WARNING!
The story contains graphic depictions of violence, sexuality, strong language, and/or other mature themes.
[The Fiend Lord: Arc 18]
Once upon a time, on Planet Earth, a young girl was born; the story goes that her identity was never adequately clarified, but she was effectively known as the 'Holy Light.'
Her title depicted the real life of one's planet. Humankind did not know the Dimensions that had appeared alongside her birth, only of the Spirits that had been destroyed or disappeared.
The woman... The Holy Light, the heir of all the inhabitants, was not born alone. The arrival of the Demon God, whose name was Rez, caused anarchy, and humanity was on the brink of extinction.
Humans terrified him because of his recklessness and hunger for blood, and Demons started to manifest all over the Earth and The World of Zero, alongside alternate races such as The Inner Fiends, The Shades, Wraiths, and Spirits.
To combat the challenge, a new breed of people has awakened, the 'Spiritual Duelists' and 'Substitute-Duelists,' who have been dubbed the "First Army to Face Evil."
With their Legendary Weapons, the Ginken. This swarm of humans increased the world's cleanliness to the greatest extent possible, overwhelming the Demons of various grades and placing their survival at risk.
But, after several years of waiting, the 'Holy Light' gave birth to a human child, a girl of theoretically greater worth than Zero herself, but unlikely to become the next 'Holy Light,' their Goddess gave the girl to a friendly family, and since her mother needed to participate in protecting the divinity, the girl's memories were wiped.
But there is another royalty trapped within the shadows that have been concealed for millennia, even longer than the birth of a Demon...
The only one who has beaten the 'Holy Light's own is the Fiend Lord. Its lurkers will undoubtedly be wiped out, and the newfound foe will ready the battlefield...
- Yashikami City, Thursday, 3:10 pm -
Ayuka sat on the table, chewing as much as she could while covering her stomach. However, if she had a little, she wanted to sprint to the bathroom and vomit it out because she was weak.
She was in agony, but she wanted to eat as best as she could. "Ayuka! W-Wait, what are you doing?!" Elliot had approached from the side and asked a question. "If you are unable to eat, simply refrain! You don't have to put too much pressure on yourself! What the hell is going on?!" Elliot pondered as he felt perplexed.
"No... You don't get... I have no choice." When he got perplexed, she called. "What exactly do you mean?! It's not like you're pregnant or something!!" Still, at that moment, Ayuka, who was ashamed, turned away, which shocked him.
"W-Wait... D-Don't tell me that-"
- Yashikami City, Thursday, 3:11 pm -
Elliot was nervous and didn't know what to think. "Y-you are... But..." When he tried to speak, he gulped. "W-When did you- I mean, I know when you did it... When, exactly? What's the matter, I'm bewildered!" Elliot's eyes twitched as he spoke.
"... Why didn't you tell us that you were" Ayuka, on the other hand, turned away as she felt ashamed and humiliated. "... It had been two weeks..." Elliot's eyes widened as a result. "What exactly do you mean?! With who?!" Elliot pondered, wondering what to do.
Ayuka, on the other hand, looked complicated once she got up. "W-Wait. Don't tell me... was it, Tim?" Elliot pondered, wishing she would refuse. Yet he was mistaken.
"Damn! That cretin. He just left you behind?!" When Ayuka interrupted him, Elliot questioned him angrily. "I swear to you, if I see him again, I'll knock the hell out of him-" Ayuka, on the other hand, raised her voice at the precise moment. "Nol!" That caught Elliot off guard, as he was frozen in surprise.
"What exactly do you mean? He abandoned you, though-" However, Ayuka spoke up right then and there. "... He might have done so... Still he had no idea that this would happen. Even I was unaware until three days ago." Elliot stared at her, puzzled, as she spoke.
"C-Can we at least call him or something?" Elliot pondered, unsure if he could assist her. "I'm all right... Okay. I can walk on my own... It's not quite that bad..." Elliot frowned as she spoke. "Sit back and relax; I'll call him," Elliot spoke to me as he reached for his phone.
"No, I mean..." Elliot glanced at her with interest as he sat down. "You don't have to, he's probably busy..." She spoke after Elliot put his hand on his hip. "Ayuka! Who cares if he's busy. His priority should be for the next few months! I'm serious, besides I'd like to do so, but I'm not sure whether he'll understand..." Still, eventually, he dialed his phone number.
- Gyuma City, Thursday, 3:12 pm -
Tim was lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, when he got a phone call.
For the first and only time, he had it ignored it.
However, the phone started to ring a few seconds later when Tim's body sat up and glanced at the phone, which was vibrating as well as ringing.
Tim considered whether or not to answer the phone as he looked for it.
"... What exactly does he want...?" Tim frowned as he leaned the phone towards his right ear, at which point he spoke.
"Tim! Get to the Guild as soon as possible!"
- Gyuma City, Thursday, 3:15 pm -
"So, after he's done resting. what will he focus on next?" Risa wondered as she sipped her cup. "We considered enhancing his flame's stability so that it could fire more precisely..." Jomei explained while seated behind the bar, playing with the spoon.
"He shouldn't do that, yet... First, he must perfect his control of the blaze... Then we'll get to it." Ryozo spoke up, but Tim ran behind Risa and grabbed the duffel bag at the same time. "Tim?! W-Where are you going? Why are you in a rush? You'll still need to focus on your-" Tim, however, abruptly came to a halt as Jomei inquired.
"Couldn't give a damn." Tim dashed through the entrance, while Jomei stood up and took a dash toward the exit. "In the very least, can you tell us what the heck is going on?" Jomei provided a question, but Tim never replied.
"W-Wait, what happened to him? Why is he acting so irrationally?" Jomei wondered as Risa reached for the cup and rested it against her mouth.
"Let 'em go. I'm sure he has a legitimate reason..."
"But... his education-" Risa and Ryozo, on the other hand, had no concerns.
- Gyuma City, Thursday, 4:00 pm -
Elliot was alone in the hall, while Ayuka seemed to be sleeping, resting.
"... I'm not sure if I should tell someone else, other than myself..." Elliot slumped against the table, perplexed. "Everyone else is now occupied outside of the Guild... They've already started looking for Tsuneo..." But just as Elliot was about to yawn, the door opened, and he was taken aback.
"... Where is she ...?" Tim walked in and opened the door after Elliot lifted his head. "Leave her alone for the time being... she's sleeping. But, Tim... What's the matter with you... Why would you abandon her after you've done it?" Elliot inquired, rather irritably. Tim's expression became irritated. "... I know... it couldn't have been any dumber... But there wasn't much of an option for me... I planned to return in a month... Even though I didn't complete the preparation..." Tim talked while staring down at his palm.
"Don't tell me you've been training for a year instead of looking after Ayuka?" When Elliot looked at him, he demanded angrily, "... I- I didn't know..." He spoke, while still staring at his hand. Elliot stood up and took a step toward Tim, at which point he became befuddled.
Elliot whipped his right hand around and struck Tim in the left side of the face as soon as he realized Tim was startled. "You're a moron. First, you leave without saying where you're going. Then you come out and leave right after you get her pregnant! What sort of a scumbag are you?!" When Tim saw Elliot's anger in his eyes, he became surprised at Elliot.
When his body softened. "... yeah, I know... I'm a complete jerk... And I have those regrets... Still, I'm hopeless without the training... I got rid of everything, leaving just this dirty stuff... But please understand... I'm doing whatever I can... I want to be stronger so that I have a reason to live so that I can protect others... Not just Ayuka, but all the rest of you... I know... I'm a jerk, and I wish I could do anything to change that..." Tim said, looking down at the floor, that he was regretting his previous behavior.
"What do you mean?" Elliot was concerned for him. "But, why... How did you end up this way? You had a lot of energy... you had a lot of satisfaction back then, but now... You've just turned into a tragic hero... It's difficult to call you a hero after murdering so many innocent people... leaving her and us behind..." Elliot spoke up, while Tim remained to the side and listened.
"... Right now, I-I really wish we could go back in time and find more happiness..." When Tim glanced at Ayuka, Elliot said with sad eyes. "Do you know how long Ayuka has been madly in love with you? It's been too long, and you've never fully grasped... Try to recall... back then, your main concern was to keep everybody safe, and you voted to prevent Ayuka's marriage... Have you ever loved her more than you loved a friend? When was that?" Elliot was perplexed.
"... No ... I had no idea she had such strong emotions... About the fact that neither I nor anyone else had the ability to love her... At the very least, I was knowledgeable... So there was hardly any love on my part..." Elliot tried to listen to Tim's words as he continued explaining
"... But guarding her... It was my greatest dream; I was completely unconcerned with everything else, and all I could think about was keeping everyone safe... Even then, I continued to lose... a tragic hero? I will never declare myself a hero... and she was the one who brought it up... I never had the courage to become a Hero; what I wanted to do was make other people's lives better..." Tim said this while looking embarrassed..
"Timmy... You know... that if the baby lives until birth, you'll be its parent... I-I just don't want her or the baby to be left behind... she deserves someone to look after her, whether she's a Goddess or not... She's chosen the human side over the 'Holy Light'... So, could you please... Don't become someone we can't love anymore... Look at her, she eventually decided to admit her emotions, and the moment she admitted them... you returned to training... should you consider that an accomplishment?" Elliot said, and Tim agreed...
"... no, never," Tim said after Elliot finished speaking for the last time.
"Tim, tell me something..."
Tim then turned to face Elliot with it. "Do you pretend to love her in order to make her happy... or... do you love her from the bottom of your heart, with all of your heart?" Elliot was perplexed as Tim's eyes gently shook.
"... There's nothing I'd rather have than her..." Tim talked after Elliot smiled.
"Fantastic, but if that's the case, can you promise me... promise me for HER that you'll skip the training and sit by her side?" Elliot was perplexed as Tim glanced at Ayuka for the second time during the discussion.
"So... Tim... Will you promise it? Are you going to be able to keep it? Do you promise us that you will never die, that you will always be on our side, and that you will never kill an innocent person again? If you can't do that, there's nothing I despise more than you... Have you had it?" Elliot inquired, gravely.
"... Yeah... I promise... I won't leave or give her up again..."
To be continued...