Noticing that something was wrong with Ellie, Eric challenged his worn out body and rushed to her. He descended down a crater that was created from her attack, and upon noticing her limp unmoving body, he felt a pain in his heart. It felt like someone gripped it to the point where it became numb. Small, yet countless, beads of cold sweat filled his entire body. His clothes became drenched in an instant. He could do nothing but stare at her with his mouth slightly opened.
'This is not the time!' Eric banished all the thoughts that flooded his mind and put his hand above her heart. The first thing Eric did was to infuse her body with QI. However, the QI didn't remain in her body and left it as soon as it entered it. Eric felt like he was trying to catch rain with a punctured pot. 'Is this what Ed felt…?' Seeing that nothing he did was working, and the fact that Ellie wasn't getting any better, Eric felt like giving up.
Death. Unlike most people in this world, Eric was fortunate enough not to experience it, nor have anyone close to him experience it. The only ones that he felt sorrow over losing were the three Elders that laid their lies down to create a brighter future for everyone. However, at that moment, a close friend of his was dead. A feeling of hopelessness and weakness took over him. He couldn't help but think about how useless his training was if he wasn't able to save his friend when she was in front of him.
Even though the fight was no longer, neither the citizens nor the soldiers dared to approach the castle grounds. The silence that ensued the battle felt even more dreadful. Only three people stayed where the castle was. The despairing Eric, the deceased Ellie, and Gazef's wife. Gazef's wife Aaushi and she had pure white hair. She wore an equally beautiful white dress. Her eyelashes and eyebrows looked like they were covered by frost, while her cheeks carried a natural blush. She was able to fly, which meant that she was quite powerful, yet because she detested her husband, she didn't join in on the fight.
Still, Aaushi's eyes produced a single tear once she confirmed her husband's death. She descended towards the crater at a slow rate, yet Eric didn't manage to feel her approaching. It wasn't until her feet hit the ground, producing a galloping sound, that he turned around to look at her.
"You are…?" Eric's face had two trails of tears. He asked Aaushi as he gripped his sword, showing his intention of fighting.
"I'm but a woman that will be forgotten, no need to know my name. However, know that I am not your enemy, and what I'm about to do, will bring no harm to your friend." Aaushi, with a soft yet powerful voice, spoke to Eric. Noticing that she has no intention to fight, Eric released his grip over his sword and watched Aaushi approach Ellie's body.
"You may say that you bring her no harm, but I'm not so stupid as to allow you to do with her body anything that you wish to do." With a domineering voice, Eric told Aaushi before she could do anything. She looked at him and sighed.
"I'm going to save her, at the cost of my own life." The first part of her sentence shocked Eric, but the second part made him feel worse.
"I'm not so naïve as to stop you from saving my friend while saying 'I won't let you use up your life'. If it was up to me, I'll let you do it anytime. However, due to knowing her long enough, I know that Ellie will say just that." Eric explained his stance.
"Ellie Tigris…I've always admired her, even though the number of times we've met could be counted on one hand. She always seemed so alive…so free…Let me tell you, future king of Avalon. I love nothing more in this world than my life. Ever since I was born, I knew nothing except my future as the wife of Gazef. I've been in a cage even before I knew what a cage was. I've come to love my life, even though it was worthless."
Aaushi's words started to confuse Eric. She told him how she loved her life, but she was trying to save Ellie at the cost of the very thing that she loved. It didn't make sense.
"Didn't you have a son…?" Eric asked her, as he remembered Ellie saying that she and Emilie killed the prince of this kingdom.
"That was not my son. I've never known the pleasure of having children, as Gazef wouldn't allow it. I was his last lifeline. Only I could save him if he were to die. That is the only reason he made me his queen."
Aaushi continued, "This young lady, however, chose to return to the cage that she left, where her parents lost their lives, in order to free the other birds stuck in here. She chose death over turning a blind eye to the rest of the people. That is something I would never understand." Aaushi's voice seemed so distant…so cold.
"Then why save her?" Eric asked.
"Because I don't understand it. Because I would never be able to understand it. Because unlike her, I was never truly alive." Aaushi stopped talking and silence ensued over the crater again. After drawing in some air, she continued to speak.
"The king is dead, and the people are free. The people wouldn't allow me to live anyway, and if I were to flee, afraid of being found by the beastmen, it wouldn't be any different than being dead. So, at the very least, I want to make my life useful. I want my life, which was meaningless, to have some worth." Aaushi had finished her speech, so she put her hand above Ellie's chest.
A strong wave of pure white energy surged out of her body and went into Ellie's body. Ellie's complexion started to change immediately. Her face regained a pale color, while her whole body was losing the purple hue. Her legs started to regenerate as well, putting Eric's heart at ease.
"KUH!" A scream drew Eric's attention back to Aaushi. He noticed her biting her lips so hard that blood started to flow, dropping on Ellie's body. She dropped down to her knees, and once Eric tried to help her, he noticed something horrifying. Aaushi's legs were no longer there. He then noticed something else. She was turning into a state similar to Ellie's before she started healing.
"Are you exchanging the damage with her?!!" Eric couldn't believe what was happening. His brain couldn't process the idea of someone going through the pain of death, willingly.
"It's the sole cultivation technique that our family had ever learned," Aaushi spoke while bearing with the pain. "Please, tell her not to dwell over me. Tell her to watch over this kingdom. And tell her that her parents' last words to Gazef were 'I love you, Ellie.'"
Just as she finished those words, Aaushi dropped down to the ground with a smile on her face, and blood dripping from all over her body. Next to her now dead body, Ellie's eyes opened up as she coughed a mouthful of blood.
Hello everyone! I hope you're enjoying the story so far!
Ellie sat up in a hurry. She didn't know what happened to her, or why she was lying down. All she could think about was how her body felt sore all over. Then, as if she was drawn by a force, she turned her head to the side. To where Aaushi was. Ellie's hands rushed to pick up the non-moving body, but her hands were too weak to support it, making the both of them fall back down. Eric rushed in to stop Ellie and to explain to her what had transpired.
"Eric?! What happened? I killed Gazef and I fell asleep, so what happened to lady Aaushi?! Did you kill her?!" Ellie was rather frantic and didn't even allow Eric to answer her. Eric was in no hurry, so he allowed her to calm down before he started to speak. Once she stopped talking, he said, "You didn't fall asleep. You died back then."
His words came as a shock to Ellie. The feeling of death. Perhaps the only one that knew about it in this world was Ed, and even he wasn't able to explain it. Ellie could only open her eyes and stare at Eric as if he was a madman.
"You blew your own legs away with your attack and ended up exhausting your QI. The Dragon's poison surged through your body with no QI around to stop it. Your heart stopped, and your body turned cold. I…I couldn't do anything." Eric explained to her the situation, but as it was an incomplete explanation, Ellie hurriedly asked, "Then how am I alive right now?! And why is Lady Aaushi dead?!"
Eric stopped talking for a while. He was thinking about the best way to let her know about how she was saved. He didn't want her to blame herself.
"You call her Lady Aaushi, why? Don't you hate the royal family?" Eric deviated from the subject by his question.
"Lady Aaushi was always a king queen. I hate the unjust Gazef, who pushed this kingdom to ruin. Also, my father used to mention how she was 'pitiful'. I've never understood why. What does this have to do with the situation?!"
"It has everything to do with the current situation. It was Lady Aaushi herself that saved you." Eric stopped after two sentences alone, trying to see how Ellie would react.
"She saved me? Why would she do that? And how could she save me when she's weaker than me?!" Ellie couldn't process what Eric was saying. Or she didn't want to believe it.
"It was her unique technique. She was able to take the damage that was done to you, and inflict it upon herself. She said this was her way of feeling alive for the first time since she was born." Eric noticed how Ellie looked at the dead Aaushi next to her. The smile on her face, which Ellie had never seen before, was brighter than the sun itself.
"Now I'll tell you her exact words to you." Eric then proceeded to let her know of what Aaushi had to tell her. How she wished for Ellie to watch over the kingdom, and how her parents' end was. Ellie didn't say anything. She simply allowed her tears to flow. If her parents were the one that gave her the gift of life, then Aaushi was the one that allowed her to keep it.
Ellie withdrew a potion that Ed had made and sprayed it all over Aaushi's body. The wounds on her body healed, turning her back into her normal figure. However, her legs, and the blood on her body didn't disappear. Ellie stood up, her legs still wobbly and unstable. She stored Aaushi's body in her spatial ring and waited there. Eric went back to the battlefield, announcing the news concerning the death of Gazef.
The soldiers of both sides stopped, as the winner was clear. Audun and Becky met up with Eric, and he told them of what had happened. Becky rushed to the castle, as she knew Ellie needed a shoulder to lean on.
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As Audun expected, reinforcements came from the other cities. They were greeted by their own kin and stopped at the gates of the capital. They were told of the situation, and while not many believed it, they had no choice but to follow the orders of Audun and those that won in the war.
Ellie and the leaders of her army met up with the leaders of the beastmen. Most of them recognized her as the daughter of Duke, and couldn't help but shy away from her eyes. Ellie seemed to be doing much better. She could walk normally and didn't seem as tired as before.
Ellie said, "I've done what I came here to do. I killed the tyrant, and now I'll leave this kingdom. You, and the people can choose who to lead you next." Her words broke the silence in that room, and that silence never returned.
"But, we'd like for you to become the queen!"
"That's right! You're the daughter of the duke, and no one from the royal family is fit to lead the kingdom! The people would love for you to take the throne!"
Many tried to convince Ellie, but all words fell on deaf ears.
"I won't do it." Ellie only had this to say to them.
"What do you mean by that?! It is your duty! How can you be so selfish?!"
"I am selfish, so what are you going to do about it? Where did this courage of yours come out from? In which hole was buried when Gazef was the ruler?! You dare to call me selfish when your stomach is bigger than this table?!" Ellie banged on the table where they were surrounding. "Where was your duty when you left people to starve?! You dare to talk to me about duty when you've done nothing about this kingdom?!"
The generals standing there all looked down at their feet. They couldn't refute her words.
"I will say this only this time. I will not rule the kingdom, but I will watch over it. So make sure you don't mess up, or I will appear before you…"
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Ellie and the others spent a month before returning to Avalon. During that month, they managed to kingdom while the people chose their king. Many tried to vote for Ellie but were bummed out when they found out that she was leaving. She left the kingdom along with the others after making sure that the people understood that they could look for her if the new king, a previous general, made any wrong choices.
Just as she returned to Avalon, in the south-western continent, a certain group reached a certain city, know for a certain sect that protected it.
"Stop! No visitors are allowed inside, please return." The guard said. However, he was astonished once the man leading the group showed him an insignia.
Hello everyone! I have a favor to ask of you! We have a discord for WN authors, and we have a special role for top 50 authors, and now they're trying to take it from me TwT
I want you guys to vote for my novel during this week so I can keep it. If we hit top 50, I'll do a mass release, of any chapters I can write during the next weekend!
Pls halp me!
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