Anger filled Sylvester's mind. The pain he was suppressing kept coming out as the voices inside his head became louder as if trying to get out of him.
He began screaming in pain as his body fell to the ground. He keeps panting as he holds onto his heart. Mixed feelings kept surging inside of him as the voices were making him go insane.
"Kill them until there's no one left!"
That horrifying voice kept repeating inside his head and was trying to control him. Taking over his weakness, his head felt like it would burst, and he couldn't fight it anymore.
In an instant, Sylvester's mind went blank. Like he's stuck in infinite darkness, he couldn't control himself at the moment. He raised his arm and quickly slashed the Demon lord with one hit. The blood spurts out as Abadon suffers in pain, but it doesn't end like that.
The Archduke kept slicing the already into pieces' body of the demon lord as if he had gone mad. Fears envelopes the townspeople as they watch the Archduke slay the Demon Lord. They could hear the scream of agony, and what they saw from the face of Sylvester terrified them more; he was smiling.
Titania, who saw all that happened, rushed down the gate and was about to race towards the man. That was until a strange black portal appeared out of nowhere and snatched the only remaining body of Abadon, it's his arm.
A creature with massive horns on its head came out of the black portal. He has very long black hair and blood-red eyes. His stoic expression changed as he smiled at the Archduke while waving Abadon's arm.
"I apologize, your highness. It seems like Abadon created trouble for you."
Sylvester didn't hesitate to slash the creature with his sword, but the said creature was agile enough to dodge it. "I introduce myself. I am Mammon." The creature is known as the sin of greed and one of the Demon Lords.
"I would like to take this idiot back." Mammon smiled as he kept dodging all Sylvester's attacks. Since the Archduke has lost his consciousness, his sword-fighting became sloppy.
"I shall take my leave now." Before another attack could hit him, Mammon leapt to the black portal and disappeared from their sight.
The corpses of demons and their blood overfill the ground.
"I must kill."
The Archduke's blood lust didn't subside as he turned around, facing the humans that hurt him. They felt chills after seeing Sylvester's empty and cold eyes as if they had realized that this man had come to take their lives.
Panic grew, and they all started screaming, running for their lives while the Archduke continued swinging his sword like a madman that lost control.
"Stop!"
Sylvester didn't falter as he was about to kill the woman who slapped him. That was until he saw Titania right in front of him. "I said stop it."
As if it was absolute, Sylvester's grip loosened, making the sword fall out of his hand. He looked at the young lady's face with his still empty eyes and unchanging expression.
"Are you okay?"
All the pain came back, releasing Sylvester from the darkness he was in. He could feel his body like they were breaking into pieces, his heart's thumping louder and faster than ever, and his head wanting to burst again.
Titania's eyes quiver as she sees the Archduke slam his body on the ground like he was trying to fight the pain... with pain.
"It… isn't sub…siding," Sylvester grunts as he screams; he's holding his head with both of his hands. "As…tra…!"
After seeing the Archduke fall on the ground, the townspeople charged at the two trying to kill them both. This baffles the young lady as she tries to protect the fallen man.
Titania felt something pointy on her back; she realized that a rusty sword pierced her near the stomach, which surprised the citizens. They weren't expecting her to block the sword that was for the Archduke.
"I-I didn't mean to."
"Just kill them both!"
Titania felt a different kind of rage. 'After the Archduke almost sacrificed himself, this is how they repay him? By killing him because he has shown them his ugly side?'
Her rage shook the earth, making them feel the vibration from their feet. Thunders and lightning came out of nowhere and began striking the land, and the water in the seas was making a huge wave that could almost wash all of them.
"Stay away."
As if her words turned everything upside down, a strong wind pushed all the humans away from the two. When the hindrances were gone, Titania courageously tried to pull the sword out of her stomach, but the pain she felt was unbearable. And so she has decided to take the matters of the Archduke first.
"Like what I did before. I can do this." She cheered for herself as she touched the Archduke's head. The Archduke continuously struggled with the pain, and Titania thought that this wouldn't do. Although it's risky, she has decided to use all her powers to heal the Archduke.
The blue light came out of her hand as her hair turned the same colour as her crystal blue eyes. The moonlight shone at the two, and the Archduke's suffering steadily went away.
Before he could lose consciousness, he saw the blue light coming out of Titania's hand. It was comforting, like how it felt when his mother hugged him.
After using all her powers, the young lady felt drained, making her faint with still a sword stabbed in her back. A mysterious man took the courage to bring the two to his home.
Titania woke up in an unfamiliar place with a massive wound on her stomach. She couldn't even get up due to the pain. She pondered on how she withstood that pain when she was healing the Archduke. It was as if she became invulnerable to pain that time.
"I see you have woken up."
The young lady saw an unfamiliar man; he had an eye patch on his right eye and long green hair tied up in a messy bun. At first look, anyone could think that it's a woman. But his voice was more profound than any man.
"Where am I? Who are you?"
The man smiled as he placed a bowl of soup on the bedside table near Titania, "I am Quillan, and you're in my home."
Titania felt curious about how she ended up in this man's home, but her hunger took the best of her, "Can I eat it?" Quillan nodded to her question, and she was about to eat the soup that was served just for her when she suddenly remembered about the Archduke.
"Where is Sylvester?"
"If you're talking about your husband, he went out to get your other companions and your belongings," Quillan answered as he cleaned up the bandages with blood on the floor.
Titania nodded and began eating, "But to be exact, he's not my husband." She said as she gobbled the food with one go. "Oh yeah, you helped me. You have my thanks." Quillan laughed at what the young lady said; this baffled Titania. 'Is there something funny?'
"What's funny?"
"I just." Quillan wiped the tear in his eye due to laughing too much, "You're not like how the capital people describe you to be." He said this made Titania aware of her situation. She totally forgot to act like Titania! After all, only a few people know her true identity.
"T-This is because I was injured." Titania cracked an uneasy laugh as she scratched the back of her head. "Y-You have a nice place." She said but soon noticed the clatter in his house, making her feel even more awkward.
"It is fine, milady. I don't have the right to judge you."
Titania just smiled in awkwardness as she placed the bowl back on the table.
"I advise you to stay for two more days to fully regain your strength since the wound is deeper than expected."
"Why did you help us?"
Quillan stopped from going out of the room and looked back at the young lady, "The Archduke helped us first, didn't he?" His answer unconsciously made the young lady smile. She already felt too much frustration with how the townspeople treated the Archduke.
'It's not like I'm worried about him.' she giggles.
The townspeople apologized to Titania for what they did, but they still had this angst inside their heads and heart that wouldn't quickly disappear.
Titania thought she might have acted recklessly because of what happened; she didn't even know that she cared about the Archduke. Or maybe she was threatened. That the only person who could protect her from the Emperor could die in front of her.
"Don't you have any family?"
It is the last day of their stay in Sherfield city. Titania has accompanied Quillan on his way to pick herbs near the bloody lake that is now being cleaned by the remaining city mages.
"I do. I have a wife and a son."
"Oh? Are they… Uhm…"
Quillan noticed what Titania wanted to say. "Oh no!" he chuckles. "They're fine. We don't actually live here. I just came for business, but I couldn't leave the people alone." Titania nodded as she felt embarrassed about how she asked the man.
"Is it okay to ask where they are?" Titania couldn't help but feel curious since she came into this world; this was the first time she met a man who looked so young but had a wife and a child.
"At the Azmar Village. They must have thought I'm already dead." Titania's forehead creased as she remembers a mother and child that they have met in the Azmar Village, "Is it, Luca and Lucia?" She saw how surprised Quillan was after hearing those familiar names.
"How do you know, young lady?"
Titania scratches her cheek as she doesn't expect her to be correct, "We met them along the way." Quillan noticed the uneasiness in the girl's eyes. This made him question if something had happened to his family.
"Did the Viscount mistreat them again?!" Anger fuels Quillan as he imagines his wife being tortured by the evil Viscount.
"O-Of course, we helped before it gets worse." I couldn't possibly tell him that his wife was limping and his son received lots of bruises, is what Titania thought as she tried to calm the man.
"Titania!"
Their attention was caught by the Archduke, who's already stabbing daggers in Quillan's direction. "Your husband is a terrifying man," Quillan whispered to the young lady making her cringe.
"We need to go."
Titania bid the man goodbye and quickly followed the Archduke. "Why are you in such a bad mood?" The Archduke ignored her question as he lifted her and placed her on top of Ebony. Bonbon, who was sleeping peacefully, woke up as the horse ran.
Titania smiled happily as the thought of coming back home ran inside her mind. She's already planning to eat lots of chocolates, bathing in rose water with Marie scrubbing her head.
Just imagining it is making her feel blissful until she saw how they went towards the completely opposite way.
Titania's forehead creased as they sped up, "Where are we going?"
"Somewhere."