Ruler Vol 3 Chapter 35

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Author: Anit666

Editor: Weasalopes


【Liera’s POV】

 

“Nnnn…..”

I groaned as my consciousness lingering in the darkness finally returned, and I finally opened my eyes, only to see an unfamiliar sky. The dark gloomy clouds looming over me seemed so peaceful now. A cold wind was flowing and brushing past my cheeks, but even that failed to elicit any reaction from me.

“Ah, are you awake?”

The voice of that Monster entered my ears, and his face came into my view. My entire body and mind froze, so much so that I couldn’t even move my eyes from him. I could feel my clothes getting wetter and sticking to my skin due to the sweat forming on my entire body, and the events that transpired some moments ago came back to assault my mind.

“You don’t need to worry. I no longer need to kill you.”

Perhaps sensing my unease and dread, he muttered. But that alone was enough to calm my heart. The very thought of not dying again pacified my heart beyond what I thought possible.

No, I wasn’t appeased by the thought of not dying again. What calmed was that this monster won’t be killing and reviving me again and again.

“So let’s start again. Are you awake?”

“……..Yes, unfortunately.”

Yet, even after being calmed down, that was the only thing I could reply with. My heart had been shattered, my mind had been broken, my soul had been crushed, all beyond any repair. After being rid of the absolute dread for him, what remained in my heart was a stillness akin to death. I no longer had any will to live or resist.

No, it wasn’t that I still wasn’t afraid of him. The overwhelming fear was still there in my heart. It’s just that, believing him right now was the only thing stopping me from going insane.

Before the end of the first Holy War which ended with Regina’s death, I had always fought enemies overwhelmingly stronger than me. But I always pulled through due to Triskellion. It was a weapon that could revive me as long as I had the courage to face the enemy once again. Perhaps due to that, I had forgotten what true fear was. I had forgotten was true despair was. Even in the fight against Balgaar, even if I knew that defeating him was impossible, somewhere in my heart I had believed that if I tried enough times then I would be able to defeat him.

And I thought the same thing when against this Monster.

But how wrong I was. After being thoroughly crushed, I had finally given up in despair. But the despair never gave up on me. I was plunged into even deeper and darker despair.

“Good. Now, Liera. I’ll ask you once again: What do you fight for?”

Amidst all that, he asked the question he had posed to me in the beginning. The abyss was peering into me. The abyss was questioning me. A black to suck in all sorts of light. Those black coloured eyes were examining me.

“I don’t know.”

“What do you live for?”

“I don’t know.”

But that question doesn’t matter anymore. I don’t know anything at all. What I fought for, what I lived for? I know nothing of it. And now I don’t even care about it.

“Do you want to know?”

“……How?”

“It’s simple. Come to my side, work under me, and I’ll give you a reason to live and fight for.”

“I don’t want any of it. Just kill me. No, just leave me alone.”

I don’t want to do anything.

“Kill you? Ah, of course not. I no longer have any interest in killing you. So, allow me to tell you just what you lived and fought for.”

He’ll tell me?

“Yes. You lived, only to die. You fought, only to die. All this time, all you wanted was to die in style.”

………

He’s right. I never wanted to live, not after everything I cherished was stolen.

“But do you know what made you like that?”

No.

“And do you want to know?”

No.

……..

But a small part of me still wanted an answer. Why? To give myself some peace? What do I need peace for?

“The turning point came during the Age of Extinction. When you lost Susan and took revenge for her death by killing the perpetrator, the Demon King. That’s when you lost your will to live.”

He……. might be right. After the first Holy War ended and I killed all those I wanted to take revenge for those who had been killed, my life turned meaningless. As someone who had fought her entire life, I had nothing to live for when peace arrived.

I persisted through that, and then came the 2nd Holy War. But that was also a disappointment, and so were all the wars that followed it. Nothing could make me feel alive anymore. Combined with my failure to protect those I loved; I lost my will to live.

Tired by my life and unable to die naturally, I started seeking death during battles. I fought and fought, continuing to risk my life just to die.

But even the embrace of death was denied to me by my weapon. As long as Triskellion recognised me as its master, it would always ask the same question whenever I died. And due to my puny pride and the small fear I still had for true death, I always answered ‘Yes’.

That is my reality.

And now what? Learning all of that wouldn’t make any difference. It wouldn’t bring back those who I loved or hated: it wouldn’t give me a purpose to live.

“You wanted to die simply because you had nothing to live for. But you see, Liera. Everything is not over yet.”

Not over? Everything is over.

“The one who killed Susan is still alive.”

“……..What?”

Regina is alive?

“Yes. It wasn’t the Demon King who killed her. It was a member of the first Hero Party.”

“Bullshit. I saw Regina kill Susan with my own eyes. She did it after they killed Balgaar.”

“But Balgaar was still alive, no?”

…….. Yeah, I heard his roar in the dungeon: there’s no way in hell I wouldn’t recognise that power. But what were we even doing in that dungeon?

“Balgaar didn’t die because Susan could never deliver the final decisive blow. A member of your party interfered by stabbing Susan.”

“But I saw Regina kill Susan with my own eyes. And I also killed her for it.”

“Regina is also alive.”

“Huh? Bullshit.”

“You can ask Sam if you want. He’s already met her twice. In fact, the war that’s about to come is nothing more than a play where everyone is just an actor on a stage. The script, was of course written by Samuel and me.”

Sam met Regina? How is that possible? Does he mean that Sam met Regina’s soul and she told him the truth?

Come to think of it, Regina did have a special magic-spell that dealt with souls. Is that what she used after being killed by me?

“The spectacle you saw that day was just an illusion, nothing more.”

Illusion?

“There’s no way that the me of that time could be put under an illusion, so-”

“But what if the illusion was conjured by several hundred Wraith Lords?”

“……….”

Even I cannot claim that such an illusion won’t affect me.

Does that mean whatever he is spouting is true?

No, it cannot be. Everyone of the First Hero Party was Susan’s friend. There’s no way that anyone of them could betray Susan.

…………

But what if it is true? What if the target for my revenge, the one who killed Susan, is still alive? Wouldn’t that mean that I have failed Susan even in her death? That I failed to protect her, and I also failed to avenge her?

Wouldn’t that turn my existence worthless? Wouldn’t that make her worthless?

No! That is the one thing I must never let happen! No matter what happens to me, I must not let Susan’s death be meaningless!

But…..

“What if you are lying?”

“I can see why you would think that: it wouldn’t be fun if the darkness played fair after all. Of course, you don’t need to believe me yet. Just follow my lead and I’ll show you the world without its falsities. And if it turns out that I was indeed lying, then I’ll fulfil your wish and grant you an eternal death.”

He announced with a savage smile, and the moment he did, fear assaulted my heart like an ice blade piercing through it and I was petrified once again.

“Y-You can kill me for good…….?”

“I thought that was already understood. If I can force your weapon to revive you despite your wishes, then of course I can end you for good.”

………. I see, that certainly makes sense.

“So what would you do now? I have given you a temporary reason to live, so you should make the most of it.”

A reason to live…….. But is it really alright? Do I really want that?

“Do it, for Susan, and for yourself.”

For Susan………..

“……… Okay.”

And so, I took the hand of the very man who had cast me into this burning Hell.

“Good. Now get up: you’ve enjoyed my lap pillow for long enough.”

Haa? Lap pillow?

That’s when I noticed it. The surface my head was laying on did seem soft, at least softer than ground. I also tried to touch it with my hand, and then squished it to measure its softness. The Monster’s eyes narrowed in displeasure as I did that.

But….. is this really his thighs?

Just then, a deep voice spoke up.

“Hooooh, what a lucky woman. The women, and a certain part of men as well, living in Hell would kill for this privilege, you know.”

“W-What?!”

I stood up with a jolt and almost hit the Monster’s chin, but he crooked his chin backwards to avoid that.

“It hurts me that you’ve forgotten me, but I’m none other than Walter, the judge of your Duel. Ah, by the way, you lost, and horribly at that.”

He chuckled.

…….. He still pisses me off.

“I wanted to grab a cup of coffee with you and chat, but it seems that our time is up. So, bye bye!”

He spoke, and suddenly, the surface I was standing on, that is the back of the dragon Walter started turning, until we were flung off and started falling.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

I couldn’t help but scream. After finally finding a purpose to live, is this how I am going to die?!

“Quiet down, woman.”

Or so I thought, but the Monster cradled me in a princess carry in his arms. Before I could think anything else, a large teleportation portal, similar to before, appeared beneath us and we fell into it.

The next moment, we were back inside the dungeon.

“W-what….? We are back?”

I looked around. We were in the same room from which we had been teleported. But there was one difference.

On a boulder in front of us, there was a girl sitting, her face which was looking down was hidden by her long dishevelled hair and her legs were crossed.

Just then, she raised her head, and from the gaps in her hair I was finally able to make out her face.

“Chloe! What happened to you?!”

But Chloe simply ignored me and stared at a place slightly above me, at the Monster.

“Jack, we have some things to discuss.”

She announced. Confused, I turned to him, but what I saw there caused a chill to run down my back.

 

The malicious grin adorning his face, was the same as when he had plunged me into bottomless despair.


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