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!
"You…W-Why do you have that thing?!" the guard freaked out as he the insignia. It was a property of the sword sect, and whoever had it was considered the master of the sect. after three months passed, no one had any doubts about the fate of Alexander. They were convinced that he was dead. Now, Ed appeared along with his comrades and flashed the insignia like it was nothing.
"You don't need to know the reason of why I have it. You only need to follow my orders. Understand, mister guard?" the guard, upon hearing Ed's domineering voice, could only make his body seem smaller. He realized that the person in front of him was the one that killed Alexander, the previous sect master. Otherwise, how could he have the guts to visit the sect?
"Lead me to the sect," Ed told the guard as he passed through the gate. The guard, upon noticing the monsters accompanying Ed, froze in his place unable to make a squeak. "Didn't you hear me?" Ed's voice caused the guard to start fidgeting as he tried to take the lead. As they started walking, the nameless guard couldn't help but sneak some looks towards his back, afraid that Ed might attack him.
Ed and his companions started to look around the city. It was smaller than Avalon and seemed to have fewer citizens as well. However, what caught his attention the most was the fact that the citizens all seemed malnourished. The children had patched clothes, while some of the adults didn't even have shirts on. They didn't even seem to notice the presence of Ed and the others.
'Is this the result of the sect master disappearing, or is there someone that doesn't want to Sword sect to prosper…?' Ed thought to himself as he surveyed the surroundings. He noticed that some of the houses were partially destroyed, indicating that a battle took place not too long ago. The shop stalls on the streets didn't have much to sell, yet chose to remain open. They sold semi-rotten vegetables and dried god-knows-what animal meat it was.
"Ed, this is…" Emilia tugged on Ed's shirt as a saddened look emerged on her face. She realized how bad the situation was in this city. She remembered how her kingdom turned out to be even after Norris took over as king. It wasn't as bad as the situation in Sword sect's city.
Before long, Ed noticed a wall that spanned hundreds of meters in the middle of the city. He guessed that this was the sect grounds, and summarized that it took up the other half of the city. Just as he opened his Map to monitor the situation, the guard said, "Sir, please I need to return to the gate. I can't afford to leave my post! We have many enemies!"
"Hmm? You don't need to worry about that, I have everything under control." Ed wasn't lying. On top of his Map which he was about to activate, he had long since activated his En, which spanned hundreds of meters. He focused it on a cone-like shape, so he could monitor anyone trying to approach the city.
"But, still…" the guard tried to argue but remembered the difference between him and Ed. He held his tongue and continued to guide them further inside.
"You, you're the gate guard, right? Why aren't at your post? And why did you allow strangers to enter the city?! The orders of the young miss were clear, weren't they?!" One of the guards standing by the sect grounds started to berate the guard guiding Ed.
"Uhm, well, it's because this person is…" the guard said helplessly as he turned around to look at Ed.
"It's because I'm your sect master." Ed decided to chime in and relieve the pressure off of the guard. He continued, "And I'm here to fulfill my promise to the previous master, to do that I'm heading inside. Will you try to stop me?" as he showed them the insignia.
"That is…" The guards knew that they couldn't stop Ed. The rules of their sect stated, that whoever held the insignia, also held complete power over the sect.
"This way, sir…" The guard said as he started to guide Ed. His friends remained at his position while the first guide ran back to his post. The disciples of the sect seemed just as bad as the citizens. Yet, they were still training. Each one of them held a sword of some kind and followed certain movements. Ed noticed one of them falling to the ground, unconscious. Clearly, he was malnourished.
Ed focused on his current task and continued to walk to where the guard was taking him. Not a long time passed before they entered the sect's headquarters, and after even more walking, they reached a room.
"This is the sect master's room. I believe you can enter it using that insignia." The guard said as he pointed at a hole in the wall. Ed walked there and inserted the insignia, and then heard a clicking sound. The doors opened up as Ed retrieved the insignia. Inside the room were hundreds of gold coins, weapons, pills, spatial rings, and maps. The guard gulped down as he saw the treasures of the sect.
"You can go and call the elders, and any noteworthy person of your sect. Tell them I, Edward Avalon, am here." The guard left as soon as Ed finished his words. Alone in the room, Ed looked at his companions in silence.
"I'm going to help them. I'm going to fulfill my promise." He muttered, but his voice was high enough for his comrades to hear him. They didn't say anything and only thought about the way to help him.
Ed noticed some people entering his En, but they weren't from outside the city. They came as a group, and they numbered eight people. Soon, he could see them walking toward the room.
There were five men and three women. One of the women was the youngest of the group and seemed to be as or even younger than Emilia. Ed checked his Map and was astonished to see that only two people among them were red.
"So, you're the one who killed my father?!" The young lady shouted at the top of her lungs, as she looked at Ed with bloodshot eyes.
Hello everyone! Sorry for the late chapter, I had quite the busy day...
Remember, there will be a mass release if I enter top 50 again. (Chapter number might increase if my rank does as well!)
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