[Volume 2. Epilogue, Third POV]

 

The nights and days passed by in a blink of an eye, twenty days vanished from the calendars as the entire city was now cloaked in black. It was the day where the heroes of the incident were to be buried, laid to rest on the graveyard of the heroes.

 

A long carpet of red could be seen from the center of the city, the carpet extended from the gate to the very center of the city where a statue of a beautiful brown-haired lady with both daggers out could be seen. The statue of whom they call ‘The Dagger of Light’ and also the late heir of the Queenshelm, stories of her deeds roamed all around the kingdom from the few witnesses who managed to sustain their consciousness in the battle.

 

There was no one in the kingdom or even in the continent that didn’t know of her name, the name of the person who sacrificed her life to kill the Devil of Ashen who was treated as a continental-wide threat; the name of Ayumi Ai.

 

~~~~

 

At the center of the city stood many influential figures, the Queen of the Nostalgia Kingdom together with her fellow aides; His Majesty and the Princess who stood strong; the current leader of the Queenshelm family and most importantly, the people whom the hero lived for. All of them were dressed in black and white as they watched the first carriage carrying the body of the hero approach followed by carriages of the other people who died in the battle.

 

The entire city stood in silence as trumpets marched, some cried while some held themselves together. A few families were left in disorder, losing their beloved in the battle while the rest looked at the carriages with awe and respect.

 

“Stop!” the man leading the parade stopped, turning around as he rose his rapier up in the air before thrusting it down to the floor as he saluted.

 

All of the men who were standing around the carriages all stood straight and saluted simultaneously as they looked at each other and nodded before His Majesty’s voice echoed throughout the entire city, “As you may all know now, the incident of The Devil of Ashen occurred within our jurisdiction.”

 

“To avoid panic, we decided upon ourselves to handle the situation ourselves, bringing together the most elites of the kingdom thinking with our powers it would have been enough—but we deeply underestimated the intensity of it. The devil was stronger than any of us could handle…” he took a deep breath before continuing.

 

“The devil made us think that she was someone easy to defeat, fooling us greatly until we fired our final combined spell to which she countered with a blast that knocked almost all of us unconscious and many dead except for a few who was none other than Ayumi.”

 

“According to rumors who had woken up near the end of the battle, Ayumi had fought bravely till the end like the person she was, unleashing her final spell towards the devil which completely annihilated her but at the same time, killed her…” he spoke in a deep tone, gripping his fists together as tears fell down from the eyes of many.

 

The little girl, Flora broke down and fell to her knees while Mana, Crystal, Leisha, and even the Queen of the Nostalgia Kingdom hugged her tightly. Crystal as well couldn’t hold her tears while Mana, Kaori, and Leisha toughened themselves up, bottling up their emotions as His Majesty looked at them with similar sentiment before continuing.

 

“I would like to say, without her sacrifice, the entire kingdom—no, the entire continent would be in deep danger as the devil herself was revealed to be one of the most powerful devils recorded in the entire history of the continent as such, wherever you may be now whether it’d be in the skies or in another world, we the people of this continent are grateful of you, Ayumi…” he ended off before backing off as Aurora took over.

 

Aurora, who was Ayumi’s master looked up at the skies for a second before taking a long deep breath as she opened her mouth and spoke, “Ayumi brat, if you happen to hear us from the skies, you really are a brat for leaving the Queenshelm heirless once more!” before laughing as tears fell from her eyes.

 

“Well, whatever—we’ll take it as your way of proving that you are worthy of being the heir of the Queenshelm clan. Enough talks, let us begin with the next stage of the ceremony before the burial. All of the family members of the respective heroes are allowed to come near to them for a final look,” she smiled before leaving the stage, running off towards the back.

 

The entire city was filled with grief as relatives of the fallen neared the carriages where their loved ones were on, taking a glance of the bodies of their beloved whose eyes were now closed. Tears fell from the eyes of many as cries echoed throughout the city.

 

And standing before the carriage of the hero Ayumi Ai was none other than the Queenshelm leader Aurora and her partner, Estelle; the Queen of the Nostalgia Kingdom, Kaori Nonaka together with Crystal Nonaka; the daughter of the Fragaria family, Mana Fragaria with Flora and the infamous Sword Master Leisha.

 

“I failed to save you in the end, Ayu-chi,” the Queen of the Nostalgia Kingdom, Kaori touched the glass of the carriage as she looked at the lifeless body of Ayumi who was now resting on her bed. Tears fell from her eyes as she frowned her eyebrows.

 

“You never kept your promises, you idiot…” Mana smiled wryly, carrying Flora on her hands before she broke down in tears as the others looked at them with different gazes, sympathy, and the likes.

 

“I guess sandwiches were never enough,” Leisha joked while holding her emotions.

 

“Aywumi-mwa…” “Mama Ayumi…”

 

And after a little while, all of the people nearby were told to go back to the sides as the man who led the parade took back his rapier before marching forward as they soon stopped at the statue with a hollow spot for the coffin of the hero could be seen.

 

The first carriage was soon opened as the men took the coffin of Ayumi and marched down towards the spot before all of them stopped at the same time as the man saluted once more before moving aside as the men soon placed the coffin inside, closing the spot with her headstone which wrote.

 

Ayumi Ai.

December 12 2030 Solis - April 1, 2048 Solis.

The Dagger of Light.

 

Trumpets sounded all around the city as everyone saluted simultaneously before a shocking scene appeared before everyone. A bright light shot up from the statue, forming the symbol of a lily and a dagger. The light could be seen from continents away, shining super brightly as the entire world was basked in a warm atmosphere.

 

“That occurrence was soon called The Blessing of Ayumi and the day, April 1^st was declared as the day when the stars fall.” A beautiful lady with a mix of brown and white hair smiled as she looked at the little children near her.

 

“Mama Ayumi, we’re home!” a beautiful black-haired teenage girl waved her hand, together with a brown-haired girl who was eating a barbeque of boar meat.

 

“It seems like storytime is over, kids. You can go back to the orphanage now,” the beautiful lady smiled as all the kids nodded at the same time before the beautiful lady looked at the two teenage girls and smiled, “Welcome home, Crystal and Flora.”

 

“I am home, Mama! Where is Mama Kaori and Mama Mana?” the black-haired girl asked as she smacked the top of the gluttonous brown-haired girl’s head.

 

“They are at the dining room now, waiting for you. Let’s go, shall we?” the beautiful lady—Ayumi “Ai” Eve smiled before the two girls nodded as they soon rushed to the living room where three marvelous ladies awaited, a white-haired beauty; a pink-haired goddess, and a silver-haired lady.

 

Liliful Vol.2 End.