Chapter 25 - CHAPTER - 5 : SHOULD I DIE HERE THEN PROMISE ME

CHAPTER 5 : SHOULD I DIE HERE THEN PROMISE ME

'Wait! A kid, at that too a small girl, was I wrong in my assessment. I was actually a moment ago freaked out by the surge in magical power in my vicinity."

But there is only a single human girl of level 19. Wait isn't that just too weak. I mean a one year old kid is at least level 5. Then how did she even make it this far in the most dangerous labyrinth of this world.

She is probably lost. I think I just heard her speak something. But, it seems that I cannot understand it. Did humans come up with a new language; in the mean time we were spending our lives here.

I think I am making the correct assumption, given that it has been more than two hundred years I came in contact with any other human except my wife. So what, I too have a daughter, so I will help this girl in finding her way back to home safely.

I think it is possible that humans made settlement near the labyrinth and this girl just mistakenly walked in through the floors, while the other monsters did not notice her because of her low level. How cute and beautiful she is! And that red dress suits her along with her white hairs. Don't take me as a low-life pedophile. I was once a ruler of more than half the world after all, so I have a tendency to appreciate the beautiful things I find.

Though the red stains on her cheeks and hands bothers me a bit - …is that blood.

It's just that I am a father, so I am concerned about another child's parents who might be searching for her non-stop in the woods, behind the house, under the bed, on top of mountains or even inside the dumpsters. So the biggest….question…which comes in my mind…is…

'How do I approach her?'

I now folded my hands and started giving it a deep thought while closing my eyes. There are two scenarios, I go near the girl and ask her name and make her feel comfortable around me, so that she can share with me the details of her situation. Second scenario, I go near her and seeing that I am a demon she faints. It won't be something new; after all I am the ex- True Demon Lord. Just the presence of my extra-ordinary magic powers makes people lose consciousness. But then there is the language problem, I am unable to understand her, but I don't know whether the opposite holds true or not.

Dealing with kids is such a tough job. If I knew about something like this happening then I would have brought Caroline along with me. She is an expert in handling kids. It's a shame being a demon lord and been bested in such a trivial thing. But I won't give up that easily. I will show you Caroline, that I can do it too.

"Wait! W-wait!" In all this thinking I forgot about the child. How can I make such a minor blunder? Tchk…

I tried to open my eyes and spot the kid.

CLANG.

With a metallic sound like a jet engine, my longsword hit another sword jet-black in colour. It felt like hitting a brick wall and the collision was explosive. I was tossed backward but a bit of fixing my body posture, I landed lightly on my feet and pulled back.

That was scary, a moment later…if back then I had not reacted, and my head would be chopped off. Is she punishing me for ignoring her? I knew handling kids is difficult because they get annoyed easily. But did I really do something bad to make her go far enough to take my life.

"Things are much more serious than it seems. There is more to it than meets the eye." How, long has it been since I said those lines?

I activated my appraisal. Her physical strength and speed was too abnormal back then. The sword felt weird too, as if my magic was being chipped off just by making a small contact with it.

"Is she really even human. She doesn't appear to be just a one year old kid. Has the status window finally broken down. Is this some kind of system failure or error."

Except for her HP, MP and SP I was able to see everything about her. She doesn't have a name. That is the first odd thing. Next is the skills she possess – there are no levels mentioned and what is a 'sage' in the first place. Then a unique skill I had never heard off. Even her titles are a bit too off.

'How the hell!! Did she end up with the 'MERCILESS' title. That's given to a person whose killing count has exceeded the system's threshold reading. My mind was screaming.

My appraisal failed to work on the pair of swords she was holding now. Could it be that----

Finally the biggest doubt that I had – her possessing all basic attributes of magic and wielding - Divine Light Magic and Dark Matter Magic – is something that cannot exist simultaneously. After all these both attributes are completely conflicting.

"She is dangerous. But what exactly is someone like her here for. Even though she is a human, something is really wrong with her."

She darted towards me at full speed again, striking down left with her black sword, which I blocked using my blade producing shock waves to leave dents on the ground. But her attack was twofold, twisting her right arm she moved her white sword towards my unguarded torso. But the sword bounced off harmlessly in a circular fashion. Her expression changed to that of disagreement and contempt to see her sword blocked by the hilt of my sword. I used the slight gap between my hands to tilt the sword and stop her sword in its trajectory.

But it seems that she was not the type to simply give up so soon!

In that moment, with her slender body, she lifted her body upwards and jumped at my back and tried to kick me. But such kind of fighting techniques are no match for me. Though it might have worked on normal people because of her superior physical abilities. But someone like me could easily predict it with her body movements and I just drifted myself to my left.

Her expression did not change; her eyes looked lifeless while she wore a small peculiar smile on her face. I who had spent most of my life on the battlefield could tell that that was the drive of ecstasy you get from fighting. But why is that kind of a person in front of my home. At least give me a proper reason. Usually in situations like inability to communicate, we used telepathy or rather thought communication. But I have been continuously trying to use it, and there have been no response. Either she does not know how to use it, or she is just too busy to respond in kind.

She again came gliding towards me without any hesitation and charged with quick strikes. I raised my sword and closed in the distance. Burst of sparks appeared forth, with each strike I managed to block. Even though they were simple to look at, but her physical stats must had been beyond amazing to pull off more than hundreds of strikes in a mere single second or so. I had to keep on using my utmost just to block her. With her tiny size, it was easy for her to pull some small punches in between, or even teleport to my blind spots.

A tenth of a second later, I let my guard down to take a small breath, and a punch landed in my abdomen. I was sent flying and directly hit the wall. I know, my bad.

The dungeon walls are considered to be the strongest, and its durability is directly proportional to the strength of the monsters living there. They keep on receiving magical reinforcement power form the monsters themselves. World's most dangerous monsters dwelled in the darkness of this labyrinth. And yet her physical prowess and durability was beyond imagination for a tender looking girl like her. The wall crumbled and the earth shook.

It had been several years I have been punched by someone and sent flying off, except for Caroline. Why am I even blushing, it's not that I enjoy being punched around by girls. But now even though she was just a one year old girl, which actually did not make any sense at all. I was now getting serious to fight.

She again moved forward with her onslaught. Every time I notice, she somehow changes her attack pattern, after every contact we make. As if she is slowly analyzing me and refining her swordsmanship. Creating a swordstyle in the middle of battlefield to match my own is really commendable and yet she is lacking.

Swordsmanship is made up of heart, technique, and body. There won't be any real power in a sword if your heart wavers. Her looks, reactions and mind looks so composed and yet her heart where the true oath resides is so discomposed.

Honestly, it has been too long that someone has kept me on my wit's ends. But I need to end this quick, because this girl is going crazy. Until now her face seemed so lifeless. But now she was smiling and her eyes were glowing red. Somehow she too was enjoying it, maybe more than me.

I would take that as a bad sign. But I was enjoying, how things were just getting started.

Before I realized, my movements somehow had slowed down, and my body felt so heavy. The pressure on me seems to be increasing. For a moment I was perplexed, but I realized that she was using gravity magic.

"First her, invincible strength and now powerful chantless magic. She is not even using magic circles and yet it is too strong, even I cannot deny the fact."

This gravity magic, had unordinary strength somehow. I needed to do something quick or I won't be able to move my body as I wanted to. I used flame magic,

"FLARE BURST."

But before the flames could reach her, she bounced back. As if she knew beforehand that I was going to use attack flame magic. So she has keen eyes, to even read magic flow inside one's body and her surroundings. Things are getting dicier. But my title of 'Magic Emperor' is not just for show.

I summoned thousands of black mist arrows by fusing water magic and dark matter magic and simply launched them at her. At the same time I used earth magic to surround her and cut her escape route. Finally I was preparing for a surprise attack just in case.

To my surprise, her two swords started glowing with a brilliant light, and in a matter of seconds her single strike from the black sword erased all of my attacks.

That was not it,…. no something was surely amiss. But what?

I looked at her white sword, which she swinged in my direction successively and those thousands of black arrows which I conjured were now aimed at me.

"Impossible…"

That was all I could say. I had never seen anything like this before. Today has been full of surprises but this one completely weirded me out. She absorbed my magic and recreated it. Considering absorption – it is one of the ability that does more harm than good. Because if the concentration of the attribute magic does not fit with the absorber's magic constitution then it will slowly destroy its own body with the resulting uncontrolled chaotic energy. It's impossible for a person to absorb water magic if he doesn't have affinity for it, and its difficulty rises with the composite magic I just used.

And recreation in an instant totally surpasses my expertise.

It's the ability of those swords I see, now.

She charged at me again, while under the cover of those thousands of arrows.

"What a waste…" saying that I launched my surprise attack at those barrage of arrows aiming at me. It was actually a windstorm spell but the special thing about it was that it could rip even the walls of this dungeon. That's just how high the wind pressure and the current of speed was.

But suddenly even the windstorm had started acting suspiciously. The wind current inside the storm suddenly started changing its direction, rotating in opposite direction. This time it was not the sword interfering. I sensed great magical power radiating from her glowing red eyes, interfering with the magic of the windstorm. Every time I look at them a sense of fear crept even in my mind. Those eyes were filled with violent emotions, eyes that had seen through the reality of this world.

From the palm of the girl's hand a huge amount of dark matter magic leaked out and merged with my windstorm. The temperature inside the storm raged. It also contained fire magic.

Not only she converted my magic but instantly poured her own magic in it. I feel like I am loosing my pride. I don't know what is the nature of this magic but taking it head on will be dangerous.

So as a normal guy, I used water magic jet rays, to cool off the fire. But the black fire storm just grew in size and it even became much darker than before. As if it used my water magic as a fuel for its own.

I see I digged my own grave. Maybe this is what they call losing your touch, when you keep living without fighting in here.

There was no time dodging it. If I moved from my place and tried another thing then that girl would probably succeed in stabbing me.

So I took half of the storm head on, my body was on fire and burningly in the black flames. So it really burns on magical power of the target instead of consuming the users magical power. I have been counting on my magical reinforcement ability, but I don't think it will last any longer.

The girl as usual continued striking with her sword. She was not there yet, but was making a great progress in changing her style to counter my own sword. The fire was not extinguished and now I had finally started accumulating damage.

My movements were slowed down by her gravity magic, but I was still able to keep up. Finally I interlocked her white sword between the hilt and the blade of my longsword sword while I was holding her black sword bare handed. My palm was bleeding and the pressure she was exerting was super high, but for me they were not that difficult to manage.

But then the unexpected happened. She let go of her black sword. In a tenth of a second, using her white sword as an axle she twisted around her body, and clad her free hand in a sharp blue blazing light, she chopped of my arm and freed her sword. She then kicked me in my abdomen and sent me flying off again, while my body was still on fire.

Somehow the black sword reappeared in her hand and she started running in my direction again.

"Finally…." I rose up from my pathetic fallen position and took a concentrated stance. I was exhilarated…

My arm grew back in a second; I clutched the handle of my sword.

"MAGIC DISPERSION."

In a blink of an eye the black flames were extinguished like, you touch the wick of a candle and put out the flame.

It is a unique skill, which I learned when I inherited the title of True Demon Lord. It allows me to destroy or completely disperse the magical constitution of any magic spell or accumulation.

Before she could even start her strike rally, I swinged my sword at a speed that even she couldn't react and this time she was sent flying off. That strike might have even chopped down the mountains, but her body durability must have been maxed out to withstand it so easily.

I clutched my hand, thinking that I had won. But I soon realized that I was actually in a way picking up on a small girl. An adult like me, who was almost 230 years old, was trying to mercilessly beat a one year old girl. Just what kind of situation I was set-up to be in. if Caroline hears about this, then she will be making fun of me for the next 50 years of my life. My life was about to be ruined, either I give up fighting and be called a coward for losing in a battle against a child or brutally defeat her and call it a win. I think I am going into depression. The road ahead sure was filled with ups and downs. But I gulped it down my throat, and pretended to not think about the circumstances that much…

"N-no... I can't continue like this." Wait! My life is already over. She Is not waking up. Could it be that she was knocked out unconscious.

But suddenly there was a humongous surge in the magic particle in our surrounding. Someone was condensing and releasing an awful amount of magic. That is not me. I prepared myself for anything to come.

Several spheres of different colours headed in my direction. I analysed the type of magic and was mesmerized to see their composition – so beautiful. Fire element was profoundly mixed with water magic and they were in complete synergy. And so did the other magical spheres. But if I take a direct hit from these, then I would surely end up with sustainable amount of damage.

So I again used "Magic Dispersion." All of the spheres were flushed out. But one of them in that moment accelerated in my direction – it was a culmination of Light & Dark Magic. This was something I did not expect hidden among them. These two were the kind of elements that couldn't be mixed and so no one person can wield both. Not even Gods themselves, except for Almighty World God. Then how did she...

I raised my sword horizontally, trying to slice off and guard myself at the same time. The pressure was overwhelming, and even though I was able to protect myself, the surroundings were completely scorched and charred. The floor was crumbling and so it might even collapse, with the amount of magical particles accumulating here. It can even lead to a magical disaster. That's what I feared about the most, right now.

I need to ask her to leave, or at least bind her somehow.

I dashed towards her, in all those wake of explosion, maybe some kind of trap magic she set-up in advance. I quickly made my way dodging all of those unique traps. They would have been highly effective against someone else, since no kind of magic was involved, so I could only rely on my danger senses to detect them.

I lifted my sword high, and tried to strike it down on her head, hoping that it would at least knock her unconscious. But she too was a stubborn one. Trying everything to do, to protect herself by either dodging, using ice magic or blocking it with her sword.

For a moment I thought she was crying, have I pushed her too far in the corner. I didn't mean to make her cry. But for now if we didn't stop here, the shockwaves would surely bring the ceiling down. And my home on the other side of the gate would be destroyed. We can't have that happening.

In that moment she again spoke something, and suddenly my hands froze up. It was not an ordinary kind of Ice magic. But a very different one at that. Usually my strength would have been enough to breakthrough. But as if everything in my hand, the life force, the magic power in it was frozen. If I don't stop this then my whole body would be frozen under its expanding effect.

"Magic Dispersion." I used it for the third time. It was slowly taking a toll on me; using it on such kind of advance spells I had never seen before and with such high magic accumulation was even tough for me. So in no way I was going easy on her now.

She drifted back to the other side of the wall. Maybe she too was exhausted, after fighting for so long and using so many different kinds of magic continuously. And since most of them were ineffective against me, or could not harm me enough, she did not like it.

She again said something and finally, a green light appeared in between her hands which kept on growing. The magical density in that area was growing exponentially, without any regard of the natural surroundings.

"What is this brilliance, it scares me." I was baffled to see a different kind of magic. There was no attribute involved and yet magical powers from everywhere was continuously sucked in from the environment in which we had just been fighting now. If she continues then it will probably cause an explosion big enough to maybe destroy four to five floors at once. The intensity of light kept circulating in a small vortex, and even so she was doing just fine in handling it.

Slowly the disarrayed magical accumulation finally took the shape of a small black orb revolving infinitely. The magic particles still being absorbed from the surrounding, while she herself supplied vast amounts to it.

I could tell, she was raising the mass of the orb, several million times, maybe beyond that, and yet I couldn't foretell what she was actually doing. Finally her body skin started tearing and burning up, while at the same time it instantly healed itself.

Until moment now, I was amazed by the way she was controlling the flow of magic, which could be a feat of very few in this world even during the Great Wars. But I suddenly tensed up, when something in the surrounding area changed. As if something suddenly went missing. The life force of the environment, it started distorting on itself. It felt to me as if the world was falling apart, while every cell on my body screamed of danger.

The then not too-unidentified magic orb dangerous magic orb was now classified as still-not not identified super dangerous bomb. Honestly, my senses told me that if I do not stop it now, then it will probably kill us all.

Wait is she planning to kill us both with that spell. Why go so far. Even though this is our first time meeting. Kids are sure hard enough to understand. I didn't know what to do. I don't think I am in a position to move, because the ice on my legs keeps on growing.

There was only one other way; I had to kill that girl…If I have to stop her rampaging. Communication establishment has failed, and she is not going to be knocked out. If I don't stop her now, then there won't be next time. It's not like I know who this girl is. Isn't it her fault to start a fight with me in front of my house during breakfast time?

"SOLARIS DEVASTATION" My strongest destructive magical spell. The theory behind this spell being to construct a material structure and releasing vast amount of energy in a chained variable state by collapsing this very structure using my MAGIC DISPERSION.

"I am sorry, but it seems that there is no other way. To protect, I must sacrifice."

I held my hand in front of me and form a magic circle. It rapidly expands and causes particles of magic power to rise.

A huge black coloured sun appeared overhead, which I tried to stabilize by holding both of my palms upwards. Huge orange flares rose high and at the same time subsided down. The temperature was super high, enough to cause electrical discharge of air, as evident by the annular blue ring, forming around the giant sphere.

The dark light emitted from the jet back sun covered the entire room, set ablaze in its mysterious light. Finally, there was a blinding flash. The brilliant blue light drove away the last vestiges of darkness huddling in the corners of the cavern.

On formation of the complete blue circle, the spell would be complete; I just hope that I make it in time, before she completes her ultimate strike…

Two beautiful magical spells, whose knowledge far transcends the boundaries and imagination of the mortal people, only heavens know the result of this exchange of two powerful blows. It was a truly awe-inspiring sight.

I cannot feel anything but be thrilled to find out who will be the winner!

***

SACHI KONDO

Finally... I had found the demon lord. And the system itself specifies him to be 'TRUE' so it isn't a lie. I hope so. It's not like the Divine System and status window made by the God's would later send me a sorry message of wrong call transferred.

"So, I have got this in the bag." If I defeat the demon lord doesn't it mean that I have saved the world? Then I can return back to Athena. Finally, I will be free of this madness.

Without wasting another moment I charged in against the demon lord. He seemed to be prepared with his extremely long demonic sword.

All I need to do is take his head, and it will be all over. I wonder, whether an 'ACHIEVEMNT' certificate will be transferred to me. Or, there might be floating colourful balloons, a trumpet parade with a fine small congratulatory song.

First I need to find just how strong the demon lord is and at what level I stand. Level wise compared, then I won't be surprised to be subdued in the next moment. But I have made my way all through this, while fighting monsters beyond my capability. I have always been victorious, because I had my pride in my magical powers and self-created spells. Because I believed in my own powers. Now I even have these two swords with me. I just need to find his weakness and then exploit it, while tiring off the man. His stats are too high. Irregularity or trickery won't work against him. I have already set-up some timed magic spheres on the ground.

The rest is up to my strategy. And the only way a character defeats the boss monster in a game, is a head on fight.

I kept on charging with my swords. Slash after slash…. but none of them made a direct hit. I was being pushed back .compared to my 3-months wielding the swords; it was pretty much obvious that he knew what he was doing. Even with my super-physical abilities my sword didn't even pass through his impenetrable defense.

For some reason, he had decided not to attack me, but I do not care. Defeating him is the only way out of this. There is no other alternative.

There never has been. From the day I was born in this word, all I have been doing is fighting. I can't complain, after all it was my choice to be reincarnated. But at the same time I cannot give up, because I promised Athena that no matter what, I would survive. I would be beside her all the time.

So I need to be quick on my feet. Faster, faster, to be quicker than a heartbeat, to become invisible even to a trained eye and to pierce through like a lightning bolt. I kept on repeating my strikes trying to find an opening, after five minutes for the first time I was able to slow him down and land a kick.

Sword play alone won't work. I need to use magic too. I started with my usual fusion magic spheres. But his sword seems to be able to shatter them easily. I wonder just how much does it weighs. It's almost twice my body size.

A single hit from it, would be potent enough to break my bones. I need to keep a proper distance from it.

My attacks are not working, maybe I should try hiding between the spell attacks.

He started using his own spells. I wonder what kind are they? After all I never saw any intelligent species use magic before. Several black arrows came swinging by in my direction…

Wait! Isn't that just too simple, I can easily take them off the field with the ability of my swords. And so I did.

After absorbing it with my black sword, I recreated them and launched it with my white sword. He then soon launched a windstorm attack. But using my kinetic eye, I changed the direction of wind and added my [BLACK FLARE] magic to it.

That should surely work and take him down. Even though he took the attack head on, I launched another sword directly at him. Punching through his defenses I thought I got him. But suddenly the flames went out. Might be his trump-card ability and he had to use it now of all times.

I was getting tired by the stunt of sword attacks I pulled before. But now my black sword was stuck in a stalemate with his sword while he was holding my white sword in a static state.

I cannot let him take over the flow of the battle now. I need to do something.

I left my black sword, and clad my right arm in blue glowing plasma; I sliced through his other hand and then sent him flying off again. The earth shook just by his crash landing. I teleported the black sword back to my hand.

I was not in the least able to understand what the demon lord was murmuring. Not that it will matter to me anymore. I had decided to end this now.

I was a bit hesitating now, because somehow the air around him looks a bit changed after that fall off. Maybe I am getting a bit delusional, and it will be better to still play it safe. So I again used the same trick to first launch many fusion balls and under the cover take him out.

"GYAAAAHHHHHH…HHHH!!" When did he…

A single swing from his sword, crashed on my side and I was flat out. Bouncing on the rough ground, I stopped after crashing into the wall. That really did a number on me. Now, I see… the difference in our swordsmanship level. I couldn't even sense or follow his attack. All this time he had been playing me off.

Wait! What I had been doing wasn't even swordplay; I just might as well be moving my sword like a stick to shoo off the dogs. But I will commend myself on that, because I won't have been able to do even that much in my previous life.

"Magic spells had failed; he would just cut off the magic simply. And just now…this pain…from a single attack is not going away."

I then saw the demon king heading in my direction. The traps activated but nothing happened to him. Will he kill me now? Is this how it ends? Just how many times have I thought of this line?

And every time a miracle occurred. But now I am at my limit. I have nothing else anymore to show up with. No ground to stand and no power to hold myself up against him.

A single, transparent tear trickled out from between my closed eyelids. Was I crying because of the pain, or because I found myself in a bind, or because I was on the loosing side and was soon about to die. I don't know, but the answer is just in between there.

What am I supposed to do? I haven't the slightest clue.

Don't blame me. I've been on my own all this time.

I was leading a bland, placid life of mine back in my own world. No one ever noticed me. Peaceful and free….

I wonder that's what I should call it, or I imagined it to be. I had been for a year now hacking through flesh and bones, risking my life. For what? And at the end I when I met my match, I am trying to remember the past. What a cringe and ungraceful thing to do. Was it even worth it to put this much effort.

Was it meaningless to come down here? Meeting the gods could be called a thing of fate. Then was this scenario a thing tied to my own fate. But where will these strings lead me to.

I knew that things made on sacrifice could crumble at any moment. I had been killing these monsters for my own convenience, even if I was the one to first disturb their slumber.

If you lose, everything will be over! There is no meaning in ideals that won't bring me victory! Because you can't protect if you don't win! That's what I thought! That's why I had to win no matter what!

"No matter what methods I have to use I'll win, and take everything back!" Even though these words were to persuade myself and lift up my spirit. I knew I was not wavering.

That's how it should have been... but I could not feel any power in my body.

"...Why...?"

I tried to stand up, I had to win this fight, or else everything will be over.

I won't be able to save myself nor anyone else.... Why, why?

I wanted to keep on going.

I had not given up yet.

I did not want it to end now. Not at least the way it is going right now. Not while lying on the ground and waiting for my doom, like back on the bus.

I didn't want to revert back to my weak pathetic self, who would just idly accept her fate. Even though it might be destiny, but there was a choice I could still make. To kill myself and take this demon lord down with me.

And all I could count on is the wish we would be granted after saving the world. And I know what I would ask for.

This is right. There is no other way. Even though I can't think clearly for future consequences. But in this present time, at this exact moment in this place – I will end it all.

Even though there will be no witnesses, I know someone who will always believe me. Well my future plans for reincarnation and having a loving family, friends and companions alongside with me has gone flip-flop.

I am going to obliterate this entire labyrinth. No, monsters and no demon lord will be alive. And I will perish with them. But with this comeback plan, though succeeding in it will be all left to my luck. One of the most crucial factors I have been counting on up till now.

"…Huhhhh…" with a deep breath, I calmed my mind. Brandishing my hands I casted my magic.

[ABSOLUTE ZERO]

I had put the legs of the demon king in a jam loop of ice. Now with my preparations….

I had done this before, but that time the idea was new. My magic power was low and yet I had put it on halt because it was far dangerous to use in immediate battles.

I had prepared myself.

[HYPERNOVA]

A dark small orb appeared between my hands. Magical power in the surrounding and from me started gathering at that single point by forming loops of circulating magic to contain the exclusive flow of the large amounts. There were more than enough magic particles from our fight, to speed up the process. My hands were burning and the mass of this thing was too heavy even in the anti-gravity field I had casted.

I used my Eye of Adraneia at the right moment to make vanish the coulomb's force….. And there it was the magic spell that could rival the dawn of creation and bring this place on the brink of extinction.

I was not afraid, even though it was the signal of my doom. I was more than excited to test out its new power and capabilities. The demon lord seems to be making his own counter-move but it's all futile.

I was laughing, I know. Why not? I could only rejoice to see my own art. A spell that can be cursed for its own creation. Isn't that just too cool. Maybe I have hit my head and finally started speaking nonsense. But I was going to do it.

Even though my heart hurts a bit to die like this…I don't know. Whether I was still making the right choice. This excitement and eccentric drive in my heart. Is it to be rational and make the right call? Isn't it a bit tedious to think of it after coming this far?

If only I had someone to call for help. If only there could have been someone to reassure me of my happiness. I wanted to live in peace with the people I like. That's all. Was it too much to ask? I keep on thinking about this again and again. But the things I am fighting for, do they really exist. In the past, it was merely a dream…a wish I could make while looking at the stars. In the present I thought it was in my grasp when I saw the star fall. But I don't know what holds for me in the future, in this abyss hidden far away from the luminosity of stars that fills the sky.

I wanted to see the night sky that I loved to watch alone. That's the only time when I could comfort myself when there was no one to watch me. For a year, I had been in the dark and no stars to brighten my eyes.

Is it all right, if I let it go. If I drop this power orb on earth. Then the tree that will sprout from it. Will there be beautiful green leaves or will it turn barren and poison the land.

From the beginning I knew the passion and the fire will I thought I gained that day, would eventually die out. Hey, I thought I didn't need anything…

My uncle and aunt used to call me good for nothing back at my house as far back as I can remember. They said I would never find a place to belong. I was a misfortune to be born. That my parents died was somehow my fault.

It hurts…

But I cannot remember about them anymore. No one would care if someone like me would die in this unknown place. And I wonder whether that was really true or not whether that notion of mine still holds true even as of today.

I am kind of jealous now with my that self, who thought she could achieve anything if she works hard and believes in herself.

But even now, I'm so serious.

Ah… I still have time to make it. to prove that I am strong. I must defeat all of those who ever looked down on me or said that I was not needed any longer. I will prove them that I too can achieve things impossible in the first glance, but in actual are just walls that need to be brought down with a huge BANG.

My heart... was it this cold?

Has my body ever felt so light and open?

My consciousness was fading. I needed to make a decision and I had decided what my fate should be and I was going to crush and remake it with my own two hands. To again watch a night sky filled with stars with Athena and this time with new people around me who would love to have me with them.

Its all over…

"Don't cry….Wake up…."

I heard a voice that jolted me awake. Words I clearly understood. A voice that made my mind go numb. I wasn't just hearing things, because it was a voice I had never heard before.

It was-----

"I will not let you die here."

As if my wish had been granted.

For a moment I thought I had been dreaming, but when I saw a bright star shining ever-brightly up on a huge elevated rock and a figure of a person. I thought I was blessed and with that soothing light all my worries were washed in its white…

***

STATUS WINDOW

NAME : CAROLINE ASCALON ASHBORN

AGE : 215 YEARS

RACE : HUMAN

LEVEL : 99,940

HP : 1,80,000

MP : 1,50,000

SP : 2,00,000

UNIQUE SKILL : [PHANTOM MATERIALISATION]

SKILLS :[FIRE MAGIC LV10] [WATER MAGIC LV 8] [WIND MAGIC LV 8] [SPACE- TIME MAGIC LV 7][ICE MAGIC LV9] [EARTH MAGIC LV7] [LIGHTNING MAGIC LV 9][IMMUNITY][BODY STRENGTHNING LV 10] [BREAK LIMIT] [BODY DURABILITY LV10] [MAGIC RESISTANCE][SPIRIT SENSE][MAGIC AUTHORITY] [DIVINE LIGHT MAGIC LV 10] [ULTRA SELF-REGENERATION] [APPRAISAL LV 10] [ABNORMAL STATUS RESISTANCE] [OVERLOAD] [ABSOLUTE CRYSTAL FORMATION]

TITLE : TRUE HERO, MERCILESS, LUX SABER, GOD SLAYER, MOUNTAIN CRUSHER

ZYLON ASHBORN {DEMON LORD}

"So, you are saying that she is a reincarnate just like you, and from the same world you came from. HAhhh…. Good grief." I took a deep sigh after the women who saved our butts explained the whole ordeal to me.

While on the huge bed beside me, lay the girl who was the hot topic for our discussion and was to also blame for wrecking the whole floor a few moments ago.

Recalling what actually happened, in there. It was all but a close call. When you think that your life was saved by a hair's breadth. When I was about to launch my strongest magical spell, Caroline appeared and chopped down the huge black sun in half. That's just how gifted she was in swordsmanship, even more than me. I excelled in magic and I am proud of it. No hard feelings between my wife and my pride.

The next she used was five "PECTUS TENEO" stones or rather soul nullifying crystals in simpler terms, to seal of the magic or rather totally nullify the magic reservoir of that girl. Hence the magic she prepared was suppressed to a large extent without causing any loss of life or irreparable damage.

"….It's ridiculous…" That's all I could say.

"And I cannot deny the same. A single crystal is strong enough to nullify the power of a high-class God from upper echelon and render them unable to use their divine power for more than a month. But here, I ended up using five of them just on a single human kid. And yet I was unable to seal all of her magic. I wonder how much time she will take to recover." It seems that Caroline has too realized it by now.

"If she is a reincarnate, then did the Gods finally decided to make another move. After two hundred years of that bloodshed and fateful meaningless battles, they are planning something again."

"It can be! We will just have to wait and watch. After all we cannot go back to our original life. I don't want to; I am more than happy here, to live with you."

I hugged her from the back and reminded her of the promise I made to her, when we fought for the first time," I promise I'll protect you. I'll be here for you forever."

"And I'm all yours." She said in a hushed tone.

I then quickly tried to change the topic, because we needed to collect our thoughts, before she wakes up. Even though she seems to have completely recovered, for some reason we didn't knew why she wouldn't wake up.

"Do, you have any idea who she is? And those two swords I cannot appraise them. It's your expertise and you seem to be somehow familiar with them." I was eager to know about the swords, which were able to turn my own magic against me. When my wife saw those two swords after the battle, she was taken aback. As if she remembered something unpleasant from the past. If something was bothering her then I wanted to know what it was.

After slight hesitation she spoke in a serious tone unlike in her usual loud pitch. For some reason, I found that concerning. But knowing the facts are important for us, so I didn't interrupt.

"During the Great Wars have you ever heard of the 'QUEEN OF DOOM'."

"Yes, but wasn't she a God. Man… I wanted to face her that time. I heard she was strong enough to wipe out an entire army force. Though no one could describe or give proper information about her. She was a complete mystery on the battlefield and all there surrounding her were complete rumours."

My wife suddenly got tensed up, but then continued followed in the same serious fashion.

"Don't ever even think of fighting her in a to-death battle. She was my master, who taught me and improved my dual wielding skills back during the Great Wars. The reason you were never able to obtain proper information on her, because no one was ever left alive on the battlefield when she took charge. Her real name is URZA – goddess of thunder and sword. Her clan is one of the members of the "MANE APOSTOLO COUNCIL OF THE BEGINNINGS". Now you understand, she is one of the strongest Gods out there."

"But what exactly you are getting at?" I was getting impatient because you would never find Caroline speaking of someone in such a compulsive and fear-stricken manner.

"Those dual blades or rather WHITE & BLACK are actually PRINCIPIUM WEAPONS. She was supposedly the true wielder of those weapons. But she finally gave up on those swords and abandoned her Godhood. But now when I see those swords in her hands…. These swords have finally chosen a new wielder. It is also a possibility that, this girl could be of master's clan lineage."

"Well, that's quite a lot of information that we were able to speculate. But things will become much clearer if she wakes up soon and you could talk to her."

Her face lightens up. Kids sure do make her happy. I have known her from the days when we were so young and she has always loved playing with kids. Maybe she alone was getting bored here, that's why she came to check up on us. And I am glad that she did.

"Don't you worry; she seems to notice me when I talked in my previous world's language. She might not have been taught in this world's language. I would really like to know about her circumstances. Seeing her state I am quite concerned. She would have killed herself and all of us, if she had decided to go through with that magic spell."

"Yeah, I too was wondering, do you know what kind of magic that was?"

"Ahhh… Don't tell me the Demon Lord known throughout the world as the best magic user could not figure it out." She said those words nonchalantly with a smirk on her face.

"Don't joke around; just tell me if you know. Or rather you couldn't comprehend it yourself. Well what would a sword saint like you would know about magic and its complexities?"

"Fine I won't tell you. Just stay like that….haahaaa" And Caroline turned her head away, now slowly and gently caressing the pearl-white hairs of that girl.

"She totally reminds me of Master. Even her long white hair matches with her. Except her eyes are blood-red instead of deep sky blue which my master has."

"I see…. But weren't you going to tell me about the magic."

"No, I won't."

"Please, you have to tell me." If this continues, then I might have to stoop as low as begging to her to cough out an answer. Obviously as a magic researcher as myself, I could not let it slide. I had to know, as quickly as possible.

So it was time to go with plan K.

Kuchie…kuchie… I tried to tickle in her stomach, to force out an answer from her mouth.

"HAAAHHAAAA…HAAAAA" Huge bursts of laughter, drained the tense atmosphere. She sure is sensitive in those areas. Even I enjoy it, in one way.

Our noises were loud and we haven't noticed that the unconscious girl had started sweating profusely and making faces of distress.

She suddenly said something which I couldn't comprehend as usual, but Caroline seems to understand and was taking it seriously.

"Please, don't….don't die and leave me alone here..."

She suddenly let out a loud scream and woke up. Her eyes were still in a squinted state and adjusting to the surroundings and our earsplitting voices.

I don't know what has happened to her until now, but we were ready to help her in any way we could.

"You are finally awake. So how does your body feels? Perhaps you would like to eat something sweet."

Caroline has always had a sweet tooth. But it doesn't mean that this logic traces back to everyone. If you offer her something sweet and soft like a cake, it was easy to get on her good side and seek forgiveness. Perhaps with this trick I would be able to make her confess an answer from her.

The girl quickly reacted, to Caroline's voice. As if she understood what she said. Though I didn't get the exact terms, but I too could read between those foreign lines. Why couldn't I, after spending more than 200 years of my life with her. While roaming in the city under guise, exploring dungeons, on the battlefield and finally in our little home. We would always meet, whether it was by accident, by pure chance or coincidence, the work of fate or the myth of red strings that connected our desires for a next meeting.

By now, the girl started showing some movements by moving her hands, but when she looked in my direction, that is just beside Caroline.

She jolted a bit. She tried to murmur something with her dry lips and then the most unexpected… but the most rational action one could think of occurred.

She teleported herself behind Caroline and several composite magical spheres appeared right behind her. Her casting speed was something to be admired. Then several ice swords floated mid-air ready to be launched at me, while she brandished two swords right out of nowhere. A wave of huge gravitational field was set-up in the room. The room got destroyed in a split second. The tables broke and were simply crushed to the ground. The ceiling was dangling as if it was about to fall, under the huge stress of its own increased weight and downward pull.

"Ahhhhh…hhhh" She cried out loud and fell down. Caroline held in her hands and all the magic spell setup was cancelled.

I casted a small restoration spell, to fix the things back.

"Don't push yourself. You are safe in here. Your magic power has been all drained so you might feel a little weak."

Caroline gently laid her back in her bed, while she didn't try to resist a bit.

For a moment I thought, we would be at it again. Wasn't her magic supposed to be flushed out for a month, but just after thirty minutes she casted so many spells. I think she has already recovered in the meantime while she was asleep. It's beyond impressive.

Then I noticed her wearing an expressionless face. She did not seem to be pleased to see me here at all. Maybe she still considers me a threat.

"How about I leave the room and go out while fixing the things that might have been broken. I will also prepare dinner while I am at it."

I walked out of the room, while making sure to close the door. It's better if I leave them alone to talk quietly. Though it wouldn't matter either way, because I couldn't understand their language.

I shut the door and drew a quick breath, because the whole outside was in chaos. I was stunned to see the amount of damage done in a second. My mansion inner structure was destroyed. The beautiful hanger with precious crystals was shattered to pieces on the ground. All the furniture and wall had cracks in them. As if my house was the epicenter of a special disaster course.

I prepared myself to go from one site to another, fixing things. I was the ex- true demon lord and I simply won't be outdone.

***

INFORMATION BROCHURE

MANE APOSTOLO COUNCIL OF THE BEGINNINGS

After the creation of this universe, the Almighty World God, primarily with his own blood, gave birth to several Gods who represented twenty-four pillars on which this entire universe and His creation stood.

These twenty four pillars were actually the first generation of True Gods who later formed clans and produced the next set of Gods.

Angels were brought into existence for the sole purpose of serving the Gods. These Gods later went on to create worlds on the foundation laid down by the World God. Giving it the breath of life and a life-supporting environment. Blessing to those who brought prosperity to lands and worshipped them with their open hearts.

The Mane Apostolo Council was formed by Him, to decide on how to further create this world and take decision regarding the life forms that would inhabit the three main realms and the worlds that would support the DIVINE SYSTEM & THE TREE OF LIFE.

In the recent Mane Apostolo Council, out of twenty four pillars, twenty were in favour of the reincarnation system introduced to fulfill the true purpose of Islegard's existence and bring a clear-cut end to the Great Wars that only left resentment and hatred between the three realms.

INFORMATION BROCHURE

PRINCIPIUM WEAPONS

Weapons created by the Almighty World God and the Divine System itself during the Creation of Cosmos from the nothingness.

These weapons were the result of the universe gaining self-consciousness and were imbued with His Ichor's blood. It is said that the carvings on these weapons are the TRUTH of this world and the MEANING behind all the creations.

These weapons were blessed with His power and have the ability to alter the laws that govern this world. In a way providing the wielder with the sub-administrative rights to the Divine System.

These weapons have a consciousness of their own and decide their own wielders. They chose their master's themselves. Each wielder is then said to be granted a wish that appears as an ability of the weapon. Usually the ability is then inherited by the next wielder.

These weapons are indestructible by all means and no power can destroy them, because in a way they are the symbol of the creation of this world. If they ever fall apart and so shall the world perish.

When two wielders of Principium Weapons fight in a one-on-one battle, then one of the wielders always dies. And doom falls upon everywhere where the sparks of this battle flies off to.

Currently, for the principium weapon – WHITE & BLACK – Sachi is the third wielder since the birth of the cosmos. So the swords have currently two abilities and one wish left to be granted to her.. At present she can only use one of the abilities which she was able to bring forth during her fight with the True Demon Lord.