[: Daniel POV :]
The world around me shattered into a million pieces as I watched the life drain out of Areia’s fragile body.
It happened once again.
Areia, just like Fara had also died in my hands.
Tears welled up in my eyes, blurring my vision as I stared at her body.
Why was this happening?
I kept questioning myself mindlessly yet, I still couldn’t find the reason.
A suffocating heaviness settled over my heart and I was drowning in a sea of guilt and self-blame.
I was powerless, too weak, and couldn’t save her.
Was it because I was not strong enough?
It feels like History is repeating itself.
In the depths of my despair, I found myself engulfed in a storm of crippling doubt.
It felt so hurt that my emotions erupted like a volcano.
I clenched my fists violently, desperate for an outlet.
With each ragged breath, I felt my nails biting into my skin. torment within.
“I will never let them live!” I made the same vow once again of killing all of the monsters that ever lived.
And now, knowing that they’re still alive, I will not repeat the same mistakes and, this time, I will save them, and no matter what, no one is going to die.
That is my promise.
“Daniel…?”
“Young master, is there something wrong?”
Seeing me so distraught, Fara and the branch leaders were concerned and they were asking questions.
“No, it’s nothing” I shook my head.
“If you say so, but are you okay now?” Lye questioned with concern and he added, “Perhaps, he needs more training than before”
He suggested with a wide smile, and I couldn’t help but chuckle at him.
Despite them both not being aware of it, Lye and Areia loved each other, but because of their personality and awkwardness, it was hard for them to express their emotions.
When Areia died in my hands, there was someone who appeared within my sight.
“D-Daniel…,” Lye’s voice cracked, his heart heavy with both confusion and devastation.
The sight of Areia’s lifeless form in my hands caused his entire body to convulse with grief.
It left him broken and shattered.
The weight of sorrow settled like an anchor upon my soul, rendering me speechless in the face of Lye’s anguished question.
How could I explain the inexplicable?
How could I find the words to convey the unfathomable loss that had befallen us both?
The bitter taste of grief lingered upon my tongue, choking me with every attempt to speak.
Tears blurred Lye’s eyes as his trembling body mirrored the quaking turmoil within his heart.
His shattered expression spoke volumes of the pain he bore.
There we stood, two broken souls, bound by grief and bound by the searing question that echoed in the depths of our hearts, ‘why?’
“Why…? Why did you leave me?”
His voice cracked, filled with a sorrow that seemed to spill from the depths of his being.
Tears streamed down his face as he grappled with the reality of Areia’s death.
“How can she die…? This can’t be true…it must be a dream”
Lye’s words rang with a desperate plea as if he could summon Areia back from the clutches of death.
It was as if he was clinging to the fragile hope that this was all a cruel illusion.
Lye’s words tumbled out in a mix of confusion and disbelief as he muttered, “This can’t be real.”
His voice quivered, carrying a deep sense of loss that left us both speechless and helpless.
I wished desperately that I could find the right words to comfort him, but none came to me at that moment.
Suddenly, the ground shook beneath our feet, and my heart dropped as I saw a horde of monsters approaching.
We had to run, but Lye seemed rooted in place, fixated on Areia’s lifeless body.
I urgently urged him to run, but he remained unmoving, lost in his grief.
“Lye, we have to go!”
I pleaded, feeling the weight of the imminent danger closing in.
Leaving Areia behind was not an option, we couldn’t abandon her to those monsters.
And Lye still seemed trapped in his sorrow, unable to find the strength to move.
Lye’s eyes blazed with fury, his focus unyielding on the approaching monsters.
In a low voice, he spoke my name, “Daniel…” and I couldn’t help but sense the madness that had taken hold of him.
“Do you remember lesson number 43?”
He questioned, and at that moment, I knew he had chosen this as his final battle.
Fear gripped my heart as I understood the gravity of his decision.
Lye had embraced his fate, resolved to face his own death on this battlefield.
I stood torn, torn between wanting to stay with him and running away together with him.
The monsters closed in, their threat growing stronger.
“I-I remembered…”
Tears flowed freely down my face as I remembered.
Lye was a stubborn person, and despite my desire to stop him, I couldn’t.
“Say it out loud” He demanded.
Reluctantly, I uttered the words, my voice trembling. “Run and never look back…”
Satisfied with my response, Lye sought confirmation. “You know what to do, right…?”
I nodded, a heavy ache settling in my heart.
I understood the plan, even though it tore me apart inside.
“Then please go… and leave her body here,” he said firmly.
I followed his command, leaving Areia’s lifeless form behind.
My heart overflowed with emotions, threatening to break me in two.
But I had to carry on, driven by the need to survive and my unwavering love for Lye and Areia.
Running away, my feet heavy with the weight of grief, I held their memories close to my soul, forever intertwined with my being.
Lye’s voice rang out, calling me by name before I started running.
His words held a mix of desperation and care as he spoke.
“Daniel…,” he said softly, his voice filled with sorrow and warmth.
He gave me his final advice, like an older brother cautioning me.
“Take care of yourself and don’t forget your training.”
I couldn’t bring myself to look back, fearing that I wouldn’t be able to leave him behind.
I understood his intentions. If I stayed, he would force me to leave to the point of knocking me out.
Tears streamed down my face as I ran, memories of Areia and Lye flooding my mind.
The moments we shared, their playful arguments, began to fade away.
Yet, their essence remained with me, glowing in my heart, lighting my path forward.
As we distanced ourselves, a loud boom echoed through the air.
Lye’s voice thundered, filled with righteous fury.
“You will pay for taking her away from me!”
In response, a bolt of lightning descended from the sky with a resounding crack, obliterating most of the monsters in an instant.
But despite the strike, a large number of them continued their relentless approach, undeterred by the attack.
“You bastards will pay!”
He was screaming and crying and was throwing bolt after bolt of lightning, striking and burning the monsters to a crisp.
The intensity of the lightning was unlike the previous ones.
“Die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, and die again, I will not forgive anyone that had taken her away from me.”
In his anger, he was no longer caring for his wellbeing and his body had already received multiple wounds.
But despite his killing the monsters, there was a limit to the lightning skill and Mana, and not long, before the monster would reach him.
“L-Lye…” I screamed and I almost turned around before I was shouted at.
“Don’t come, run away!”
He screamed, ordering me to run away and I couldn’t disobey him. 𝒍𝒊𝒃𝒓𝙚𝙖𝙙.𝓬𝙤𝙢
“Daniel…don’t look back”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they pay for everything they have done!”
I ran and I didn’t look back, because if I did, then I would lose control and rush back to where he was.
I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing, the pain of losing people dear to me.
“DIE!”
“YOU WILL ALL PAY WITH YOUR LIVES”
His cries echoed and were followed by a massive explosion, and after the sound, everything went silent.
Only the echo of the explosion was ringing in my ears.
I had a bad feeling, but I didn’t dare to check.
However, after the sound, I stopped running and turned around and what was before had shattered my sight.
“Ahhhhh…Lye!” I screamed and cried with tears running down my face.
Everything was burnt and not a single monster was left alive.
However, the result of it was Lye’s death.
“L-Lye” I shouted.
I stood before his corpse as I gazed at him emotionlessly.
What had affected me greatest was not his death, but rather, he was hugging and embracing Areia’s body with a smile as though he had finally declared his eternal love for her.
At the same time, somehow or miraculously, Areia was smiling as well.
Both of them were dead and covered by blood, yet at this point, they seemed rather peaceful.
“A-Areia…L-Lye” I couldn’t help but fall onto the ground and wail.
“Noooo!!”
I kept shouting and screaming and cursing everything.
“Damn it, Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN IIIT”
“WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN!”
“WHY!?”
I couldn’t handle the amount of emotions running through my heart and I fainted.