. He was also silent, and all the eyes in the room was now staring at him, waiting for him to talk.


    ¡°There¡¯s a war brewing, Lilionel. You, of all people, should know this.¡± The king spoke, his words seemingly to carry a grave importance.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I can give you all the riches in the world, anything you desire at the whim of your words. Mountains of jewellery, land that etches past the horizon, wealth beyond anything you¡¯ve ever imagined. None of this petty stuff that a silly request will grant you.¡± The king turned around. He was standing at the top of the steps, glaring down at Lily with a hard look. ¡°All you have to do is join forces with me, Lilionel.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡± Lily paused. ¡°So, it¡¯s blackmail then.¡± She pulled a face that said she wasn¡¯t liking the king¡¯s words. ¡°You won¡¯t give me a single penny unless I do as you say.¡±


    ¡°Blackmail would entail that I unjustly use something against you.¡± The king said. ¡°As of right now, I owe you nothing as you haven¡¯t fulfilled the terms of our agreement.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re after reward, I have already given you a way forward, Lilionel.¡± The king continued. ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to serve under me. I¡¯m simply asking you to align our interests together, as equals.¡±


    Botolf glanced up at Lily, trying to judge her expression. ¡°That is a most gracious offer from His Majesty.¡± Botolf commented, speaking to Lily. ¡°It is a very fair deal that His Majesty has never offered to another person before. I would think very carefully about accepting this deal.¡±


    ¡°And what if I don¡¯t accept?¡± Lily said, speaking to the king. ¡°Are you going to stop me from leaving?¡±


    ¡°No, I would never do something like that.¡± The king laughed in a hearty manner. ¡°That will just end up bad for both of us. This offer is given to you under good faith. You are free to leave as you wish should you decline, and you are also welcome to stay under Rize territory as you have done so at the current moment.¡±


    The king walked to his throne, sitting back down slowly. ¡°I should warn you though¡­ we have heard from our messengers that Azrael is planning to storm the borders of Rize in a few months¡¯ time. It seems that they have prepared an army of great size and strength for this task.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    I was shocked, hearing his words. Was the war really starting that soon?


    ¡°I have tried my best to set up some of our own forces to keep a distant watch of your area, but I can¡¯t guarantee your safety, Lilionel.¡± The king said. ¡°The borders are too unfavourable, too spread open, for me to allocate our entire army there. We plan to hold the main defence at the inner Rize territory where resources are plentiful and high-ground is ensured, should they come.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°If you join forces with me, Lilionel. We should be able to easily push back any invasion of Rize territory.¡± The king said. ¡°Not only that, we could be the ones on the attack, to invade both Azrael and Lunthia¡­ With your power, and the support of the Rize kingdom behind you¡­¡±


    The king paused, again drawing the undivided attention of the room. It felt like my ears were straining themselves to hear him speak, as though yearning for his words. That was the aura that he commanded.


    The king stared into Lily¡¯s eyes, unwavering.


    ¡°We could rule the world of Zenora.¡±


    Silence followed his words, and the throne room went completely quiet. I was frozen, thinking about what he was saying.


    God damn, the king was good at speaking. Even I was getting swayed by his words just from listening.


    If we just agreed to help the Rize kingdom, we could have anything we ever wanted, and we also get to protect Rize!


    I didn¡¯t understand why Lily was hesitating.


    There was a long drawn out silence in the throne room, as we waited for Lily¡¯s answer.


    I decided to try to encourage her to accept.


    ¡°L-Lily, you¡ª¡±


    ¡°I refuse.¡± Lily stated, lifting her head up to look the king in the eye.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    I was shocked by her answer. I couldn¡¯t see any negatives attached to the king¡¯s offer. If she didn¡¯t accept, then where were we going to stay if Rize was invaded?!


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Kei.¡±


    Lily turned around, her cloak swinging by her side. She walked to the doorway of the throne room from where we entered from, raising her hands to pull her hood back over her head.


    ¡°L-Lily¡­!¡± I glanced at Lily, then at the king. He was sitting calmly, undisturbed by Lily¡¯s refusal. I glanced back at Lily, quickly running after her.


    ¡°If you ever change your mind.¡± The king¡¯s powerful clear voice could be heard all over the throne room. ¡°You are always welcome to come back.¡±


    The knights standing by the doorway, opened the door, allowing us to leave the throne room.


    I was walking with Lily as she made her way out from the path that we came in from.


    ¡°L-Lily, are you sure about rejecting his offer?¡± I said, shifting Zoel on my back as I walked. She was still unconscious, but the bleeding had stopped. ¡°Rize is going to be invaded if you don¡¯t help out!¡±


    ¡°And, so what?¡± Lily replied. ¡°That¡¯s none of our problem.¡±


    ¡°N-none of our problem?¡± I shook my head, astounded. ¡°Lily, isn¡¯t your castle at the borders of Rize territory?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s just bluffing.¡± Lily said. ¡°No one is actually going to come invade where I live. I would kill them all if they did.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I followed Lily, feeling unsure about her words.


    We were back at the grand hall, walking down the stairway. Noah was standing near the main door of the Royal Palace, watching us. Every time I saw his night black armour, I was impressed by how good it looked.


    ¡°See ya.¡±


    Noah said as we walked past him to exit the grand door. He was leaning on the wall at the side of the door.


    I nodded at him, smiling faintly, but Lily ignored him.


    We were now back at the front of the Royal Palace, and the knights standing outside gave us a glance, before looking back straight ahead, continuing their watch.


    Gilbertus was standing with the knights, and he called out to us when he saw us.


    ¡°Hey, there you guys are again!¡±


    Lily continued walking, ignoring him, but Gilbertus joined me by my side, as I walked next to Lily, following her path.


    ¡°You got to leave with the demon?¡± Gilbertus glanced at Zoel on my back, a stunned expression on his face. ¡°What happened in there?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± I glanced over at Lily but she wasn¡¯t saying anything. I didn¡¯t want to be rude and just ignore Gilbertus like Lily was doing. ¡°We couldn¡¯t get the reward for catching Zoel, haha. Apparently, we had to kill her to collect the reward.¡±


    ¡°Zoel?¡± Gilbertus glanced at Zoel, then back at me. ¡°Her? Hey, you have to be careful with what you¡¯re saying. That¡¯s a demon, not a regular girl.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right¡­¡± I shrugged, not really understanding what he¡¯s saying. Then I glanced at the sword on the side of his hip. ¡°Are you here to stop us¡­?¡±


    Gilbertus shook his head. ¡°We were instructed to allow you to leave no matter what. I can¡¯t see why they would let you leave with a demon though¡­¡±


    I laughed weakly. ¡°Yeah, strange¡­¡±


    ¡°Who are you guys anyways?¡± Gilbertus asked, curiously. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen Botolf speak to someone like how he spoke to you guys.¡±


    ¡°Um¡­ Kei.¡± Then I turned to Lily. ¡°This is¡ª¡±


    ¡°None of your business!¡± Lily snapped at Gilbertus and paced quicker to get away from Gilbertus. ¡°Kei, don¡¯t talk to him.¡± She muttered to me under her breath, before pacing ahead of us.


    I followed Lily¡¯s advice, shutting my mouth and quickly followed up to Lily¡¯s pace.


    Gilbertus seemed to have gotten the message, now slowing down to a stop, staring at our backs.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to meet you, Kei!¡± Gilbertus called out. ¡°May we cross paths again!¡±


    Gilbertus seemed pretty nice, so I felt bad for ignoring him, but I listened to Lily and just kept walking.


    Lily glanced sideways at me when I caught up to her.


    ¡°Kei, listen¡­ you should never tell other people about my name.¡± She said.


    ¡°Right, sorry about that¡­¡± I shook my head, feeling embarrassed. ¡°Not even by the name Lily?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± She replied.


    We kept walking in silence through the long path filled with beautiful scenery, leading to the front gates of the Royal Palace.


    Now that I thought about it, it seemed like I was the only one that called Lily as Lily. Everyone else seemed to call her by Lilionel.


    I tried to think about when she first introduced herself to me. Did she just make up that name on the spot?


    ¡­


    Probably.


    ¡°H-hey, Lily?¡± I called out to her.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Why did you reject the king¡¯s offer?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I mean he was promising you everything in the world. You could have gotten anything you ever wanted.¡±


    ¡°Kei¡­¡± Lily sighed, her breath coming out as a mist in the cold night air. ¡°I was there when the Great War happened. Five hundred years ago.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    ¡°There was a king that made me a similar offer¡­¡± She paused. ¡°Do you know what happened when we started winning the war?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    ¡°People in our army started killing each other.¡± Lily said. We walked out the gates of the Royal Palace, the knights opening the gates as they saw us. ¡°There was a struggle for power inside our own army¡­ Greed was the thing that kept them going¡­ and it quickly became the very thing that consumed them.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Nobody ever wins a war, Kei.¡± Lily said. ¡°Especially, not one for greed.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a waste of time.¡± She paused as though thinking, then smiled at me. ¡°Let¡¯s just hope they all die, killing each other.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°By the way, where¡¯s your armour?¡±


    <hr>


    It took us three days before we arrived back at Lily¡¯s castle. I stepped out of the carriage, feeling the sunlight hitting my face. Two large bumps were on the top of my head, starting to heal. I had gotten a beating from Lily for breaking and losing the armour that she paid for with all her money.


    Thankfully, that was three days ago, so the pain wasn¡¯t too bad.


    Lily¡¯s castle was situated in a plain field of land surrounded by wavy hills. It was just along the borders of Rize territory. Nothing that looked remotely close to civilisation could be spotted anywhere near us. Her castle was a large ominous structure, completely dark, contrasting the light green surroundings of the environment. The design was chaotic, spiralling towers stretching out at weird angles, and it looked as though it had burst out from the ground.


    It was obviously nowhere near as big or as impressive as the Royal Palace, but it was still a sight to see.


    Zoel was still unconscious throughout the whole journey, much to my surprise. Her wounds were healing at a very slow rate. Lily must had hurt her really bad.


    I lifted Zoel¡¯s body from the carriage, taking her inside the castle. I was carrying her in my arms, across my chest. She wasn¡¯t too heavy, and I was used to carrying heavy things at the village.


    Her face winced as I picked her up, but her eyes stayed closed.


    I was surprised, seeing a reaction on her face. Zoel had been completely non-responsive during the journey.


    ¡°H-hey¡­ are you awake?¡± I asked.


    I looked down at her face. She was breathing softly, her strawberry lips pursing out to me. Her black hair fell past the sides of her face, strands going past her long, dark eyelashes.


    My face went red, looking down at her, and I shook my head, walking inside the grand door of the castle, and stepping into the grand hall. My footsteps echoed due to the emptiness of the place.


    ¡°Lily?¡±


    I called out, but no response.


    She had disappeared inside the castle ahead of me, while I was placed in charge of carrying her stuff inside.


    I didn¡¯t know why the hell she took so much stuff with her to Rize, considering that I didn¡¯t see her use much, if any, of the stuff inside her bags.


    I sighed, walking up the steps of the grand hall with Zoel in my arms. I turned into the hallway, walking to the guest room that Lily had told me to give to Zoel.


    Pushing past the oak door into the guest room, I peered inside to see a very olden styled room. Polished wood made up most of the material inside the room, a bookshelf was set at the side, and a large bed was fitted at the centre of the room, its head pushed up against the wall. The room was quite large, much like most of the rooms in the rest of the castle.


    Of course, it wasn¡¯t as large as the room that I woke up in the first time at the castle as that was Lily¡¯s room. Strange that Lily let me sleep on her bed.


    I laid Zoel gently down on the bed, thinking about the Great War. It seemed inevitable that another one was on its way. Was Lily really just going to do nothing during the war? And were we really going to be safe here at Lily¡¯s castle? And, just how old exactly was Lily?!


    So many questions crowded my mind that I blanked out for a second. I stared down at Zoel¡¯s face after laying her down.


    Then, suddenly, I realised her burning red eyes had been open the whole time, staring up at me.


    ¡°Ah¡ª!!¡±


    I yelped, falling backwards on my bottom. I hit the ground, then winced, rubbing my back.


    ¡°A-are you okay?¡± Zoel jumped up from the bed, her voice worried.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m fine¡­¡± I said.


    Hold on.


    Zoel was awake?!


    This was bad.


    Lily was nowhere to be found and I was alone here with her.


    She could kill me easily by herself!


    I glanced up at her, my heart panicking, and found her scrambling off the bed.


    ¡°Eh!¡± I let out a cry, seeing her make her way towards me. ¡°P-please, don¡¯t kill me!¡± I shuffled backwards, my back eventually hitting against the wall. ¡°I was just trying to help you!¡±


    Zoel walked closer towards me until she was right in front of me. She kneeled down on the ground so that we were eye to eye.


    She was blushing madly, her strawberry lips moving.


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    She breathed out heavily.


    ¡°I love you!¡±

 Chapter 8 - Awake

    ¡°W-what¡ª?¡±


    I stared at her, dumbfounded.


    "I love you!"


    Zoel repeated, as though the first time wasn''t enough, her burning red eyes were staring into mine with admiration.


    What the heck was going on?!


    "...Are you serious?" I asked in disbelief.


    Zoel''s face redenned as she clasped her hands together. ¡°You¡­ you saved me, right¡­ from Lilionel? I love you!¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    I was taking a moment to absorb the situation. There wasn¡¯t any sign on Zoel¡¯s face that said she was joking.


    As I was thinking about what the hell was going on, Zoel reached out to me, grabbing the side of my face with her hands, then her face moved closer, her eyes closing.


    My eyes widened when I realised what was happening.


    ¡°Hang on¡ª!¡± I quickly pushed myself away, scurrying up to my feet.


    I managed to get to the other side of the room, stuck against another wall, but now standing and looking down at Zoel. She was crouching on the ground, her head facing me with a confused expression.


    ¡°Zoel¡­?¡± I called out to her cautiously. ¡°Didn¡¯t you just tried to kill me the other day¡­?¡±


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m so sorry about that!¡± Zoel stood up on her feet, then started heading towards me again. ¡°A demon god told me to kill you. I personally have nothing against you!¡±


    ¡°A demon god¡­ nothing against me¡­¡± I repeated her words, trying to make sense of it all. ¡°A demon god told you to kill me¡­ and you personally have nothing against me¡­?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Zoel smiled cheerfully, seeing that I was understanding, then reached her arms out, trying to grab the side of my face again.


    ¡°H-hey, stop!¡± I stuck both my hands out, holding onto Zoel¡¯s shoulder, keeping her away.


    She didn¡¯t push against my arm. Instead, she gave me another confused stare, waiting.


    ¡°Zoel¡­¡± I breathed out, trying to catch my breath. ¡°You need to tell me exactly what the hell is going on¡­ right now.¡±


    ¡°I thought I already explained everything.¡± She tilted her head, that same confused expression still on her face. ¡°I love you.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t explain anything!¡± I exclaimed, flabbergasted. ¡°You¡­ why are you acting like this?¡±


    ¡°A-acting?¡± Zoel¡¯s face flashed a flicker of hurt. ¡°I-I¡¯m not acting¡­¡±


    I shook my head, then glanced over at the door.


    Just where the hell was Lily when I needed her?


    ¡°I-I really love you!¡± Zoel said, holding her hand to her chest. ¡°You saved my life!¡±


    I glanced back over at Zoel, giving her a dubious look. ¡°Uh¡­¡± I was at a loss of words. I had never been in a situation like this before.


    Zoel started going off in a rant, her eyes gazing at me dreamily. ¡°It was so romantic, the way that you spared my life at the forest, then tried to stop Lilionel, The Witch, from killing me, and then you took care of my body this whole time! And you never took advantage of my body, although I wish you had, and you even treated me so nice when you talked about me at the Royal Palace instead of treating me like some thing that everyone else always treats me! And you carried my body everywhere like a prince with his bride, it was soo romantic!¡±


    I shook my head, bewildered. There were so many flags in her story, I couldn¡¯t get all my questions out at once. ¡°Hang on, you were awake that time?!¡±


    ¡°Oh, I was still unconscious, but I could hear the conversations around me when I was out!¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you believe me?¡± Zoel stared deeply into my eyes, her voice straining. ¡°I really do love you¡­ I mean it¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    A silence fell over us.


    ¡°Y-you¡­¡± Zoel stared at the expression on my face, then her face turned into a dejected look. ¡°You don¡¯t believe me¡­¡±


    She let out a defeated sigh, then walked away from me, slumping down onto the bed.


    I watched her, not knowing what to do.


    What exactly was I supposed to do in a situation like this?


    I glanced over at the door of the bedroom.


    Should I just quickly make my exit and look for Lily¡­?


    I glanced back over at Zoel. She was sitting on the bed, staring down at the ground with a depressed look.


    ¡°Look, Zoel¡­¡± I started, trying to think about my words. She looked up at me, hearing my voice. ¡°I can¡¯t make sense of¡­ this love¡­ you have, but I need to get a few things clear first.¡±


    She nodded shortly. ¡°Yes¡­?¡±


    ¡°Just what exactly were you doing at the Rize Kingdom?¡± I asked, trying to give her a serious stare. It was hard to be serious after all that commotion. ¡°And why were you told to kill me?¡±


    ¡°I was on a mission.¡± Zoel replied. ¡°I was told to infiltrate the Rize Kingdom, and stay in the city indefinitely to look for a boy named Kei. If I find him, I was told to kill him at once.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°O-of course, I would never kill you now.¡± Zoel said, seeing the expression on my face. ¡°I mean, I love you now¡ª¡±


    ¡°Go on. With the second question.¡± I said hastily.


    ¡°Ah, they didn¡¯t tell me the reason why I had to kill you.¡± Zoel said, not flustered by the fact that she just told me that she loved me for the sixth time in a row. ¡°Usually, I just get orders and follow them.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I stopped to think about what Zoel was saying. I was trying to forget about all the love stuff, and just focus on the important points of her story, but it was hard to do so.


    I glanced back up at her. ¡°Who was the demon god that told you to kill me?¡±


    ¡°Paimon.¡± Zoel said.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    So, it wasn¡¯t Balzard that instructed Zoel to kill me. That was who I thought was the demon god that Zoel was talking about.


    ¡­


    But, who the hell was Paimon? I had never even heard that name before. It didn¡¯t ring any bells, and I don¡¯t remember coming across it in any of the books I had read back at the village.


    ¡°Anyways, now that I have you, I can just forget all about my mission!¡± Zoel said cheerfully, then got up from the bed to come towards me again, her arms outstretched. ¡°We can live happily together just us two! Please accept my love!¡±


    ¡°Zoel, hang on¡ª!¡±


    She pushed me against the wall, her arms grabbing onto my face, and I tried to push her back, holding onto her shoulders, but I was reminded of how freaking strong she was! I was using all of my strength to keep her off, but she was pushing towards me without showing any signs of struggle.


    I was almost twice her size, being well built from all the labour work I had to do at the village, but she was still overpowering me. If someone that didn¡¯t know she was a demon walked into the room, it would be an embarrassing sight to see.


    Her face was edging closer and closer towards me, her strawberry lips pursed and her eyes closed.


    ¡°Zoel, stop¡ª!!¡± I tried to pull my face out of the way, my cheeks getting hot.


    At that moment, the door flung open and Lily walked into the room.


    ¡°Just what the hell is all the noi¡ª¡±


    Lily stopped at the door as she saw Zoel and me. There was a look on her face that fell halfway in between perplexed and annoyance, her eyebrows twitching.


    Zoel opened her eyes, turning her head away from me and at the door instead to see Lily, then she suddenly released her hold of me, taking slow steps away from Lily.


    ¡°L-Lilionel¡­¡± Zoel said, her face getting pale.


    ¡°Lily, this isn¡¯t what it looks like!¡± I said, quickly pacing over to Lily¡¯s side. I was eager to escape from Zoel and I also didn¡¯t want Lily to get the wrong idea. ¡°She was¡ª¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Shut up. I don¡¯t care about what you two were doing.¡± Lily said, glaring at me with that same look she had before. Her face told a different story to what she said. ¡°Did she end up saying anything useful?¡±


    ¡°Uh... yeah.¡± I shook my head, trying to regain my composure from Zoel¡¯s earlier antics. ¡°Zoel said that she was sent to the Rize Kingdom by a demon god called Paimon to kill me.¡±


    ¡°Hm¡­ Paimon¡­¡± The look on Lily¡¯s face changed into one of musing. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ interesting.¡±


    ¡°Lily¡­¡± I watched her expression. ¡°Just who is Paimon?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know about demon lore?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s perfect. We have an actual demon right over here to explain it to you.¡± Lily pointed at Zoel. ¡°Explain.¡±


    Zoel shrunk away from Lily¡¯s finger, as though scared of it. She was occupying the corner of the room.


    ¡°There were originally three demon gods that ruled the underworld¡­ Zepar, Bael, and Paimon.¡± Zoel said, hesitating. ¡°Balzard is the fourth, that appeared over five hundred years ago.¡±


    ¡°Balzard¡­¡± I grimaced, hearing the name.


    He¡¯s the one I needed to kill¡­ to avenge my family¡­


    ¡°Zepar and Bael mostly stay within the underworld, while Paimon frequents the mortal realm on occasions. Zepar is known as the Lord of Torment, Bael the Lord of Evil, and Paimon the Lord of Dread. Each of their title represents their personalities and powers. As for Balzard¡­ Not much is known about Balzard, even in the underworld... I haven¡¯t actually seen him myself in person¡­¡± Zoel trailed off. ¡°He is known as the Lord of Wrath, however...¡°


    ¡°So you¡¯ve seen the other three?¡± I asked curiously.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zoel nodded. She seemed so different when she was talking seriously. It was hard to believe that it was the same person that said she loved me repeatedly mere moments ago. ¡°Paimon is usually the one that I report to most often. But sometimes, I do tasks for Zepar and Bael too.¡±


    ¡°Right...¡± I thought about what she was saying.


    ¡°Did she say anything else?¡± Lily asked me, indicating at Zoel. ¡°About why Paimon sent her to kill you?¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡± Lily stared at Zoel as though judging her for a moment, then glanced at me. ¡°Kei, you can leave the room for this part.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± I stared at Lily. ¡°What are you going to do to her?¡±


    ¡°Find out whether she¡¯s hiding anything else.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    I sighed, then headed out of the room. I had a faint idea about what Lily had to do, and although I didn¡¯t like the idea, there wasn¡¯t any way I was going to stop Lily. It was important to figure out if Zoel was telling us the truth.


    I still had doubts about Zoel.


    ¡°K-Kei¡ª!¡± Zoel called for me as I left the room. I closed the door behind me and her voice disappeared.


    I went back to the carriage to get the rest of Lily¡¯s stuff out of her carriage, taking them to her bedroom.


    As I walked past Zoel¡¯s room, I could hear screaming from Zoel.


    I sighed, continuing to carry Lily¡¯s stuff to her bedroom.


    It was a reminiscent sight, stepping inside Lily¡¯s bedroom to see the place that I had locked myself in for so long. I could still remember all those times that Lily had visited me, taking care of me, and making sure that I ate my food.


    I owed so much to Lily.


    I hoped I would be able to repay her back one day.


    Once I was done taking Lily¡¯s stuff to her room, I went outside the castle to practice my sword work at the front yard.


    I had to get stronger.


    I couldn¡¯t just rely on Lily all the time.


    ¡°HAAH¡ª!!¡±


    I swung the sword at an invisible enemy, then ducked, then attacked again.


    I trained for about two hours, before Lily came out from the grand door of the castle.


    She gazed at me from the side, watching me practice.


    ¡°Sloppy.¡±


    I turned to Lily, stopping my training. ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Your movements are slow, and your techniques are predictable. It¡¯s like watching a child play with a branch.¡±


    ¡°H-hey! This is my first time practicing with a sword.¡± My face went red, defending myself. I didn¡¯t like it when Lily looked down on me. I mean, after all, I was trying to train myself so that I wouldn¡¯t have to rely on her.


    ¡°Anyways, I checked Zoel.¡± Lily sighed. ¡°She doesn¡¯t know anything else.¡±


    ¡°Oh, really.¡± I let my sword down, then paused, thinking, before looking back up at Lily. ¡°Hey, Lily, can you help me train?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    Lily stepped down from the stairs of the castle, walking down to the front yard to face me.


    She stood there, her hands down at her side.


    ¡°Come kill me.¡±


    ¡°Kill you?¡± I raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what happens in a fight.¡± Lily said. ¡°Or do you aim for people¡¯s swords when you¡¯re fighting?¡±


    ¡°Tch.¡±


    She was making fun of me again.


    I had to show her something here.


    But, how was I going to hit her? Wouldn¡¯t she just use her magic and send me flying?


    I stared at her.


    She was just standing there, with her arms down, not doing anything. But, I knew better than to just rush in, seeing her like that.


    ¡­


    I had to create a distraction.


    I glanced over at the grand door of the castle.


    ¡°H-hey, Zoel, why are you standing there naked?!¡± I pretended to act surprised, then quickly glanced at Lily to see if she fell for it.


    She turned her head to look.


    She fell for it!


    Immediately, I bolted forward, the sword at my side.


    If I could manage to get one cut on her.


    Just one.


    Then, maybe I could impress her.


    I clenched my teeth, then hurled the sword as hard as I could across my side, slashing at her arm.


    <hr>


    I woke up on the ground, my head aching. There was a horrible pain at the side of my head and I was lying down on my back on the grass. I could feel the edges of the grass lightly grazing against my body. The wind blowing a gentle breeze at my face.


    I groaned, pulling myself up to my feet.


    What the hell happened?


    I glanced around me, and saw Lily sitting down by the steps of the castle¡¯s front entry.


    ¡°Lily?¡± I called out to her.


    She turned to me, giving me a blank stare.


    ¡°What happened?¡± I touched the side of my head and winced. There was a large bruise there. ¡°I remember trying to hit you¡­¡±


    Lily sighed, standing up from the steps. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to work. I can¡¯t teach you anything about fighting with swords.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I guess she must had just knocked me out with magic or something.


    ¡°I¡¯ll teach you some basic magic.¡±


    That got my attention. I raised my head, looking at Lily attentively.


    She walked towards me, then whispered.


    ¡°Firage.¡±


    Instantly, a ball of fire shot out from the air in front of her, flying towards me.


    My eyes widened, and I quickly stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding the ball of fire by a hair¡¯s length.


    The fire scorched the side of my arm, and I winced, grabbing onto it. Blood was now leaking from the spot.


    ¡°L-Lily?¡± I looked at her, and another ball of fire shot out in front of her. I rolled sideways, again dodging the ball.


    The ball of fire smashed into the ground, lighting up the grass there, and reducing the space to ashes.


    The heat of the fire was causing sweat to drip from my body. I got back on my feet swiftly.


    ¡°Lily, what are you doing?!¡±


    ¡°If you want to learn magic, you have to first unlock that part of your brain.¡±


    Lily¡¯s lapis lazuli eyes were glowing. ¡°Usually, people unlock it through near death experiences.¡±


    ¡°I-I¡¯ve had plenty of near death experiences¡ª¡±


    Another fire ball shot at me, and I swung my blade at the ball, sending the fire scattering.


    ¡°Not with a sword.¡± Lily said annoyed, then flicked her finger at me.


    My sword flung out of my grip despite how tightly I was holding onto it, and hurled itself behind Lily, stabbing itself onto the ground.


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    ¡°Use your will to defend yourself.


    ¡°My will¡ª?¡±


    Another ball of fire came, and I dived to my side, crashing into the ground.


    ¡°F-Fuck!¡±


    I pulled myself up from the ground, running as another ball of fire shot out at me.


    I ran around the castle, hoping to use the castle to gain some distance and act as a blockade between Lily and me.


    I had no idea what Lily was talking about. I needed some time to think!


    I managed to lose her behind the castle, and I slid under a gap in the castle, hiding.


    I looked down at the wound on my arm, the pain was stinging.


    She was seriously going to kill me if I didn¡¯t manage to use some form of magic. I just didn¡¯t know if I had it in me.


    ¡°Damn it¡­¡±


    I glanced out of the gap, looking for Lily at the side I had ran in from, but I only saw the empty plain fields. There was nothing else to help me use as defence except for the castle, so I had to stay here.


    ¡°There¡¯s no use hiding, you know?¡±


    Lily¡¯s voice came from the other side, and I turned around to see her standing there, her eyes glowing intimidatingly.


    ¡°L-Lily¡ª!¡±


    A ball of fire shot out and I dived out of the gap, barely avoiding it. My back was now scorched, feeling burnt.


    ¡°Argh¡ª!¡±


    I was lying on the grass, the pain on my back was intense. I could feel it etching across the entirety of my mind. I glanced up at Lily to see her walking towards me.


    ¡°L-Lily¡ª¡±


    The blue glow in Lily¡¯s eyes were glowing brighter, and the air in front of her was turning fiery red.


    ¡°¡ªStop!!¡±


    I shouted as a ball of fire shot out in front of her, heading towards my face.


    I lifted my hand up, my palm facing the ball, and something that I didn¡¯t know I had surged from inside me, yearning to be released.


    I let that energy out in front of me, in the space where the ball of fire was heading, my heart accelerating to an unnatural speed.


    ¡°HAAH¡ª!!¡±


    The ball of fire crashed into an invisible barrier surrounding me, but I heard the noise of something shattering, and the barrier broke, the ball of fire pushing forward. Seeing this, my eyes widened.


    Lily waved her hand to her side, and the ball of fire immediately extinguished in front of my face, letting out a roaring noise, before disappearing completely.


    I was breathing heavily, sweat falling from my face.


    ¡°Well done, Kei.¡± Lily walked up to me, her eyes returning back to its normal lapis lazuli. ¡°That wasn¡¯t so bad, was it?¡±


    ¡°W-wasn¡¯t so bad?¡± I repeated, staring up at her in awe. ¡°You almost killed me!¡±


    ¡°That was the point.¡± Lily said.


    ¡°...¡±


    Lily bent down towards me, then reached out to my face, placing a gentle hand on my cheek.


    I felt my cheeks getting hot from her touch. I stared into her face that was furrowed in concentration. She was staring down at the wound on my arm. I didn¡¯t know whether the heat on my cheeks was from me or her magic.


    Suddenly, the same pleasant feeling I felt, when Lily healed me last time, stretched across my body, and I could feel the pain on my arm and back subsiding. A warm glow emitted from Lily¡¯s hand that was at my face, her eyes also glowing too in its bright lapis lazuli colour.


    When she was done, the glow disappeared from her hand and eyes, and she pulled away, standing up from me.


    ¡°Next time, I¡¯ll teach you how to control your mana properly.¡±


    ¡­


    I stared at her back as she walked away from me, and back inside the castle.


    For some reason, I could tell that training with Lily wasn¡¯t going to be fun.


    But¡­


    I clenched my teeth, picking myself up from the ground.


    I had to do this¡­ in order to get stronger¡­ for my revenge...

 Chapter 9 - New Errand

    ¡°Hey Kei, do you want me to cook you something?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°How about a massage?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe, I can help you bathe tonight?¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    I stopped dead in my tracks, staring at Zoel. I was standing in the grand hall, holding onto a mop in one hand, having cleaned a quarter of the place in an hour. I couldn¡¯t help it. The place was just too damn big!


    ¡°Ara, does that interest you~?¡± Zoel gazed at me with a sly look, her arms held behind her back, pushing her moderately-sized chest towards me. She was wearing her gothic-lolita outfit, now in perfect condition as she had fixed it with her magic. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were into those things, Kei... I mean, I can¡¯t blame you after all, you¡¯re a man¡ª¡±


    ¡°Listen, Zoel.¡± I interrupted her before she got even more excited. ¡°Thank you for your feelings, but I¡¯m seriously not interested. Please, just leave me alone.¡±


    Zoel¡¯s face fell down, turning into a look of disappointment. ¡°Why? Are you in love with someone else?¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    I shook my head, trying to regain my composure. ¡°T-there¡¯s no one else¡­ I just don¡¯t have time for romance¡­ that¡¯s all¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you like Lilionel?¡±


    Again, I was thrown off focus by Zoel¡¯s words. ¡°No way¡­¡± I laughed weakly. ¡°That¡¯s impossible¡­ she¡¯s making me do all this cleaning¡­¡±


    ¡°In that case, it should be fine then!¡± Zoel grabbed my arm, hugging it to her body. ¡°I love you so much, Kei!!¡± Her eyes were closed, her cheeks blushing and she looked like she was enjoying herself, hugging me.


    I sighed, squinting my eyes down at her. This girl¡­ she was seriously an idiot¡­


    At that moment, Lily¡¯s voice boomed down from above the stairs, reaching to us on the lower floor.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to spend the whole year cleaning just this room if you are that slow!¡±


    Lily was standing at the top of the stairs, her arms crossed, and her face furrowed in annoyance. She was staring down at Zoel and me.


    ¡°Y-yes!¡± I called out to Lily, quickly pushing Zoel off me, and resumed mopping the floor.


    Zoel fell off me, stepping back with a sigh. As Lily turned and walked back to her room, Zoel flashed her an angry look, glaring at her back.


    ¡°I don¡¯t get why you have to do all this for her.¡± Zoel complained, turning back to me to watch me mop the floor. ¡°You should just leave Lilionel and come live with me, Kei. I would never make you do something like this.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t do that.¡± I replied, scrubbing at the floor. It was pretty much spotless anyways, so I was really just making it even more perfect. Lily demanded absolute perfection. ¡°Lily and I made a Blood Pact.¡±


    ¡°Ah, that again¡­¡± Zoel followed me around, as I moved to another place to clean. ¡°A Blood Pact bounds two people together completely by the terms of their contract at the highest level. It is an inseparable bond that is bound by Aere. What did you two ask for anyways?¡±


    I stopped cleaning, wiping a sweat from my brow. ¡°Lily wanted my soul, body and mind for eternity¡ª¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­!¡±


    ¡°And I wanted Lily to help me with my revenge¡­¡± I stared down at the floor, my face darkening. ¡°To avenge my family¡­ to kill Balzard¡­¡±


    The surprise on Zoel¡¯s face turned to a look of sympathy. ¡°Your family¡­¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re all dead.¡± I quickly replied, then resumed scrubbing the floor. ¡°Balzard killed them all.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Zoel was staring at me with a worried look, hesitating. ¡°Kei¡­ it¡¯s impossible to kill Balzard¡­ he¡¯s a demon god¡­¡±


    ¡°Tch.¡± I turned my eyes from the ground, and at Zoel with an angry look. ¡°You don¡¯t know that.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Now that I was thinking about it, I had originally wanted to kill Zoel. The only reason I saved her in the first place was because I couldn¡¯t kill someone that was begging on the floor.


    I needed her to fight me. Maybe now I could finally do it.


    I straightened myself up, placing the mop down on the ground, and faced Zoel.


    ¡°Hey Zoel.¡± I said to her. ¡°Fight me.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Zoel looked at me with confused look.


    I pulled my sword out from behind me, but Zoel didn¡¯t flinch. ¡°Come on¡­ you wanted to kill me before, right?¡± I stared at her bitterly. ¡°Try to kill me now.¡±


    ¡°Kei¡­¡±


    I swung the blade at Zoel¡¯s side, hoping to make her angry.


    She stepped backwards, dodging my attack with ease.


    ¡°Come on!¡± I said to her, irritated. ¡°Fight me!¡±


    I swung the blade again, but she kept dodging, easily outmanoeuvring me. My annoyance and anger kept building up, seeing her avoiding my attacks. Why couldn¡¯t I land a single hit against her?!


    ¡°You...!¡± I clenched my teeth, as I stabbed my sword into thin air, Zoel sidestepping the attack.


    I swung the sword again, and Zoel jumped backwards, creating a distance between us.


    I stared at her, breathing heavily.


    She was standing there, not doing anything. Her burning red eyes staring at me, and her black hair falling past her snow-white face. She was very pretty, her face enticing in a different manner to Lily''s cuteness. Lily was cute, but Zoel had a certain seductive appearance about her, perhaps it was her gothic attire.


    She was a demon¡­


    Don¡¯t be fooled by her appearance, Kei!


    ¡°Do you really want to kill me?¡± Zoel asked solemnly. ¡°Would that make you feel better¡­?¡±


    I stared at her, thinking about her question.


    ¡°¡­Yes.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    There was silence in the air.


    ¡°Go on then, kill me.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t resist.¡±


    I was gazing at her, trying to tell if she was serious or not. I couldn¡¯t tell.


    ¡°I¡¯m really going to do it.¡± I breathed.


    ¡°I won¡¯t stop you.¡±


    ¡­


    I walked closer to Zoel, watching her reaction. She didn¡¯t move. Walking faster, I raised my sword behind me, preparing to strike the blade down at her neck.


    ¡°HAAH¡ª!¡±


    I threw the sword across Zoel¡¯s neck, aiming to chop her head off. I stopped the blade an inch away from actually cutting it.


    ¡­


    She actually didn¡¯t move. She was standing there, her arms down at her side, not doing anything.


    ¡°¡­Why aren¡¯t you fighting back¡­?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I told you already¡­¡± Zoel said, then in a quieter tone. ¡°¡­I love you¡­¡±


    My face twisted with anger, hearing her words. ¡°Y-you¡­ don¡¯t say that¡­¡±


    ¡°I love you.¡±


    ¡°Stop fucking saying that!¡±


    I kicked her in the stomach, knocking her down on the ground. She clutched it painfully, looking up at me from the floor.


    ¡°You¡­ you demons¡­ you killed my family¡­¡±


    The rage inside me was boiling to surface again, urging me to kill Zoel. I could feel my body trembling all over with anger. The temptation to kill her was calling at me, beckoning inside my mind.


    ¡°Kei¡­¡± Zoel looked up at me with a hurt look.


    ¡°I¡¯ll never forgive you!¡± I yelled, then threw my sword down, stabbing it into the ground right next to Zoel¡¯s head. The blade rammed itself inside the surface of the floor, barely missing her head. She again didn¡¯t flinch.


    I turned away from her, walking out to the grand door of the hall, pushing it open and leaving the castle. The feelings inside me were so intense, so strong, that I had to leave or I could feel myself losing control.


    I went outside the castle, strolling as I looked out at the endless plain fields, trying to calm myself down with the evening air.


    <hr>


    The next day came, and I awoke in the morning finding myself in Lily¡¯s bed. She was still asleep, her body next to mine, turned towards me. For some reason, Lily insisted that I sleep with her even though her castle had loads of spare bedrooms.


    I was calm now, having spent some time outside the castle yesterday to cool my mind, but I didn¡¯t see Zoel when I had went back inside. She had locked herself in her room so I never got to apologise for lashing out at her. I knew inside that I shouldn¡¯t had attacked Zoel like that, but I couldn¡¯t control myself when she started talking about my family.


    I sighed, turning to look at Lily. Lily had a really cute face, especially when she was sleeping like this and didn¡¯t have her cold, deadpan expression on, or sprouting those rude things she always said. She actually looked at peace for once. Her azure hair falling over her long eyelashes, and her lips protruding outwards.


    Well¡­ it was time to wake her up. She had told me that we had an errand to run today.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Hey, Lily¡­¡± I nudged her by the side.


    She didn¡¯t respond.


    ¡°Lily!¡± I nudged her again, this time hard.


    Lily¡¯s hand reached out from the covers of the bed, punching me in the face.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± I let out a short cry, falling backwards out of the bed, covering my nose. That hurt!


    Lily snapped up from the bed. ¡°Wh-what¡¯s going on?!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s morning!¡± I said, pulling myself up grudgingly from the ground at the side of the bed. I was still holding onto my nose. ¡°You told me we had an errand to run today!¡±


    ¡°Oh right¡­¡± Lily shook her head, her face regaining her usual look of coolness. ¡°We have to get going then.¡±


    She pulled herself out of the bed, stepping to the floor at the other side of the bed from where I was, then stretched her petite arms up in the air, yawning. After that, she headed to the bathroom, ignoring the fact that my nose was now bleeding, and that I was staring at her bitterly.


    ¡°Dammit.¡± I wiped the blood from my nose as best as I could, then got dressed, finding clothes in the giant wardrobe next to the bed. Lily had gotten me clothes from that time she took care of me.


    I grabbed my father¡¯s sword that was on my side of the bed where I slept. I couldn¡¯t sleep without it next to me. Wrapping the sword at my back, I headed outside the room to go find Zoel. I had to wake her up¡­ and apologise for yesterday.


    Stopping at Zoel¡¯s door, I took a deep breath, before knocking at it softly. I waited, hearing no response.


    ¡°Zoel?¡± I called out.


    Nothing.


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m really sorry about yes¡ª¡±


    I pushed open the door and found Zoel half-naked, pulling the ends of her black stocking up to her thigh. She looked up at me confused, then her face turned a bright shade of pink, and I quickly slammed the door shut. As I scuttled away as fast as I could, I heard her screaming inside the room, muffled behind the closed door.


    That did not go as planned.


    I came across Lily walking towards me across the hallway, and she squinted at me with a suspicious look. She was dressed in her usual outfit, light white armour with strange symbols running across them, hidden behind a dark cloak.


    ¡°What happened? Why is there someone screaming?¡±


    ¡°Uh, nothing.¡± I shook my head, then followed Lily as she headed to the grand hall.


    Lily stopped when she arrived at the grand hall, and I stopped too.


    ¡°Uh, is there something wrong¡­ Lily¡­?¡± I asked, trying to peer at her face.


    Lily turned towards me slowly, her eyebrows twitching. ¡°Why¡­ why is there a hole¡­ on the ground in the grand hall?¡± She pointed at a hole that could be easily seen on the lower floor of the grand hall. It was a pretty big hole. That was the sword mark I had left yesterday¡­


    My lips opened and closed themselves repeatedly, staring at the hole, trying to think up of an excuse. I was too scared to look Lily in the eye. Holy shit. I had completely forgotten all about it.


    ¡°You¡­ you wouldn¡¯t have anything to do with it, would you¡­?¡±


    ¡°Um, no¡­¡± My voice was hoarse. She glared at me intensely. ¡°A little bit¡­¡± I squeaked. The glare was turning murderous. ¡°Maybe I might had¡­ I think¡­ yes¡­¡±


    ¡°You!¡±


    <hr>


    After another vigorous beating by Lily, the three of us was sitting at the carriage, heading out for the errand that Lily had to run. She still hadn¡¯t told us about what it actually was, and I knew that now wasn¡¯t the right time to ask.


    Zoel had returned to her normal self, ignoring yesterday¡¯s events.


    ¡°If you just wanted to see me naked, all you had to do is ask!¡± Zoel said, squeezing up close to me. She was sitting next to my side, while Lily was sitting at the seat in front of us. ¡°You don¡¯t have to sneak into my room like that!¡± She teased.


    ¡°I¡­ I wasn¡¯t trying to see anything.¡± I sighed, facepalming. ¡°I was just trying to wake you up¡­¡±


    Zoel laughed, her cheeks blushing. ¡°That¡¯s so cute of you to make up an excuse like that!¡±


    She was seriously a hopeless idiot.


    Lily was reading another parchment, her face furrowed in concentration as she tried to ignore us.


    Zoel leaned closer towards me, then whispered in my ear, her warm breath tickling my skin.


    ¡°So Kei¡­ If you want to see me naked, you can visit my room anytime. I can let you see e-very-thing.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    My cheeks got hot. I turned to her, whacking her on the top of her head. ¡°Stop being an idiot!¡±


    ¡°Uwah!¡± Zoel flinched, then sat back away from me disappointed.


    ¡°So¡­ what¡¯s the errand for today?¡± I turned to Lily, trying to steer the conversation in a different direction.


    Lily glanced up at me, her eyes still murderous. Ack! Was she still angry about the hole in the floor?


    ¡°We¡¯re going to do a request for Lunthia¡¯s King, seeing as the King of Rize isn¡¯t paying up.¡± Lily said in an annoyed tone. ¡°There¡¯s a dragon called Bahamut they need slain. Something about needing its heart.¡±


    ¡°Bahamut?!¡± Zoel raised both her eyebrows. ¡°The King of all Dragons? That¡¯s the strongest dragon in all of Zenora! Its heart is said to grant the wielder immortality!¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­ how do you wield a heart?¡± I asked.


    ¡°By eating it.¡±


    ¡°¡­!¡±


    ¡°Whatever, it doesn¡¯t matter to me.¡± Lily said, closing the parchment. ¡°We will just do it to get the reward.¡±


    Reward.


    Lily seemed like she needed money pretty badly since she was running all these errands. She had probably ran out of money or something, judging from the contents of her wallet that I saw last time.


    I decided to speak my thoughts.


    ¡°Uh¡­ are you broke or something, Lily¡­?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Lily glared at me, her hands tightening into fists. ¡°Yes, I have no money.¡± She said between clenched teeth. ¡°We need money if we are going to help you accomplish your revenge.¡±


    ¡°Ah I see.¡± I decided to hold my tongue from saying more. ¡°¡­Thanks Lily.¡±


    Lily¡¯s face softened, but still cold. Her hands relaxed. ¡°It¡¯s okay.¡±


    ¡°You probably need to get Kei a new armour.¡± Zoel jumped in. ¡°The one he wore last time was so crap, it broke apart after I hit him once.¡±


    Lily¡¯s face darkened again, remembering the armour she had spent all her money on. ¡°T-that¡¯s right¡­¡±


    Shit, what the hell was Zoel saying? Was she purposely trying to make Lily mad?!


    ¡°I mean, honestly, the first time I saw Kei, I immediately felt sorry for him seeing the crappy armour he had on himself.¡± Zoel went on. ¡°It was all rusty, and wasn¡¯t fitted on properly, I had never seen anything like it! I thought I had gotten the wrong person at first, or that Paimon was playing a joke on me, telling me to kill someone like that!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Lily¡¯s hands balled up tightly into fists again, shaking.


    ¡°Where the hell did you get that crappy armour from anyways?¡± Zoel asked. ¡°And who¡¯s dumb idea was it to buy something like that?¡±


    ¡°M-mine¡­¡± Lily said.


    Immediately, Zoel went quiet.


    ¡°Oh¡­¡±


    I was quiet too, afraid to say anything that might make the situation worse.


    I could tell this carriage ride was going to be a tough one.


    <hr>


    Somehow, we made it to our destination without Lily killing anyone inside the carriage. I stepped out of the carriage, eager to escape the tense atmosphere and found myself at the bottom of a tall mountain, snow falling down on us. The peak of the mountain was way up in the air, and dark clouds shrouded the top, creating an ominous feeling.


    ¡°Is this the place?¡± I looked around us, then at Lily as she stepped out of the carriage. ¡°This is where Bahamut is?¡±


    Lily pointed up to the peak of the mountain. ¡°Bahamut is up there, at the very top.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I gazed back up at the top of the mountain. This¡­ was going to be a long climb.


    Zoel also stepped out of the carriage after Lily, quickly hurrying to my side to be with me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Kei! I¡¯ll protect you if anything happens!¡± She said, stopping at my side.


    ¡°You can¡¯t protect crap!¡± Lily said annoyed. ¡°I could had killed you on that day without lifting a single finger!¡±


    Zoel frowned, but edged away from Lily, hiding behind me. ¡°That¡¯s just because you¡¯re too strong¡­¡± Zoel said to Lily.


    ¡°Come on guys! Let¡¯s try to work as a team.¡± I forced a smile.


    ¡°If you try to do anything, or if I even think that you are about to do something.¡± Lily said to Zoel. ¡°I¡¯ll kill you straight away. So, don¡¯t think about trying to escape while we¡¯re fighting.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?!¡± Zoel pouted at Lily. ¡°I would never leave Kei in a fight! And I would absolutely not do anything that endangers him!¡±


    I laughed weakly, as we started heading up the tracks of the mountain. It was cold, but we had worn the right outfit for today¡¯s journey. All three of us were wearing heavy cloaks that kept us from freezing. Lily had prepared them for us. Although I doubted that Lily and Zoel actually needed them.


    I still didn¡¯t really trust Zoel. I mean, she had tried to kill me after all before. Who¡¯s to say that she wasn¡¯t putting up an elaborate act, waiting for the perfect opportunity to finish her mission?


    Further ahead, we came across a group of warriors, hobbling down quickly from the mountain.


    They were badly injured, some with broken arms, and blood covering their bodies.


    They wore armour that signified themselves as mercenaries. No symbol of a kingdom that they belonged to, and equipment that was store bought individually, unlike the set that knights or soldiers from kingdoms wore.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go up there!¡± One of the mercenaries, seemingly the leader of the pack, called out to us. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous! There¡¯s a pack of snow trolls ahead! They got half of our group!¡±


    Lily ignored him, continuing to walk past them. Her cloak was covering her head. Zoel and me had our hoods off, however.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry!¡± I responded to the mercenary with a determined look as I walked past him. ¡°We will save as many people from your group as we can!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The mercenaries stopped, watching us in disbelief as we continued ahead.


    ¡°B-be careful!¡± The mercenary called out to us, his voice echoing in the snowy mountains.


    ¡°That¡¯s so courageous of you!¡± Zoel said to me. ¡°As expected from my lover!¡±


    ¡°I-I¡¯m not your lover¡­¡± I said with a weary look.


    We trudged further ahead, eventually coming to the bloodbath that the mercenaries had warned us about.


    Amidst all the white of the snow, blood was scattered everywhere, ripped limbs and body parts laying on the ground.


    A group of snow trolls were in front of us, eating the mercenaries that were attacked. Some of them were still alive, but they were all on the edge of death. There was the top half of a body lying on the ground, his arms flailing, and his head screaming.


    ¡°T-Tch!¡±


    I flinched seeing the scene in front of me, then glanced up angrily at the snow trolls. There were about ten of them. They were similar to normal trolls in appearance except their skin was white. They were twice as tall as a normal man, wearing ripped animal skin covering their hips. Their eyes were deep inside their head, their mouths agape, with their tongue hanging out grotesquely.


    I ran up to the trolls without thinking. There was a guy that was held in one of the troll¡¯s arm, his legs ripped off, and he was screaming. Maybe I could still save him!


    ¡°HAAH¡ª!¡±


    I swung my sword at the troll that was holding him, cutting at his leg.


    Blood gushed out of the troll¡¯s leg and the troll made a howling noise as he flung his giant hand out at me.


    I dodged the hand, then slashed at it, chopping his fingers off and sending more blood flying.


    My practice yesterday had helped me a lot with my swordwork, although Lily thought it was crap. Probably because she thinks everyone is weak, since she¡¯s so strong.


    ¡°That¡¯s so awesome, Kei!!¡± Zoel called out to me, her hands clutched together in front of her. ¡°You¡¯re so cool!!¡±


    Lily was watching silently, her hood covering her eyes.


    ¡°ARGHH¡ª!!¡± I leaped up from the ground, slicing at the troll¡¯s eyes, blinding him.


    The troll released his grip off the man he was holding, letting him fall down on the ground with a heavy thud. The man was still screaming, blood gushing from his legs that were missing.


    ¡°You! I will get you out of here!¡± I called out to the man. He was the only one that could still be saved. The others were too far gone to be helped.


    The trolls surrounding me, started lunging all out towards me, their outstretched hand flinging to me.


    I dodged their hands, moving quickly so that I wouldn¡¯t be caught.


    Behind me, a troll flung his hand out at me.


    S-shit, I missed that one!


    The troll¡¯s hand rapidly approached, but before it could grasp onto me, Zoel dashed forward at an insane speed. She was significantly faster than me, and even moreso when compared to the troll. She leaped into the air at an inhumane height, flinging her arm out in a whirlwind motion at the troll that tried to reach out for me, then she landed in front of me gracefully.


    Hidden under her cloak, I could see a glimpse of her right arm that had shifted into its demonic form. Pure black, claws at each finger, strange lines running up her arm. Her cloak fell down, covering her arm from view and I lost sight of it.


    The troll that had reached out to me, was frozen, not moving for a second, until suddenly, diced lines appeared all across the troll and he exploded, sending a flood of blood all around him.


    The trolls were staring in shock at their dead comrade, that was now just a pool of blood.


    Zoel stood up straight, splatters of blood staining her black cloak and the skin of her flawless snow-white face. She turned to me, her burning red eyes were now a vivid blood red, seemingly alive and screaming inside my mind. An intense demonic aura was reeking from her, and I felt that strange paralysing sensation from when I first fought her running up my spine and spreading across the entirety of my mind.


    ¡°Are you okay, Kei...?¡± Zoel asked, turning to me. Her eyes were still in its demonic blood red form. ¡°Did the troll hurt you?¡±


    She walked up to me, trying to touch my face, and I slapped her hand out of the way.


    ¡°Don¡¯t fucking touch me!¡±


    I was gazing into Zoel¡¯s eyes, consumed by an unspeakable rage that was begging to be released.


    Those¡­ those were the eyes of a demon...


    ¡°K-Kei¡­¡±


    Zoel flinched away from me, her face hurt. The vividness of her blood red eyes gradually faded, returning back to its natural burning red colour.


    ¡°I-It¡¯s a demon!¡±


    The trolls cried, pointing at Zoel. Their voices were rough and sounded like nails on a chalkboard.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go¡ª!¡±


    The trolls quickly ran off, leaving the pieces of humans they had on them, and disappearing into a path on the mountain that led to a cave.


    I felt the anger inside me lessening with Zoel¡¯s eyes returning back to her human form. There was still something that was stinging my chest though.


    I turned away from Zoel bitterly to look at the man that I had tried to save earlier.

 Chapter 10 - Progress

    The stench of blood filled my nose, and on my tongue, I tasted something salty and metallic.


    The man was already dead when I glanced down at him, his unseeing eyes staring up at me with an expression of pure fear.


    I grimaced and leaned down slowly despite all the blood and gore that surrounded his rigid body.


    Passing a hand over his eyes, I felt a wave of guilt washing over me like a dark cloud. Something in the back of my mind whispered at me, telling me that if I had been one step quicker, one second faster, than perhaps this man lying before me wouldn¡¯t be dead.


    From behind me, I heard soft footsteps trudging against snow as it moved closer.


    ¡°Ryo¡­¡±


    It was Lily¡¯s voice.


    ¡°You okay¡­?¡±


    I glanced behind, seeing her staring down at me. She didn¡¯t seem at all perturbed by the dozens of mangled corpses laid stretched out across the ground.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±


    I stood back up to my feet, giving the man on the ground one last look, before staring at the path ahead of us.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go¡­¡± I said, walking forward.


    This was just one dead person¡­ I couldn¡¯t let myself drown in sorrow, just because of him¡­ There were probably going to be many more people that I will see die. I had to get stronger, like Lily and Zoel, otherwise there would be no chance I could avenge my family. I had to.


    ~x~


    ¡°HRGH!!¡±


    I threw my sword down at the tiger-like beast, stabbing it in the heart as a wave of red blood flew into the front of my cloak.


    The beast let out one final whimper, before it fell limp, its breathing stopping.


    ¡°Great job, Kei!¡±


    Zoel was jumping up next to me. ¡°That one was an ice tiger. A beast that could normally take on twenty trolls. You¡¯re improving so much!¡±


    I wiped some splatters of blood that had landed on the side of my face, feeling sweat on my back.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    I glance at her, pulling the blade out of the ice tiger. It was a giant beast, about the size of a large rhino.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Zoel said, then grabbed me by the arm. ¡°Soon you will be strong enough to protect me!¡±


    I shrugged her off my arm. ¡°He-hey, don¡¯t just go grabbing my arm.¡±


    Zoel laughed it off as though I was joking. ¡°You¡¯re so shy, Kei.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not shy.¡± I replied, a vein popping up on my temple. ¡°I just don¡¯t want you to touch me.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡­¡± Zoel said, waving at me. ¡°You¡¯re such a tsundere.¡±


    I clenched my jaw, then turned over to Lily who was already walking ahead.


    ¡°Hey, Lily!¡± I called out, running to catch up to her. ¡°Wait up!¡±


    ¡°You guys are slow.¡± Lily said, without turning her head back. ¡°I don¡¯t have time to listen to you guys flirt all day.¡±


    ¡°Shut the hell up!¡± I growled. ¡°Who the hell would flirt with her?!¡±


    Lily glanced at me dully, then her eyes turned to the figure chasing after us.


    ¡°Keeiii~!¡±


    Zoel¡¯s voice called out to me.


    ¡°You can¡¯t just leave me behind like that.¡± Zoel caught up to my side, slowing down to match my pace. ¡°What if I get attacked by a scary monster? Who¡¯s going to look after me?¡±


    ¡®You are a scary monster.¡¯ I thought to myself. ¡®And you¡¯re also a fuck-tonne stronger than me.¡¯


    I sighed, choosing to ignore Zoel than waste my breath.


    ¡°Hey, Lily¡­¡± I said, glancing at her. She was walking without a trace of emotion on her face, her eyes focused on the path. ¡°When are we going to reach the peak of the mountain?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve only been here for a few hours.¡± Lily replied. ¡°To reach the top would take about a few months.¡±


    ¡°A-a few months?!¡±


    I knew from staring up at the mountain that it was astoundingly tall, but a few months? That was not what I had in mind.


    ¡°Hey, Lily, a few months, that¡¯s¡­¡± I shook my head. ¡°Didn¡¯t the Rize King say that Azrael is storming the borders? Your castle will be under attacked by then. A few months is too¡­¡±


    ¡°Relax, Kei. We¡¯re not actually going to walk all the way up.¡± Lily said. ¡°That would be stupid. I just wanted you to fight some of the weaker monsters at the bottom to train yourself.¡±


    ¡°Oh, right¡­¡±


    ¡°I think about a week of training should be enough.¡± Lily said. ¡°When a week is over, I¡¯ll teleport us to the top of the mountain.¡±


    ¡°Teleport?¡± I almost tripped over. ¡°You can teleport? Then why the hell were we taking a carriage to go everywhere? You might as well just send us to our destination in the blink of an eye!¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Lily glanced at me with a sigh.


    ¡°Sometimes, the journey is more important than the destination.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    I stared back at her with a skeptical look.


    Seriously...? That¡¯s her answer?


    ~x~


    With the sun falling and darkness settling over the mountain, we entered a cave at the side of our path, my body fatigued and my mind restless. I had spend the whole day fighting monsters alone because Lily wanted to train me. Somehow I had managed to actually do it without needing help.


    Falling down to the ground and almost fainting on the spot, I felt a comfortable warmth spreading over the cave, and I glanced to my side wearily to see that Lily had lit a fire at the centre of the cave.


    ¡°Are you okay, Kei?¡± Zoel bent down, her eyes glancing me over with concern.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I grumbled, then pulled the sword off my back, resting it on the wall of the cavern. Then I rolled over to lie face up. ¡°Just tired¡­¡±


    ¡°Maybe you need a massage.¡± Zoel suggested. She placed her hands on my arm, squeezing my biceps. ¡°I give pretty good massages.¡±


    It actually felt pretty good, until I snapped out of it, and pushed her hands aside with an irritated look. ¡°Please, Zoel. Don¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°How about a kiss goodnight?¡±


    ¡°If you want a kick to the face.¡± I closed my eyes, trying to relax. ¡°Go to sleep, Zoel.¡±


    She groaned, moving away from me. ¡°You¡¯re no fun, Kei¡­¡±


    Waiting a few seconds, I opened my eyes to make sure that she was actually gone, then I glanced over at Lily to see what she was doing. She was lying on the ground, with her back up against the wall of the cave, her eyes closed.


    ¡°Lily¡­¡± I called out to her.


    She kept her eyes closed, but I knew that she was listening.


    ¡°How strong is Bahamut¡­?¡± I asked. ¡°Will you be okay against it¡­?¡±This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°...You don¡¯t have to worry about me, Kei.¡± Lily said. ¡°Just worry about yourself.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re really weak at the moment, Kei¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ obviously¡­¡± I replied. ¡°I¡¯ve only been training in real fights for a day. Not everyone¡¯s as gifted as you, Lily.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Anyways, don¡¯t you worry.¡± I turned my head away from her. ¡°I¡¯m definitely going to get stronger, no matter what. You¡¯ll see.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t doubt that.¡±


    I raised an eyebrow. That was weird for Lily to compliment me like that.


    Well, it wasn¡¯t really a compliment, but still¡­


    I would had expected her to just laugh at me.


    I closed my eyes, trying to sleep.


    A silence took place.


    ¡°What will you do when you get your revenge?¡± Lily broke the silence. ¡°After you¡¯ve killed Balzard.¡±


    I opened my eyes, then took a moment to think about her question. To be honest, I hadn¡¯t thought that far.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± I thought back to the Blood Pact I made with Lily. ¡°I guess I¡¯ll just spend the rest of my days serving you. That¡¯s what we agreed on, right?¡±


    ¡°What if we didn¡¯t have the Blood Pact?¡± Lily asked. ¡°What will you do then?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    I shifted on the ground. ¡°I guess I would probably just kill myself. I don¡¯t really have much to live for, honestly.¡±


    ¡°Seriously?¡± Lily said with a sigh. ¡°You¡¯re an idiot, Kei.¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°Whatever you say, Lily.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Lily¡­ My family is all dead¡­ my village¡­¡± I took a deep breath. ¡°Do you know what pains me the most¡­?¡±


    ¡°...what...?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I had a sister¡­ a little sister¡­¡± I closed my eyes. ¡°Her name was Ali¡­ She was 12 years old¡­ and¡­¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I-I couldn¡¯t protect her, Lily¡­ I promised my father and my mother¡­ I promised them that I would protect Ali¡­ I had one job¡­ and I fucked it up¡­¡±


    ¡°...Kei¡­ it¡¯s not your fault she died¡­¡±


    ¡°If only I had been stronger¡­ if I wasn¡¯t messing around all the time back then, living life idly¡­ maybe she wouldn¡¯t had died¡­¡±


    ¡°You were never going to stop a demon god.¡± Lily sighed. ¡°No matter how hard you trained.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m getting stronger, right now, aren¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I should had been training like this before¡­ Even if I couldn¡¯t fight off Balzard, maybe I could had grabbed Ali and ran faster¡­ Now that I think about it, I should had just fucking grabbed her and ran straight away. I don¡¯t know why I was thinking about saving the others in the village. If I just¡ª¡±


    Lily got up from the ground, and I stopped speaking for a moment, caught by surprise. My breathing was heavy, and anger was clouding my mind from thinking straight.


    She walked up to me, then bent down.


    I was about to say something, when she leaned towards me, and her arms wrapped around my back, pulling me into a hug. Her head was at my side, her azure hair tickling my cheeks.


    ¡°L-Lily?¡± I stared to my side at her, but her face was past my shoulders.


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault¡­¡± Lily said softly. Her voice held a soothing tone, that was causing the anger inside me to subside. ¡°Please, don¡¯t blame yourself¡­¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    My breathing was slowing down.


    ¡°...Thanks Lily¡­¡± I muttered, my cheeks warm.


    She pulled away from me, staring at me. Her eyes had their usual deadpan expression, but she forced a smile.


    ¡°Go back to sleep, Kei.¡±


    I averted my gaze, feeling a mixture of embarrassment and gratefulness.


    I thought I was already done with all of this back when I was stuck inside Lily¡¯s bedroom.


    Why was I still acting like some kid throwing a tantrum?


    And even moreso, why was it always Lily the one that had to cheer me up?


    I was a man...


    I shouldn¡¯t have to rely on Lily all the time¡­


    Lily went back to her spot to sleep, and I took another deep breath, closing my eyes.


    ~x~


    Waking up feeling faint sunlight hitting my eyelids, I cracked open my eyes, glancing around the cave. The fire had died down, and I could see Lily¡¯s petite figure sleeping on the floor, her body huddled together. There was a peaceful expression on her face, much different to her usual cold look.


    Zoel was gone, which confused me.


    Grabbing my sword, I walked outside of the cave, staring around at my snowy surroundings. There was a light snow falling on me. It didn¡¯t seem like that the snow ever stopped on this mountain, like some type of perpetual snow fall.


    ¡°Zoel?¡± I called out, glancing around for any sign of her. ¡°Zoel!¡±


    A silence, and then¡­


    Zoel¡¯s figure popped out from the end of the path leading up the mountain. She was running towards me with something in her hand.


    ¡°Keeeiiii!¡± Zoel cried in an enthusiastic tone. ¡°I got you breakfast!¡±


    ¡°Breakfast?¡± I raised an eyebrow then stared down at what she was holding.


    She stopped in front of me, dropping the bloody head of a snow troll onto the ground. ¡°Here, eat!¡±


    ¡°What the fuck?!¡± I moved my leg away as the head hit the ground, blood splattering onto the white snow. ¡°How the hell do I eat that?!¡±


    She blinked at me confusedly. ¡°Like this.¡± She picked up the head and opened her mouth.


    I whacked the head away from her hands before she could take a bite.


    ¡°Are you serious?!¡± I shook my head, grabbing her hand to drag her back in the cave. I didn¡¯t want her running off alone again. She was supposed to be sticking close to me and Lily so that she couldn¡¯t flee from us. ¡°Don¡¯t go off like that!¡±


    I grumbled angrily to myself as I entered the cave, then turned to her, my face turning to shock at what I saw.


    She was blushing madly, her eyes teary and staring into me with a lovestruck expression.


    ¡°Wh-what¡¯s with you?!¡± I said.


    ¡°That... was the first time you held my hand¡­!¡±


    I quickly released my grip of her hand.


    ¡°I only held your hand to drag you back in the cave.¡± I said. ¡°Don¡¯t go thinking¡ªAh!¡±


    Zoel ran into me, her arms wrapping around my back.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Kei, you don¡¯t have to be shy!¡± She said. ¡°You can go to second base anytime you want.¡±


    ¡°Se-second base?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a bit nervous cause this is my first time but if it¡¯s you¡­¡±


    I pulled her away from me, then stared at her with a clenched jaw.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t hold your hand because I wanted to.¡± I started shaking her, my hands holding onto her shoulder. ¡°Do. You. Understand?¡±


    ¡°Ahh!¡± Zoel was rattling back and forth.


    I stopped when I thought it was enough to get my message across.


    Zoel stepped back, sighing. ¡°Jeez¡­¡± She glanced at me with a frown. ¡°It¡¯s so hard having to love a tsundere.¡±


    ¡°Y-you!¡±


    Zoel ran off and I chased after her, swinging my sword around.


    ~x~


    It was day 4 of our journey up the mountain, and I was fighting another monster, this time, a Thunder Lizard.


    Thunder Lizards were creatures that matched the size of an elephant, but of course, were a lot more dangerous. Their horns emitted powerful lightning attacks that had enough power to kill a man in one hit. They were also extremely sturdy, having thick, rugged skin all across their body, acting as armour.


    I jumped out of the way of a lightning bolt as it smashed dangerously close to me, zapping at the snow and causing a fire to light up where it had struck.


    ¡°S-shit!¡± I glanced at the fire burning up the snow. If I had been a second slower, I would had¡­


    ¡°Open your eyes!¡±


    Lily¡¯s voice snapped me awake, and I jumped again, dodging another lightning bolt that shot out from the Thunder Lizard¡¯s horn.


    ¡°Jeez¡­¡± Lily was staring at me with a pathetic look. She placed her hand in her face, shaking her head. She was standing at the sidelines with Zoel, who was also watching, albeit she had a concerned face instead of one of embarrassment.


    ¡°Ahh, be careful, Kei!¡± Zoel called out, her hands clasped in front of her.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I know...¡± I muttered, staring at the Thunder Lizard in front of me.


    There was a large distance between me and the Thunder Lizard, and I was having trouble getting close because of all the lightning that was flying dangerously out of the Thunder Lizard¡¯s horn, whizzing into the air sporadically. I had to form a plan here¡­


    I glanced around at the open field we were in. There was nothing to use as shelter, which made the task a lot harder. If only I had wings like Zoel, or if I had magic like Lily¡­


    I raised my head as something came to mind. That¡¯s it¡­ If I do that¡­


    I braced myself, feeling satisfied with my plan, then as another lightning bolt came flying at me, I ran under it, sprinting as fast as I could towards the Thunder Lizard.


    ¡°HAAH!!¡±


    The distance between us was closing quickly. I raised my sword up, preparing to strike with all my force.


    Another bolt of lightning shot out from the Thunder Lizard towards me, and my heart quickened, a strange energy rising from my core.


    Remember your training, Kei!


    Clenching my teeth, I placed my empty hand towards the lightning bolt, channeling the energy I felt surging inside me at the space ahead.


    The lightning bolt smashed into an invisible barrier where I had released the energy, crackling fiercely in the air. I winced, feeling a sudden fatigue falling over me, but now wasn¡¯t the time to rest.


    Despite the Thunder Lizard¡¯s tough armour all over its body, I had already thought up of an area to strike where I was sure my body would pierce through.


    I jumped on the last step, leaping up to the Thunder Lizard¡¯s head, my blade poised at my side.


    Its eye!


    My blade gouged through the Thunder Lizard¡¯s eye and it let out a horrible screech causing my face to wince, but I pushed harder, feeling my sword sliding in.


    ¡°You fucking ugly beast!¡± I yelled, then jammed the blade the rest of the way through, stabbing the sword into what I presumed was its brain.


    The guard of the sword stopped the blade from going any further in, but the damage was enough.


    The Thunder Lizard fell sideways, collapsing onto the floor, and I jumped backwards, pulling the blade along with me.


    I landed on my feet without a problem, then stared at the giant beast as it crashed into the ground with a heavy thud, blood pouring out from its eye.


    It was dead, alright.


    ¡°Not bad¡­¡±


    Lily walked up to me, glancing at the Thunder Lizard. ¡°But it took you way too long to figure that one out.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I said, turning to face her. ¡°But I still killed it in the end anyways. That¡¯s what matters.¡±


    Lily furrowed her eyebrows. ¡°If you were fighting a stronger beast, you¡¯d be dead.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°That was amazing!¡± Zoel danced up to me, her arms outstretched. ¡°You were so great, Kei!¡±


    I placed my palm out in front of me so that her face would collide into it. Then I held her there as she struggled to get out.


    ¡°Anyways, Lily, when are you going to teach me more magic?¡± I said. ¡°Maybe how to shoot a fire ball out of my hand or something?¡±


    ¡°We will get to that.¡± Lily said. ¡°What you need to be focusing on at the moment is your swordplay.¡±


    ¡°This is too slow...¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s because you¡¯re a beginner, Kei. Be happy with your progress. You have a long way to go.¡±


    ¡°Tch.¡± A vision of my Ali flashed in my head, along with a pang of anger. ¡°I need to get stronger quicker, Lily! I want to be able to fight a demon on my own!¡±


    ¡°You need to start off from the bottom first¡ª¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already beaten all these monsters! Maybe if you throw me against something stronger, I can get better quicker!¡± My voice was raising now. ¡°How am I going to fight a demon god if you don¡¯t teach me more?!¡±


    Zoel pulled her face out of my hand, glancing between me and Lily with a confused look.


    ¡°I said you need to start off slowly¡­¡± Lily said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to start off slow! These monsters¡­ they¡¯re just annoying to deal with! It was nothing like fighting Zoel! Why can¡¯t you teach me more magic? You¡¯re so strong, Lily, and all you¡¯ve taught me is one thing!¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Throw me against a real demon. Or even Bahamut. I¡¯m¡¯ sure I will get stronger quicker if I feel that my opponent is strong. Maybe if I¡ª¡±


    Lily slapped me across the face hard, and I stopped speaking, my head turning the other way. I stared back at her slowly, my cheek stinging, and my anger pulsating inside my chest, but gradually dying down with the pain of the slap.


    Lily met my stare with a harsh look, her lapis lazuli eyes cold.


    ¡°Keep that up and you¡¯ll die.¡±


    She turned away from me, walking ahead on the path.


    ¡°A-are you okay, Kei?¡±


    Zoel was standing by my side, wincing.


    I stared at Lily¡¯s back, trying to control my emotions.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I sheathed the sword behind my back, then started continuing on our path, following Lily. The anger inside me was subsiding, replaced by a numb feeling. ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­¡±


    Zoel stared at me unsure, but followed me quietly, knowing that this wasn¡¯t the time for one of her jokes.


    We walked in silence, following Lily¡¯s lead.