Chapter 48: Viva La Vida

The Queen’s head rolled on the floor while her body fell crashing to the floor with a loud thud. I walked closer to the head and noticed that it was starting to heal from the lightning wounds slowly. Time to deliver the coup de grâce.

 

“S.. stop! You don’t know what you are doing! Everything I did is for the benefit of all living beings. Can’t you see that?!” shouted the head.

 

“I have enough of your bullshit,” I walked faster towards the head while removing the daggers that pierced me, tossing it aside.

 

“W.. wait! My God have graced me with knowledge of the future. Everything will perish if I do not follow through. I am saving humanity as a whole! The only thing that I needed to do was to eliminate all Hawthorns and all will be saved. You have to believe me!” she shouted.

 

I just gave her a pitiful look. Maybe what she is saying might have some hint of truth but I am not about to risk it.

 

“W.. wait.. I was wrong. It was you. You are the one that is the catalyst for our destruction. I.. it was you all along,” said the Queen as she realised something.

 

“Send my regards to the Demon King,” I said to her with a smile.

 

The captain started running towards me with insane speed. Obviously doing his best in wanting to save his precious Queen. But he will never make it.

 

“Are you willing to live with the consequences? Knowing that you are the catalyst that will end all things?! Are you willing to shoulder…….” her speech was cut short as I sliced through her skull with a vertical strike. For save measures, I continued with a horizontal slice and then another, and another, until I just started dicing her head into pieces.

 

The captain who was closed to me now suddenly fell to the floor skidding towards the Queen’s head. His hand tried reaching out to the head but his body was starting to melt. I guess there was a bond between these two that I do not know off. The body eventually melted into a pool of disgusting flesh material leaving only the helmet and the greatsword behind.

 

Is… is it over? I stood ready in case there was any resurrection by either of them. But after a minute or two, all seems quiet. The Queen is finally dead. She is dead. Viva la vida, long live the Queen!

 

The Dark Lord was limping towards me. Thank the above, he is alive. What about the Paladin Lord? I went to check up on him. There was a small pool of blood where he was. I feared for the worst.

 

Upon inspection, his left arm was dismembered. I gave a quick check on his pulse and there was some heartbeat but it was getting softer by the minute. I quickly took out my healing gel to stop the bleeding. I hope that he will live through it.

 

“The captain missed his aim when he was looking at the Queen right after you struck her with lightning. The Paladin Lord will live. Despite his age, he is strong willed,” said the Dark Lord with a voice that I was not expecting. His voice sounded like a child.

 

“I’m sorry Zen. You will need to take care of us….” the Dark Lord trailed off and dropped to the floor.

 

I thought what he was sorry for at first but I found out that I need to take care of both of them. To be honest, I am on the brink of fainting myself but I smacked my face a couple of times to force myself to remain conscious. I checked the pulse of the Dark Lord and the Paladin Lord alternately to ensure that they are alive. The Dark Lord’s body was growing back to normal size. The Paladin Lord’s pulse was stable now despite looking pale. Can I faint now knowing that the both of them are stable? I almost forgot to stop my own bleeding and quickly applied healing gel over the wounds caused by the thorn daggers. It ripped my flesh badly when I pulled it out.

 

I shouted “Is there anybody around?! Someone?!” hoping there is at least someone around to help. I saw a head peeking through the throne door.

 

“Hey you! Come over here and help me!” I shouted to the guy.

 

He went back into hiding. Damn it, what is he so scared about? A moment later, a couple of them walked through the door cautiously. Ah, no wonder he was cautious. They were soldiers.

 

“The Queen is dead, as you can see she was a demon. Lay down your arms and help the wounded. We are all humans here,” I said while sitting on the floor.

 

They were hesitating on whether to help or to capture us. But for what? There is no one to prosecute us even if you capture us.

 

I forced myself to stand up. I had no energy to summon any of my weapons and just pulled out the elven dagger hidden at my back.

 

“The war is over. Unless you wish to fight me which I will gladly do so, please help the wounded” I glared at them.

 

I was lying, I am using all my strength just to maintain myself up and to keep myself awake. I hope I am able to convince them to give up instead of continuing this pointless war.

 

One of the soldier threw down his spear with a loud clank. The others looked at him and followed suit. They crouched down and carried both the Paladin and Dark Lord. I tried to follow them but my legs gave in. I was lying flat on the floor breathing hard. The last thing I saw before going unconscious was someone wearing a white coat looking over me.

 

***

 

We met some adventurers on the way. Peter was guiding us to the locations of the summoning circle as though he was the one who summoned them. Perhaps he really does have vision to see magical prowess. They were demons coming to attack us from all directions but it felt as though there were less now. We had closed about a dozen circles by now and I hope there won’t be too many left.

 

“Only a few more.. Halt!” shouted Peter as he raised his hand all of a sudden.

 

All of us stopped at his command. What’s going on?

 

“The circles.. they’re powering down. Zen did it,” he said softly.

 

“He did it? Are you sure?” Rose asked.

 

As we were contemplating on what was going on, we heard someone ringing the castle bell. It usually meant to signify an announcement, a start or end of a war. Which is it though? I strained my ears to hear whether there was someone saying something?

 

We were quite far from the castle so I will need to concentrate and pinpoint the source of the location. My eyes might not be as good as the other elves but I am confident with my ears. A few of the adventurers were chatting away and Peter shushed them. Absolute silence was needed.

 

“The Queen is dead! The war is over! I repeat, the Queen is dead!” shouted someone from the castle as he continued to ring the bell.

 

“Zen did it! He did it! The Queen is dead!” I announced to everyone.

 

Cheers erupted from the adventurers. Peter raised a hand and they quiet down.

 

“We are not done yet. There are leftover demons that are still running inside the city. Let us make haste and eliminate them all. Only then do we celebrate,” he said.

 

The adventurers sighed due to the sudden mood breaker but accepted the fact that Peter was right. We all followed him leading the way until we heard a loud thud behind us. All of us turned to look at what it was and we saw Rose lying unconscious on the ground. I rushed towards her but realised that even I was starting to lose consciousness myself. I tried to stop myself from fainting but eventually dropped to the ground. The last thing I heard before I lost consciousness was “Bring them to the infirmary. They deserved a good rest”.

 

***

 

I opened my eyes. W.. where am I? I don’t see a hole in front of me so that is a good sign. I looked around the room. Strange, this is my home. I am on my bed right now. I tried to push myself up but my body was unresponsive. I couldn't even move a muscle aside from just my eyes.

 

Someone knocked on my room door, it sounded like Rose.

 

“Onii-chan, I’m coming in,” Rose opened the door after she had knocked.

 

She brought what looked like a meal to me and placed it on my alchemy table. She got closer and looked at me. “Hmm, still sleeping, huh?” she said. What? Can’t she see that my eyes are wide opened?

 

“I guess just for a bit. He’s always a dead log once he sleeps,” said Rose as she sat on my bed.

 

Is she letting me continue my sleep? She’s such a nice person, always taking care of me. She suddenly leaned closer to my face and stared at me intently. W.. what are you planning to do, Rose? Aren’t you letting me continue my sleep?

 

“He won’t wake up, will he? He always slept through it,” said Rose as she leaned closer and started kissing me. I couldn’t move at all. Only my eyes was staring widely at her as she kissed me for who knows how long. It felt like an eternity when you couldn’t even move a muscle. When she pulled back her kiss, she looked at me with such passionate eyes that I’ve never seen before.

 

“I can’t hold back any longer,” she said all of a sudden. W.. What do you mean? Hold it back, hold it back!!

 

She sat on top of me ready to ride me. What the hell? Is she planning to rape me when I can’t even move? Rose, what the hell are you doing?!

 

“I waited for so long and you didn’t even give me an answer. It’s because of your indecisiveness that got you into this mess,” she said straight to my face.

 

Ugh, she is right. I need to decide soon or I’ll end up hurting both of them. But this is not the way, Rose. This is just not right. I shut my eyes as I did not want to see what she planned to do with my lifeless body. Hmm? Nothing happened after some time. But I still felt her weight on top of me. I took a peek to see what was going on.

 

W.. what? It was Lily riding on top of me now. We weren’t having sex per se but it felt familiar. Wait, isn’t this that time where we slept together? Why is this scene happening now?

 

“Zen, I can’t wait any longer. I can’t control myself. Something is wrong with me,” she said.

 

I remembered trying to talk her out of it but she was barely listening. It was as though lust had overtaken her that night. Why am I experiencing this again? Was I that desperate to relive that memory of our night together?

 

“We shared a night together but you still refused to choose me. Was I just a plaything to you?” she said all of a sudden. Woah, hang on. She never said that before.

 

I blinked my eyes and she changed back to Rose. This time Rose was grabbing my face with her hands.

 

“You promised that you will give me an answer. You promised! I waited so long for nothing!” she shouted.

 

I was no longer on my bed. All I can see was Rose gripping my face and dark clouds were brewing in the sky.

 

I blinked once again and Lily re-appeared. She was crying sitting on top of me. It was raining and thunder can be heard. She was mumbling something that I can barely hear. I had to strain my ears to hear what she was saying.

 

“I am pregnant with his child and yet he did not choose me. What am I doing to do?” she mumbled to herself.

 

Wait what? She’s pregnant? With my child?! But she said she was not!

 

I blinked once more and Rose appeared before me. No, it was Lily. Wait, it’s Rose. What’s going on? They are overlapping each other. Their hands reached out to me and gripped my neck. Are they planning to choke the life out of me just because I was indecisive? Am I going to die by the hands of the two woman that I love?

 

“You promised! You swore we will be together for the rest of your life! Now you shall pay with your life!” said both of them simultaneously while their grip started to tighten further.

 

Ugh! I’m getting being chocked out of my life. I don’t remember saying that I will take care of any of them but what the hell, maybe I do deserve death for playing with two women’s heart. But I know this is not real. This is a nightmare for sure. One that I have no control over whatsoever. Please, let me wake up from this terrible nightmare! PLEASE!

 

“Very well, I shall grant you this one wish,” said someone that I’ve never heard before.

 

***

 

“Ahhhh!!!” I awoke while panting heavily. Now where the hell am I? I tried to move my arms, body and legs. Alright, I can move them. And I know where this place is. I am in an infirmary room.

 

I turned to look around and saw a vase with a lily and rose flower in it. Way to be discreet, ladies. I pushed myself to sit up. Ouch ouch! My whole body hurts! I don’t remember it was this painful before. Or is this the after effects of using the painkiller potion?

 

I leaned against the bed headboard and thought of the nightmare I had earlier. Why was the dream so intense that it felt so real? I don’t believe that either of them would act that way in real life. But I understood the message. It is a sin to play with a woman’s heart yet I played with two of them. After I settled my last revenge I swear I will give my utmost sincere answer to the both of them.

 

I heard many voices walked by my room. The infirmary must be extremely busy right after the war. Someone opened my room door and walked in while talking to someone behind. It was Rose and right behind her was Lily. They were busy chatting with each other and did not notice that I was awake.

 

Rose turned to look at me and dropped her bag. I raised my hand a little and managed to say “Yo” with a raspy voice. Woah, what happened to my voice?

 

“Zen, you’re finally awake,” said the both of them. They said at the exact same time. Do they share the same brain cell or something?

 

The both of them rushed over to check up on me. I am not sure what they were capable of checking when the both of them are not doctors or nurses. They asked me whether I was feeling alright and whether there was anywhere that still felt pain. My brain did not register what they said and I focused on what I needed to tell the both of them.

 

“R.. Rose, I am sorry. Please forgive me,” I said with my raspy voice.

 

“H.. huh?” replied Rose with a confused look.

 

“Lily, please tell me honestly. You are certain that you are not pregnant, right?” I asked her.

 

“W.. what? No I am not. I told you before that nothing happened after that night. What’s going on, Zen? Are you trying to imply something?” asked Lily with a concerned look.

 

“N.. no, I am not implying anything. Both of you, I am sorry. I will give my honest answer to the both of you after I am done with Tom. I promise to the both of you. I hope you can allow me that much,” I told the both of them.

 

They looked at each other with a confused look. They whispered something to each other which I can sort of guess. They must be worried that I knocked my head or something that is somehow affecting me to say all these things. But I am normal and realised that my indecisiveness is what lead to that nightmare. It is a genuine wake up call for me.

 

“Don’t worry, Zen. None of us are rushing you. Just take your time and don’t worry about it,” said Lily with an awkward smile.

 

“I won’t rush you, onii-chan. Take all the time you need, alright? Are you sure you’re fine though?” asked Rose with a concerned look.

 

“I’m fine. Thank you both for understanding,” I smiled at the both of them. Tears started flowing from my eyes without me even realising it. Both of them were shocked and quickly went to call the nurse but I assured them I was fine. That’s odd, why am I crying?

 

I started laughing at the level of their concern and was genuinely happy that they cared so much about me. They just gave me a puzzled look that I suddenly started laughing.

 

Rose’s expression changed once again when she noticed something. She was staring at my neck.

 

“Onii-chan, what happened to you neck?” she asked.