Chapter 333 - Under the moonless sky

Leila slowly opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was the falling snow. The sky was dark and had no moon nor stars up. It was rather cold but due to her fur that doubled as her clothes, the coldness was quite comforting. Though she still felt her body was heavy and found it difficult to move. 

Leila clenched his fist and then tried to move her head. It was very difficult and quite painful but she endured it. As she looked to the side she saw an unfamiliar person was standing there looking at her. Leila's eyes almost popped out due to the shock. The most shocking part was not that there was an unknown man at the Overlord of the Sky's home, but that the person was a human. The moment Leila saw the human her whole body was jolted awake. She still felt her limbs were heavy and ice-cold but she needed to move. Which demon didn't how much humans hated their race. In her mind, this human might have come to finish her off. 

As Leila backed away she tried to pull out her daggers but found that they weren't there. It was at that moment she was finally able to take in the scenery and was once again surprised. She was still at the top of the mountain but instead of the dead bodies of Tengus and Harpies what lay around her were flowers. Most importantly Kretos was gone, and only the human male was standing there. Was it possible that this human was able to somehow beat Kretos? 

'How can a human beat that guy?!'

As she was confused by what she was seeing and was starting to panic, the human started to approach her. 

"Hey-" Ren wasn't able to continue with what he wanted to say as Leila turned into her wolf form and attacked. Ren was able to easily dodge such a sloppy attack, it seems that Leila was still feeling sluggish. As Ren was getting ready to evade the next attack, he saw that Leila was actually running away. She used her initial attack to create an opening for her to escape. 

'I forgot this girl can already read the flow of battle. She instantly knew that she was no match for me in her current condition.' Ren smiled his vicious smile as he appeared before Leila. Seeing that Ren was blocking her path Leila quickly backed away and was about to go in another direction.

Yet despite moving as quickly as possible it was apparent that Ren's speed and hers were greatly different. Compared to Ren it looks like she wasn't moving at all. 

'Tsk, It's do or die!' Leila gathered up her courage and attacked Ren with her claws. Ren then emitted a portion of his mana which made Leila stop mid-way into her attack and was now unable to move. The simple pressure from Ren's mana coupled with her weakened body made it hard to resist. Leila had no other options but to fall onto the ground. 

Leila could no longer maintain her wolf form and reverted back into her human form. She was sweating profusely and found it hard to breathe. Leila looked at her human opponent and saw him smiling viciously at her. 

The moment Leila saw that smile the face of a certain someone converged with the human's face. That smile, this overwhelming mana, in Leila's mind there was only one person who could the same. The conclusion she came to seem impossible, but base on the circ.u.mstances it was all she could think of. 

"Are you... Kretos?..." Hearing Leila timidly asking him that question Ren couldn't help but chuckle. 

"It has been a long time Leila." 

...

After confirming that the human in front of her was Kretos, the two sat on the bed of flowers. The snow continued to fall on them, yet they said nothing even though Leila had a ton of questions, no words could come out of her mouth. She was still in a state of shock.

After a few minutes, Leila had finally calmed down and ask the question she wanted to ask ever since she saw Kretos as a human.

"What happened to you? What happened to this place?" 

"It's quite a long story, do you want to change locations first?" Leila shook her head. 

"No, I don't think my curiosity can handle any more waiting time. So tell me everything that happened after I fainted." 

"I hope you're ready for this. So as you were dying in my arms I-"

Ren patiently told her the story of what happened over the past eleven thousand years. When Leila heard what Ren did to her so that she could survive she showed a shocked expression.

Despite having even more questions than answers, Leila didn't stop Ren and waited for him to finish his story. While listening to Ren's narration Leila's expression changed throughout the story.

When they got to the part of the story when Ren heard that with the current spells of the time, no one could save her, Leila started frowning. Ren actually erased his memories of her because of that incident. 

Ren told her everything he knew, he also told her about how he reincarnated into this human form. The only thing he omitted telling her was about his past incarnations. Well, aside from Silika and Alphonso there was no one else that knew about that secret. 

"So I've been asleep for eleven thousand years..." Leila spoke her tone filled with uncertainty and anxiety. 

"Yeah," Ren answered. He wanted to reassure Leila but decided to not force it. 

Once Ren was done telling his tale Leila stood up and looked up at the sky. Even though she couldn't see it, she knew that the remaining moon was still up there. As a werewolf, she was sensitive to the cycle of the moon. The falling snow touched her face as she smiled. Ren noticed some tears falling off her face but he remained quiet waiting for Leila to take everything in. It has been eleven thousand years, but Leila remained a fifteen-year-old girl both physically and mentally. He was half expecting her to scream and cry, but she did neither and simply stood there continuing to look at the moonless sky. 

'My tribe, my clan, my family, everything that I know, everything is now gone... I wonder should I be angry at Kretos for saving me, and allowing me to live? Should I feel grateful that I can continue on? Is there even meaning to me existing in this time? The world has changed, but I have not... What should I do now?...' 

Leila wanted to scream, she wanted to cry as hard as she can, she wanted to wallow in her despair. Yet despite her various emotions, despite all the negativity that was encroaching her heart, she also felt strangely at peace. Knowing that sky was the same, knowing the moon she knew of was up there, and seeing Kretos still exist in this unknown future was a great comfort for her. 

"Hey Kretos, or should I call you Ren?" Leila spoke while continuing to look up at the sky. 

"Kretos, the demon lord no longer exist... There's only Ren now." Ren answered as he continued to sit down on the bed of flowers. 

"Heh, even after a thousand years, even after you died and turned into a human, you remain the same. Unfazed by everything, always moving forward. I on the other hand also didn't change, but that's because I was asleep the whole time." Leila giggled a bit before continuing to talk.

"I would've wanted to see you when you ruled the world... I would've wanted to stand by your side as you faced those human heroes... I would've wanted to train with you side by side growing stronger. When I met you and even now I see you as something like my big brother. I wanted to show you, my family. I wanted to do many things and have lots of fun. But that can never happen now, right?" Leila closed her eyes and daydreamed about a past that never was. Ren gritted his teeth feeling Leila's pain.

"Even if I cry or beg, even if I get angry or sad nothing can be done... What was lost can never return." Leila became silent as she bit her lips and clenched her fist. She shooked her head and wiped away her tears. She then turned around and looked at Ren with a rather lonely smile. 

"You know Ren, while I was sleeping I had a very long dream. In that dream, I have been waiting and waiting for a very long time. It was so long and lonely that I was about to give up, but in the end, you appeared. It was such a lonely dream... Wait, I guess it wasn't that lonely, since at some point there was this Golden-Haired Kitsune that accompanied me."

Ren who was listening quietly suddenly stood up in surprise.