Chapter 33

Kimiko shouted, almost scared.

“Solomon! What are you doing?!”

Solomon looked gravely at the floor before he shook his head.

“We don’t have a lot of options. The [Demon King] is about to open the portal to the Heaven. Then he will take the war to the Gods. I don’t know if he is powerful enough but it is sure that the Gods will act on it.”

Terza sighed, resigned.

“And knowing what the Gods have been doing before the [Demons] even existed, I am not sure if the population will even survive their wrath.”

A bandaged Mirzael approached, a bandaged stump where his arm used to be.

“Now even after all that I am still like this…..we don’t have lot of option….”

Mitelt was looking worriedly at Mirzael, not minding her own wounds. Kimiko always cursed Mirzael for not noticing Mitelt’s feeling and still go on flirting with every beautiful woman he sees. Mitelt, however was panicking.

“I don’t know why, nothing is working! Your wound has been healed with enough elixir to regrow it 10 times. I-I don’t know what to do! Solomon! Kimiko!”

Solomon took one look at him and casted a magic.

[Temporal Restoration]

A light green colored circle appeared, indicating a time magic was used. It briefly covered his stump before attempting to reverse time itself on the wound. A purple haze appeared and destroyed the green circle. He sighed.

“It seems that the residue of the Demon’s magic. It won’t go until we defeat him.”

Mitelt was about to go on another argument before Mirzael stopped her.

“It’s alright Mitelt. I am more worried for Misha. She has not said a word. She has yet to regain consciousness has she?”

A lazy voice sounded out.

“I am all right. I am thinking of using the last resort of ours.”

Kimiko look confused.

“What last resort? Do we have any?”

She looked at the others. The others had grim look on their faces. Solomon sighed in finality.

“I guess so……”

Kimiko was confused but before she could ask, Solomon cut her.

“Do anyone have any objection?”

Terza replied firmly.

“I don’t. I have fulfilled the dream of creating [Soul Weapons] of my ancestors. You could say I have fulfilled my only objective in life.”

Misha said, cheerfully.

“It’s been a long ride and I shotz zhem full of leads! How’s the accent? Anyway like I said, I don’t care until and unless you stop me from shooting the Demon’s head full of lead. So I am satisfied with it with my kill count.”

Mitelt looked conflicted.

“I-I…”

But Mirzael cut in the middle this time and looked at Mitelt straight.

“I love you, Mitelt.”

Everyone was shocked as it came from nowhere. Especially Mitelt.

“I always have been. Took me a while to recognize and I find myself being such a dick to you and all. Sorry Kimiko and Misha, I love Mitelt and Mitelt only!”

Kimiko was confused. Just where was this going anyway? Mitelt was first shocked at the confession before her mouth wavered as tears poured from her eyes before giving a small content smile.

“You, you meanie. Saying that at the end! You, you cruel man. But I am content…. At least I know you love me in the end.”

She kissed him unexpectedly causing Mirzael’s eyes to widen before he too kissed her back. Terza guffawed while Misha just cheered on. While this was happening Solomon looked at Kimiko.

“Well, Knowledge is endless and my pursuit too. But I have found that there’s one pursuit, which I find to be, that’s greater than Knowledge and that is love. I really loved you Kimiko and I wish our relationship had lasted a little longer before we broke up.”

Why was he saying this now? It was like the others were resigned to die. No! She won’t let them. Then Solomon and the other looked at each other before Solomon nodded. They also nodded back while Kimiko was confused. He closed his eyes and so did the others. Then many Circles appeared behind him, behind all of them. Then the others glowed golden and little by little broke into golden lights and turned into one golden ball of light. Solomon too glowed before looking at Kimiko. Kimiko was confused.

“Hey, Solomon! Where are the others?”

Her voice cracked up a little.

“Where’s Terza? Misha! Mirzael! Mitelt!! Where’s everyone! What did you DO!”

Solomon looked sadly at her but he could only say two words.

“I’m sorry…..”

He casted a spell.

“[Forced Skill Activation]”

Kimiko’s eye widened as her hand uplifted without her consent. Then she remembered a familiar sensation of using ‘that’ skill. Her eyes widened as she wailed.

“No! NO! SOLOMON! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!”

Solomon looked at her as he uttered.

“…This is the only way.”   

Aaron Pov

Aaron kept Fiore down. His face may have changed back to his normal one but inside he was absolutely livid. He looked down at his sister and smiled.

“Why don’t you go back to the housekeepers, Fii-chan?”

Fiore looked at downed Alicia who seemed to be sleeping at the side. Aaron too looked at the side and asked the maids who had been looking at the exchange from far away.

“Could you take them both away? At a safe distance?”

The maids were stunned at the sudden reversal of his persona as they stared at him for more than few seconds. Aaron, not in the mood, quickly reprimanded them.

“Well? Could you please hurry?”

The stupefied maids hurriedly responded.

“Y-Yes, young master!”

Few of them came and picked up both Fiore and unconscious Alicia. Fiore casted a worried glance at Aaron who simply smiled brightly and nodded once. This blew away the haze covering Fiore’s heart at the moment and let the maids take her away. Then he proceeded to look frigidly at the woman who had done nothing but watch at the mean time. She looked at him intently, especially his eyes.

“Your eyes are just like your mother’s but your mouth sure isn’t.”

He just replied in a frigid tone.

“So? Are we going to talk all day? Or are we going to fight?”

She wore a complicated emotion before sighing.

“Maybe. But it seems like you missed your ritual to activate your bloodline. Do you honestly think you can win against me? Luckily, now I can take your blood which will save me the screeching of that banshee.”

Aaron simply asked.

“I said ‘Are we going to fight?’”

The woman shrugged before, in an instant, arriving before him. She cleaved her sword downwards which Aaron defended against. But it did almost make him crouch as the floor beneath them caved inwards inside the already battered mansion. She asked in a neutral voice.

“You can’t beat me.”

Aaron simply shook his head.

“Maybe, but I have an ace up my sleeve.”

Before quickly activating his bloodline power. [Draconic Bloodline] Activate!

Aaron[Lvl. 283 -> Lvl. 358!].

As she had not expected such dramatic increase, she suddenly found herself on the losing end. Instantly their role reversed. The one on the crouching end was the woman while Aaron applied the pressure. The woman gritted her teeth. She tried to get out of the position but Aaron was already applying more and more pressure. It deepened the pit further as cracks grew around the mansion’s structure. He let it go causing the woman to suddenly be relieved from the pressure. But as it was unexpected, the force she had been using to resist Aaron caused her to lurch forward. Aaron looked impassively as he kicked her in the stomach at the same time.

*Boom*

Suddenly, she flew out of the house from the door, rolling for a few times before stabilizing herself. She spat at the ground as some bloods were mixed in it. The people who were fighting, guards and the hooded figures stopped for a while. The silhouette of a person appeared from the inside and Aaron walked out imposingly, his clothes had an extra shine to it while his hair appeared to float with scales at the side of the eyes.

[Dragon Aura Lvl. 1 (Wind)(Limited)]

[Since ancient times Dragon has been at the top of the Monster chain. This Aura is a manifestation of their might especially those who have mastered the concept of [Wind]. Enemy’s movement is restricted by 20% (+5% every level) and inflicts them with [Panic], [Fear] or [Confusion] while the ally is left alone.]

This passive skill came hand to hand with his transformation. It seemed when [Fafnir] activated his bloodline, it unlocked few more boosts as well. The boost everyone else got may have been degraded after a long time and a certain girl keeping her mouth shut. However, he needed to repel her fast as his bloodline activation was cumbersome than others as well. As everyone’s attention was on him, he shouted out.

“Guards! Defeat these scums who dared to attack the mansion!”

 The guards looked at each other before shouting out and fighting back while the hooded people found themselves to be restricted. The stalemate from earlier was gone as the guards beat back the weakened enemies. Even the woman found herself be restricted.

‘It feels like the air is against me! What is this?! Also wasn’t he supposed to miss his Ritual?! No time to think!’

She could see Aaron walking towards her menacingly. She quickly transformed her sword to whip mode and strike at him.

[Shockwave]

Aaron just parried it with his blade. The effect of the whip just caused him to shift a little. She knew that the transformation was limited and it only enhanced a certain factor like [STR] and [VIT]. Aaron had already displayed his inhuman strength against her as she could barely meet him head to head. She thought bitterly.

‘Maybe I could outlast his transformation!’

It was the only possible choice. The other was to use magic but she was sure he would not let her get out of his sight. The moment she stopped to cast it, he would be upon her. Chantless magic came out as weak magic so that was not an option.

‘Maybe take hostage? No, he is already between me and the mansion for possible candidate.’

She thought of retreat but she refused to let that bitch goad at her failure for the rest of her life.

‘Also she would be too pissed about it to let me go free after the last time she lost a [Named Assassin] in Aron city.’

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, to outlast him was the only option. He would be coming to the same conclusion as well. She smirked, readying her whip as she thought.

‘At least, I still am faster than him.’

That misconception broke quickly when Aaron immediately appeared in front of her with cold eyes. His sword raised high up towards the sky as he brought it down.

[Wind edge]

[Coating the sharp end of a weapon with razor wind, causing the weapon to be sharp enough to cleave even iron with ease.]

The sword created a screeching sound as it met with the whip. The whip, already a brittle weapon, had its durability lessen considerably. She gritted her teeth in confusion as well as frustration. She tried to back up but Aaron didn’t give a chance. Just as she took one step back, he would walk one step forward. She was doomed, she knew.

‘Only one way!’

[Mega Shockwave]

Her whip broke, resulting in creating a big shockwave that managed to push him away. Unwillingly to be captured, she decided it would be best for her to retreat. She did not know that the boost would be that great as well as it had given him [STR] and maybe [AGI] instead of [VIT]. Next time she would be prepared. But Aaron did not let up, he was already upon her! She gazed in disbelief.

‘Just how much did his speed increase!? No, whatever his weird Aura is doing, it is actively suppressing my movement as well!’

She took out a sword from her storage ring and clashed against him. He tried to cleave her but she slid it to her side by the clever use of angle and using his strength. The force from the blade was enough to gouge out a piece of land from the ground. The shockwave created through that was enough for her to quickly escape to the side. She ran away from the chaotic battlefield as Aaron chased her. Knowing that he could catch up to her, she led him to a secluded place in the glade. She then turned towards him who arrived seconds later as he casted a sword skill.

[Wind Sword Barrage]

It created various ethereal green swords and pelted at her like arrows. She too quickly casted a magic skill.

[Earthen Wall]

A slab of rock appeared in front of her which took the hit from the skill. But as it was hastily made, it got destroyed after few seconds of sustaining continuous hits. But it was enough for her to cast a new powerful spell. A red circle appeared on the hand pointing to Aaron.

“From ashes we rise.

 To ashes we fall.

 The heart that cries.

 The soul that laments.

 From the tidal waves of Inferno!

 Burn everything to cinder!

[Prominence Flame]!”

A jet of highly compressed fire laser the size of a small building shot towards him. She clicked her tongue at the drain in MP caused by the spell. Even though she had affinity with fire and earth didn’t make it any less draining. It was the most powerful fire spell in her arsenal. Aaron narrowed his eyes.

[Special Job Skill: Storm Breaker]

A huge vortex of blade almost 30 meter high appeared. He slashed it downwards onto the path of the spell. The result was a big explosion, the world turning white for a brief moment of time before the shockwave uprooted the trees that were close to the explosion. Aaron still glared at her and proceeded to brave the shockwave. She on the other hand was forced to take cover. Assassin job was totally unfavorable in terms of battle of attrition. Her mana pool was halved while Aaron still had 4/5 of it left. Also Aaron was the worst matchup for her.  

She narrowed her eyes dangerously as she closed her emotions off. This wasn’t the first time she faced opponents stronger than her. There were ways to kill them off but she did not want to subject the boy to ‘that’. She was just momentarily surprised by the sudden increase in [Stat], that was all, not because he was the spawn of the woman she and countless clones admired. But the job had to be done, no matter the cost, [Zeta] of the [Named Assassin] would do it. Aaron too narrowed his eyes at the sudden change in behavior of the woman. Her mana flared up as she used her original made skill to kill her opponents. It was ‘Don’t stop until you have killed your enemy’ switch that the [Cult] had engraved into her mind. Once used, use the absolute best of your ability to kill your opponent.

[Dissonance]

She struck first from the side, which Aaron tried to parry. But it got scattered like mist the moment it touched the blade. His [Instinct] screamed at him as he kept his head down. A sword swiped just an inch above his head, cutting off a little bit of his hair. He narrowed his eye at the emotionless woman who appeared from the opposite side.

‘Was that an illusion?’

She struck once more which he tried to defend against. She too turned into mist the moment she touched him. He jumped to avoid being skewered from below by [Earth spike]. She came forward once more, this time as he was about to parry, suddenly he dodged it by a small margin. He noticed that his cape had been sliced before the woman too faded into mist. He narrowed his eyes at the sight. They too remain corporeal to damage him somewhat before fading into nothing.

‘A dangerous opponent, one whose copy can cause some degree of damage before fading into mist.’

If he did not have [Instinct] which had to be honed through grueling hardship, he would have been cut many times. This ability gave pseudo sixth sense to sense enemy attack when used passively or likely whereabouts of the enemy when used actively just like [Insight]. Although the cut would likely disappear after a minute due to recovery, he wasn’t sure he would take the cut as this person was an Assassin who could have various ailment causing things coated onto her blade. If her plan was to outlast him, then certainly she could harass him to no end. But it would take quite a bit of mana to make damaging clones no matter how fragile it was.

‘A battle of Attrition on whose mana will give out first? A Warrior job has a little more mana than an Assassin job does. Assassin are not suited for battle of attrition as their main focus is to kill the person in the least amount of time’

She disappeared into the mist.

‘What?’

He moved his head around a bit and it was true. Mist had surrounded him. He realized that the true intent of the clone was to make the surrounding cater to her own style of fighting. Now it was even harder to dodge or parry as she could strike from anywhere. She started throwing some earthen spikes towards him as he just dodged around them. Aaron thought.

‘Not my first time facing such opponents.’

He closed off his eyes as they would not help him, he focused on his ears. But that proved to be fruitless as he nearly lost his head. Even the sound in the mist had been muffled, probably because it was laced with her mana. He went towards a direction hoping to get out of the mist but it felt like the mist followed him.

‘If so then…’

[Wind Wheel]

He sliced in a circle with his sword. The skill caused a wind blade to blow all around him, dispersing the mist somewhat before it set in once again. However, it did cut the trees that were outside, causing a lot of them to fall towards them. He jumped around the trees. He narrowed his eyes.

‘So I need continuous source of wind. How troublesome.’

But he had another trick up his sleeve, an additional bonus from his dragon heritage.

[Dragon Sight]

His eyes turned yellow. The haze cleared out in an instant. It was still there but he could see right through them. He could see her carefully approach him, trying to distract him with the fast but noiseless moving copies of her. Then she sprang as he made it seem like he was busy dealing with the copies. She aimed for the heart but unexpectedly he moved to the side. Now that she was side of him, she could see him keeping his eyes on her. Before other copies could distract him, he clenched and smashed it on the side of her stomach. She rolled a quite some time, spilling blood from her mouth. He had punched with all his might and shaved almost half of her health. As she was an assassin, her [CON] and [VIT] were quite inferior to the other stats.

The copies instantly disappeared and haze seemed to clear out albeit still there. Despite that she stood up, her face still impassive. She would have to make do with her most lethal strike then. She kept the sword in front of her. True it was inferior to the previous one but luckily she was facing one on one with him. Her sword was when she had to deal serious one-on-one battle otherwise she’d use the whip to deal with weaker opponents like the girl from before. She took a step forward, behind her was another like her which mirrored her movement then another and another behind them, each mirroring the movement of the apparition in front of them at one second delay from the moment she stepped forward. It was probably an effect of her skill but this time the clones were more real.

[Delusion Illusion: Misty Symphony]

Aaron narrowed his eyes, a whole slew of her attacked him at the same time from every direction with the main one charging her sword strike at the back. He jumped and stepped at the copy below him. Then crouched as another charged overhead. The simultaneous attack from both side, he grabbed them with superior strength and speed and twirled them around causing a small tornado, mowing few of them with it. He let them go, causing both of them to fly quite fast towards the other. Then with his sword, he struck one, parried the other and cut a few of them down.

[Mana sword]

Another sword made of mana, glowing white blue, appeared on his other arm. It was weak but it could do well in cutting the copies. Then he started dodging and hacking with both of the swords. It was a mayhem while the real one still charged without batting an eye at the fallen copies. After cutting all the copies, they did not dissipate and stayed there. He was literally above a mountain of corpses. It seemed the woman was ready to use her attack. Aaron had a serious face.

“Maybe the inspiration I drew of earlier can help me create my own sword skill.…..”

His eye narrowed. Every swordsman had a skill they either inherited or made their own. You can also create your own sword style if you have enough level in sword mastery. He had gained some inspiration during his time at the windy wasteland with [Fafnir]. He looked at her while the [Mana Sword] faded from his hand. Then with both hand he pointed his sword up. He closed his eyes as he remembered the wasteland, the desolate windy wasteland. Winds started to generate as a tornado formed with him in the eye. It was mixed with his mana as well as the Draconic Mana which had the purity at the same level of the Dragon King. Not surprising as [Fafnir] himself had helped in awakening his bloodline. The woman did not bat an eye as she focused on her own lethal strike. The tornado got smaller and smaller as it enveloped only his sword and got absorbed into it.

Then the sword became an emerald glow.

“[Dragon King Series: Tempest of the Charging Dragon King]”

The woman too replied, her sword growing hazy.

“[Dissonance: Heart of the Estranged]”

Just as he brought down the sword, she struck. Moving faster than ever she became as fast as the speed of sound in an instant. Her final strike required her clones to distract the victim in the fog, while she charges for the final strike. It required precision attack to the heart. It had a mortality rate of 100%. Normal people may think that a strike to the heart would likely deal a sure death but with people with crazy amount of [VIT], [CON] and ‘will’ would survive even having their heart blown out before repairing it with elixir. Therefore, her strike had 100% chance of dealing death blows. She instantly came within 0.1 second she was near him. Her sword pointing towards his heart, ready to blow off his heart. Aaron muttered slowly.

“Too slow. Disintegrate!”

However, as Aaron said, she was too late as he pointed his sword at her. Time moved slowly as she watched his serious face from down while he looked at her cold face from up. A beam of emerald light got discharge from the point right to her face. It dispersed the haze in an instant but it did not stop there. As he was pointing down at her, it made a hole in the very ground itself which caved in causing the trees to fall down. The dust had kicked off. Aaron was surprised at this but nodded in understanding as it had taken all his mana, which was 3/5 full just to discharge the light. Also the sword he had got destroyed as it could not handle the raw power of his strike. The copies below him dispersed as his transformation faded.

The dust had settled down and at the side he could see the woman missing her left arm and left leg. She had narrowly escaped the straight path of the sword light. As it was the first time he used it, his aim was bad which caused her to shift a little to avoid the worst of it. She was panting as she had a pained expression. She had crawled herself to a wooden log which had fallen previously. She smiled at him and laughed.

“I guess I should have expected the result. You are her son after all.”

Aaron frowned. He did not like striking fallen foes nor not helping them on their death bed. He took out a potion from earlier. The potion wasn’t enough to heal her but it could stop her from bleeding all over. She shook her head.

“It won’t do any good. Please, just let me die. I’ve had enough of it already.”

Aaron wanted to know something, a hope in his heart.

“Did my mother truly die?”

She looked at him in shame and guilt before saying.

“Yeah she did. She was hunted down when her guard was weak. I….. was there”

Aaron just closed his eye and said nothing, silence reigning in. Then, he asked a question he wanted to know for some time.

“Did you….. hate my mother?”

She made a complicated face before looking up in the sky. It still felt weird to Aaron how another person with the same face as his mother made different expression.

“No, frankly we all admired her. How strong she was. How she rebelled against their control while the rest of us just did as we were told like dolls.”

He frowned.

“You don’t sound like one.”

She tried to shrug, smiling derisively.

“It’s been years, I learnt something useful in the way.”

“How many are you left?”

She just looked at the side before replying.

“Only me….. the rest were of no use and were disposed of.”

Aaron felt anger at that before being confused.

“Disposed? With your level couldn’t it be more…”

She got the analogy before smiling a little.

“No. Failures upon failures before half-baked ones like me appeared. Then your mother and at last was your sister.”

Aaron asked.

“What happened then? Why did they dispose you all?”

She laughed softly as if reminiscing some memories.

“Your mother. She rebelled and went out the grid for few years. We were in a lot of scrutiny back then. Trying to make someone like her but more obedient, they created your sister. Then your mother came back along with your father and destroyed the lab. Some clones helped in their escape, hoping to escape the clutches of the [Cult]. The higher-up didn’t like it because they were so close to perfecting the clone and your mother destroyed their years of research.”

“Don’t they have copies of it.”

He didn’t expect her to laugh so hollowly. She coughed blood before sighing.

“The [Cult] isn’t united as you think they are. The society revolves in back-stabbing and one-upping each other. Only tamed unit like [Named Assassin] are any good. All the powers are with the elders and they too don’t trust each other. This project was just a test before it came out as perfect. Your mother destroyed and took your sister who was to be a vessel. It pissed a lot of people and they purged every clone participating in the rebellion except few. I was lucky as I was competent in fighting. The rest died in lab after being used as experiments.”

He found the word ‘vessel’ worrying.

“Vessel?”

She made a bitter expression, before replying.

“Your sister couldn’t be as perfect as your mother because she still had lots of modifications to add but was also made for other reasons. It was to act as a vessel for something but we got someone much….. better.”

Aaron thought that she was weirdly fixated on his sister. Why did she make such a bitter expression? Aaron asked her.

“Did you hate her? My sister?”

As if she came to her senses, her breath hitched.

“I-I didn’t hate her. To be exact, I guess you could call it rage and envy. I was envious of your sister, because she got the life that we dreamt of. We mere doll are just tools, nobody loves us, nobody cares for us. We are just pawns, when we rebelled we were all killed without a second thought. Disposed and some experiencing life worse than death. But she?”

Her tone got higher, as if she was grieving.

“It’s not fair. Hundreds of them were implicated despite doing nothing and got butchered due to her escape while she lived and was loved and cared. We were experimented, used and thrown. I couldn’t protect my fellow sisters. The [Cult] made examples of them. They performed experiment on them while we watched them scream, beg to death. But deep inside I was glad. Glad because it was not me on that lab table getting cut up! Some were just small children!!”

Aaron did not know what to say. The woman seemed to have gone through much as she did not know she was crying. Years of pent of emotion just seem to bubble up as she wailed like a small child.

“I-I am sorry I lived! I-I am sorry I couldn’t do anything! I-I am sorry I helped them escape! So please, please punish me! Don’t take it out on the other innocent sisters! But you BASTARD! YOU DIDN’T HAD THE COURAGE TO SPEAK UP! YOU DIDN’T THINK TWICE WHAT YOUR ACTION COULD LEAD TO!! YOU FOOL!! WAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

She was berating herself, then came realization to Aaron. She always used the word ‘we’ when it came to helping his mother and sister. It seemed that she had helped his mother and sister to escape.

‘A guilty conscience. Bottling it up didn’t do her any good.’

Aaron bitterly thought as he looked at her wailing figure. She was lying there bleeding while crying her heart out.

“Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please! Please just let me die…….”

Aaron did not know what to feel. On one side he hated her for doing cruel thing to his sister and Alicia. On the other knowing it due to her help and countless other clones, his mother and sister escaped, he felt sad at the burden she carried. He got closer to her and as he was near, he could feel her fear. She tried to protect herself by keeping her head down and clutching it with her remaining hand. It was a sad sight to see.

Aaron then kneeled down to her level and without saying anything he hugged her. The woman seemed to be surprised as her cries softened and her body stiffened. Her shaking hand slowly got closer to him and clutched it hard as if her life depended on it. Aaron closed his eyes and prayed for her and the clones who were killed. He said softly.

“Thank you. Thank you for helping my mother.”

He meant it from the bottom of his heart. The woman did not say anything for a while. Her grip loosening up a bit as she nuzzled her face on his cloth with tears in her eyes.

“…. *hic* It’s warm, so warm….. and I am sorry for *hic* doing cruel things to your sister… please cherish her……..”

Suddenly, he could feel her clutching his cape desperately. A small voice reached out to him.

“Please save me--……”

He could feel that her life force was flickering before it dimmed out and died. Her hand fell as she died with a hopeful face. He closed her eyes. His face darkened as his fist clenched and punched the logs at his side. The logs got decimated into thousand pieces while the rest of the logs got flung away. He took a long breath before speaking gravely.

“I will promise you this. I will destroy those bastards. I will kill every deserving sons of bitches. So rest easy. O’ God of Fate, let her have her rest.”

He carried her princess style away from the destruction of their battle and got to their mansion. The guards had finished their job in repelling the enemy. They looked at him and cheered on. One of them asked while looking at the body.

“Umm young master? What are you going to do with it?”

Aaron said.

“I am going to bury her at the [Sacred Forest].”

The guards did not know what to say until some other came to ask.

“We have heard nothing from the city till now. Do we go?”

Aaron looked at the injured soldiers before shaking his head.

“No, you all guard the mansion. I will go help them. Also take care of this body.”

He proceeded to give them the clone’s body to one of the guards who awkwardly handled it. Aaron took out few [MP Potion] and drank them. Before heading out.

“Aaron nii-san!”

He looked back to see Fiore looking expectantly at him from one of the window. He smiled with his usual confidence before shouting.

“Wait back for me, Fii-chan. I will be back!”

Fiore nodded, no longer depressed. He promptly headed towards the city in his fastest speed.

Kimiko Pov

Kimiko gasped as she woke up. Her heart rate had gone up as her hands were shaking badly. She looked at the surrounding, with tears at the corner of her eyes. She was still in the compound of her new home. She then raised her hand and looked at them. Her hands looked normal before it turned bloody for an instant before turning back to normal. She sighed at the familiar suppression of her emotion as she took a long breath. The she kept her head on the ground. She kept her arm on top of her face to cover her tears that were falling as she muttered slowly.

“I guess I still am messed up…”

Thanks for reading. Got a little fever.