As Leon rushed at Elish in desperation, he only had one thought swirling in his mind.
'Is this the end for me?'
The closer he got to the target, the more that seemed to be the case.
'No, it can't be! I dedicated my whole life to strength. I even got the opportunity to learn Hex, the ultimate Art of destruction.'
After all of that, he couldn't just die, could he? There was so much he was yet to do… too many things he had yet to achieve.
'I would have sold this fairy and gotten so much money. The boys and I would have had our fill of some good beer at the local pub. I would have risen in the ranks until I became truly unstoppable. I would have—'
"Goodbye. I can't say it has been pleasant," Elish's whispered reached Leon's ears as he watched the glowing orb dance in his direction.
'No… no…!'
He was powerless. His body wouldn't stop moving forward, and even though he knew it was for naught, he couldn't halt his moving blade.
Until… the orb finally made contact with his body.
~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!~
The fiery explosion consumed Leon and everything around him, swallowing everything in a swirling dome of flames.
Everything, to no exception, was devoured by the raging fire, leaving nothing but embers in their wake.
An absolute cremation
"And thus it ends." Elish stated nonchalantly as he took his eyes away from the now smoldering flames.
As he turned from the pitiful sight of the man, he moved his gaze in the opposite direction.
"Now, where were we?"
There was no one behnd him—at least, not anymore. The Fairy he had gone through all of this effort to save had suddenly vanished.
"Ah, so she fled," he thought to himself in a sigh.
His eyes glowed crimson, and his dark hair swayed with the hot wind as he looked in the direction he sensed the little one had scampered off to.
"That foolish girl."
Elish vanishing from where he stood, his feet propelling him with such speed that he suspected he'd be at his target location in no time.
'Time to catch my little runaway.'
********
'I must get away!' A certain Fairy thought to herself, running as fast as she could.
Her breath was heavy, and her legs hurt so much from running so much—an act she wasn't quite used to since she would have resorted to her wings.
… Her lost wings.
"Haa… haaa…"
One could only wonder why she would push herself so much, but this runaway Fairy understood perfectly. She understood what had just unfolded before her eyes.
"Haa… haa…"
What she had just witnessed was a monster beyond any she had ever seen.
'The way he instantly killed the 6 soldiers who were assaulting me without any effort or emotion. The way he instantly healed me, which I'm still not sure how. And he was even able to withstand not just one, but two Hexes!'
She could do nothing but flee for her life.
Not only was he a monster beyond anything she had ever seen, but he was also a master of Hex.
Initially, she had been too engrossed in the scene unfolding before her eyes to even say a word. However, after she had witnessed this total stranger use a Hex so powerful that it reduced his opponent and everything around him to dust, she couldn't stay there anymore.
'Am I next?' The thought rang through her head.
But he saved her from the soldiers and even healed her. Surely, he didn't mean her any harm. Or did he?
'No! Don't be fooled by that! All humans are the same. They're all the same!' She cried to herself, picking up her pace as she ran through the woods.
She wasn't sure if she could even outrun him, but she had to try. If she didn't struggle till her last breath then she might as well be dead.
"I can't die now. I must live!" She told herself while breathing heavily. Sweat stained her skin, but she kept pushing regardless.
Survival! That was all that mattered to her now.
"Gah!"
As she ran, her leg hit one of the roots which had risen above ground, causing her to stumble. Due to the sudden change in momentum, she could not regain her balance and instead fell to the ground.
"Argh." Wincing in pain and frustration, she held her legs and fidgeted on the dirty floor.
It was so painful… so frustrating.
She wasn't used to moving on foot. The balance dynamics were weird now that her wings were gone.
"M-my… my wings." She felt tears welling up in her eyes as she thought about how beautiful she was.
And how she had now devolved into this dirty, disgusting thing now wriggling on the ground, like a filthy caterpillar.
Such pain was indescribable, but this Fairy had to stifle all of it. This was no time to indulge in her pain or sorrow. She had to escape first, or else—
"There you are," a sudden voice came from behind her.
"A-ahh. Ahh…" Her eyes widened as she instantly recognized the voice.
Her bones rattled as her body froze in pure fear. There were many who had the power to induce fear within her, but only one man could make it feel this raw.
'It's him!'
********
It didn't take Elish any time to find the runaway fairy. With his heightened senses, it was no big deal. Plus, she hadn't even gotten very far.
He watched everything from behind her, how she ran so desperately away from him. The struggle in her movement clearly indicated that she wasn't used to moving without her wings.
'Their removal must have been recent,' Elish thought to himself.
He watched as she approached a root in her path.
"She's going to stumble and fall now," he whispered in silent observation, and true to his words, she did precisely that.
He let out a chuckle the instant it happened.
'Foolish girl. It's high time I end this farce anyway.'
He approached her slowly, noticing the scars on her back where her wings were supposed to be. It had healed finely thanks to the Hex he used on her, but still...
'The fine line of scars will still remain on her bare back, a fine reminder of what she has lost.'
It was so grim to the point of being poetic.
"There you are," he smiled, watching as she turned her face in surprise at the sound of his voice.
Pure terror oozed from her, and Elish couldn't understand why she had such an irrational fear toward him.
'I didn't even harm her or anything.'
Sure, he mercilessly killed her attackers, but if he showed her mercy, it meant there was a reason behind that. Why would he just kill her after going through all that trouble?
"P-please spare me," she whimpered in submission.
'Is she trying to garner my sympathy? I expected a little more from her.' His thoughts echoed in mild disappointment.
Was she not going to fight back like she did back then? Or, after seeing the vast difference between them, had she decided pleading was the best solution?
As he ruminated on her words, she suddenly sprung up with a sharp tree edge in her hand, intending to strike him down.
Her swift movement betrayed her previous powerless pose to the point that Elish was a little taken by surprise by her action.
"Now that's more like it." His eyes instantly lit up at the sight.
She charged towards him with a fierce look in her eyes, and it was nothing short of amusing.
While Elish was only interested in her for her story, he found everything she did to be entertaining in the most unexpected way.
The way she struggled to run, the way she squirmed around in the dirt, and the way her legs wobbled and her fragile hands brandished the only weapon she could use.
Everything in her unrelenting dance of desperation.
'It fascinates me.'
The wood was filthy, so Elish dodged it quite easily, and utilizing the force of the wind by flicking his finger, he pushed the branch away from her.
"Ueh?!" She looked stunned to see her only weapon fly from her hands, and Elish let himself enjoy the moment and observe her next action.
The Fairy looked at where the wooden branch had gone and then returned her gaze in his direction. The distance between her and her weapon was vast, and since he was closest to her, she must have believed he wouldn't give her the chance to retrieve her weapon.
It was at this point that she did the most the most amusing thing Elish had seen thus far.
"Haa… haaa…" The Fairy raised her fists and took a fighting stance against him. Elish could see her body trembling and her hands shaking, yet she wouldn't give in.
"Pfft.. hehe… haha.. hahahahaahahaha!" Elish found himself uncontrollably at this point.
'This girl is so amusing. Really? Your fists? What can you possibly do with them?' It truly was never a dull moment with her.
The Fairy looked startled to see him laugh. She just couldn't understand what he found so amusing about her situation.
"W-what do you want from me?" After deliberating internally for a few seconds, she asked him with a cautious tone.
Her tone was mildly disrespectful, but Elish couldn't even notice it.
"Tell me why you have those eyes." His calm voice echoed, piercing the tense silence that pervaded the expanse where they both stood.
"Eyes? What…?" She muttered, further confused.
"Tell me what happened to you, Fairy?" Elish repeated, his eyes narrowing as he stared down at her with his cold gaze.
"Do that, and I'll let you go."
*
*
*
[A/N]
Thanks for reading, everyone.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please remember to support this book.
Your support matters a lot.
'He'll… he'll let me go?'
The downtrodden Fairy hesitated at the words she was hearing. Her conflicted expression was enough to depict the uncertainty she felt concerning whether or not she could trust Elish.
But, it wasn't as though she had a choice.
She dropped her fist and fell to her knees, looking downcast as though she was reliving the entire thing. The memory of her past, what she had lost, must have been too painful for her.
"D-do I have to say it?" She asked him, her eyes trailing as she shamefully hung her head on her slumped shoulders.
"Yes. Tell me, or else there would be no point," Elish responded as calmly as he had asked the question.
His voice wasn't threatening in the slightest, but the girl understood that her life was only being spared because of what she had to say
Lying wasn't an option too, considering the unfathomable depths of Elise's power.
It seemed they both understood her inability to refuse pretty well, and while the Fairy struggled to speak, Elish watched her in silence.
What form of expression would she make as she told him her story? Anger? Rage? Self-Pity?
He wanted to see for himself.
"I was banished from my people. I… did something I shouldn't have done… something that was forbidden." She started by saying.
The Fairy then looked up at Elish to see whether or not he was listening, and he was.
"Continue," he told her.
"I wandered around on my own for quite a while until I met them, the ones I called my friends. They were adventurers. They gave me warm food, shelter, and lovely company. I was… happy," she now had a sad smile on her face, and her eyes twinkled with hints of nostalgia.
However, not long after the smile appeared, her face slowly began to darken.
"But. I didn't know. If only I knew. That they. That they.," Her voice kept breaking as she became overcome with emotion.
Whatever experience she had must have been too painful to remember, yet she oozed all of it from her lips to satisfy the man who desired to know.
"Continue," Elish's voice nudged her, causing her body to tremble slightly before she continued.
"They sold me to the soldiers. The soldiers who I had grown to respect in the town where we stayed. They sold me to them to repay their debt. Fairies are a rare commodity and go for a high price, and they told me they would be set for life after selling me…" Her lips were quivering now.
Of all the things she had said, this was the emotional height—the precipice of her pain.
"Everything we had together, they were all lies!" She screamed, tears gushing down her face.
"T-They cut off my wings since I was too powerful and I resisted them. They said they would sell them as a separate commodity, and I would be sold as a slave! T-they weren't even sorry."
She was crying profusely now, struggling to speak as she raised her voice.
"W-why? How could they do that to me? I thought we were friends? I thought I had finally found where I belonged. Everything was a lie. They took everything from me! Why?!" She bellowed in pain and sorrow.
"How could they? What did I do to them to deserve this!? I never did anything wrong! I have never done anything wrong! Why do they keep betraying me after everything? Why do they keep leaving me? What did I do!?" She cried as she screamed at herself.
At some point, she wasn't even speaking to Elish. She was screaming and crying at herself.
These questions she asked… they were questions she desperately sought to answer, yet found nothing that could properly address them.
And so, the result of all that accumulated pain was despair.
'I see now…' Elish thought as he looked at her silently.
He could tell that she wasn't only talking about the soldiers and adventurers. Even before that, she had been betrayed.
She must have had a whole lot of pain, too much for her to even understand.
The pain of betrayal and loss had been forcefully embedded within her… just like him.
There was only one thing left to know.
"And? What are you going to do about it?" His question hung in the air as he coldly stared down at her pathetic state.
The answer she would give after all that she had seen and experienced… Elish wanted to know.
She had to tell him!
"I-I don't know! I'm too weak... I know I am too weak to seek revenge. Too broken to hate them. Even thinking about their faces hurts so much…" Her voice began to recede as she lifted her face to look at Elish.
"I just want to live. Is that so wrong? I want to live. I want to be happy, why can't I just be happy? I just..."
She cried even more, at her powerlessness and weakness.
She could do nothing but cry.
'This girl…' Elish looked into her eyes and his thoughts flowed seamlessly.
Despite the strong front and tough act she had been putting up earlier, after telling her story, everything had unraveled.
He could now understand her clearly.
"Little one, you hate yourself, don't you?"
The young girl froze at his words. She was speechless as more tears streamed down her face.
For the first time, she felt it.
Someone understood her to her soul. She was exposed, at her weakest, and finally, she heard what she had been thinking and drowning herself in all this time.
Yes. Despite all the pain and horrors the world had shown her… there was no one she hated more than herself.
Elish slowly bent his knees, crouching so he could attain the same level as her
And finally… he took the Fairy's head and hugged her.
"I understand."
As the girl rested her head on his shoulder, still frozen in shock, more tears began to well up in her eyes. They felt too overwhelming to resist.
She knew she had to let it all out.
"Uwahhhhhhh!!!"
"It's not your fault," Elish whispered to her as the evidence of her pain streamed down.
"It's okay now. It's okay…"
Tears welled up in her eyes as she bawled. Endless tears streamed down her face as even Elish felt the pain from her wailings.
The pain of this girl was much.
She had lost it all, but unlike him, she couldn't do anything about it. She was powerless and without purpose.
She was going to live the rest of her life in emptiness and despair.
… That is, if she had not met him.
"I will give you purpose. I will fill your emptiness." Elish told her as she cried and rested on him, like a tender and fragile baby.
"Your hatred. Your weakness. Your pain. I desire all of those things…"
The words floated into her head as his body encompassed her and offered her solace nothing else could.
Even as his hands slowly trailed across her back, she felt no shame or fear.
Just bliss.
"Come with me, little one," Elish whispered.
She raised her head from his shoulder, and while her body was still on his, she looked at his face. Her eyes were swollen due to her crying, and her face was wet from the tears, but she could see him clearly.
And their eyes interlocked.
She looked into him, and he looked into her. She then sniffed and smiled at him. This was not the first time Elish saw her smile, as she had leaked a sad one when telling her story.
However, for the first time since they met, the Fairy's smile contained more than mere hints of sadness.
They contained something more.
"Astra," She suddenly muttered to him in a low tone.
"What does that mean?"
She then let out a soft laugh in response to his slightly confused expression. It almost felt like she was making fun of him, but he allowed it.
Perhaps seeing her so cheerful made it enjoyable.
"It's my name. My name is Astra." At this point, a full smile was already planted on her face.
Elish smiled in response to that, and he used his fingers to wipe off the last vestiges of tears on her face. As his cold fingers swept through her skin, she felt a shiver of strange delight.
It was strange how her heart was racing so much despite all that had just happened.
'Well then, Astra, what will you do now?" Elish finally asked her.
Would she accept his proposal, or did she have a will of her own?
"What do you want me to do?"
The answer was neither.
Her will, as Elish intended from the start, was tied to his.
She was his.
Elish rose up from where he knelt with her, leaving her still on the ground. The dirt that clung to his attire were brushed away, and he stood magnificently before her.
Astra looked up at him, but his face was no longer on her. Instead, his eyes were fixed on the sky in a forlorn, distant gaze.
"I understand your pain, Astra, for I have suffered the same. Your hate feels familiar, and your tears remain a reminder. All of it… they take me back to the life I once had."
He then turned back down to face her. The smile on his face had vanished, and a serious vibe took over. "Perhaps that is why you intrigue me so much."
Silence reigned, and for a moment the two only looked at each other.
And with that, an understanding was passed across.
"My name is Elish, the one this world knows as the Evil One."
One look at Astra's face showed Elish that the girl was neither frightened nor repulsed. Surprise was etched in her eyes, certainly, but there seemed to be something else within it.
Something expectant.
"Astra, I desire to destroy this world," Elish finally returned her secret with his.
Silence peaked once more as both parties maintained ye contact.
Neither side even moved for a while, until Elish stretched forth his hand.
"Will you help me?"
The outstretched hand of the Monarch served as an invitation to chaos. Only those who had descended into the realm of insanity would even dream of reaching out to accept it.
Yet…
"I understand." Astra stretched out her tiny hand and connected with Elish's strong grip.
He raised her up, drawing her closer to him as their faces neared each other.
There was still a lot of pain within Astra's eyes, but Elish could see more now.
There was a desire being born within them that caused him to smile in expectation.
"When do we begin?" Astra asked him, her tone resolute.
'That's the spirit, little one. I like it.'
He could never have expected that the coincidental encounter he had with this Wingless Fairy would alter the course of everything he had thought of this far.
But Elish didn't mind in the slightest.
No… one could say he even preferred things this way.
'She will be my first piece, one of the many disciples I will turn from the path you have all set. I will free her… just as I will free the rest of this world.'
That would be the ultimate act of vengeance he could wreak.
"It has already begun."
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