Over the hill, a pale white figure arose, whose hair and eyes were black as the void.
Dragging behind her the head of a Primordial Dragon and leaving the dead souls of humans and demons alike in her path.
Finally, she reached the source of the quakes.
Why she came here in the first place? Only she herself knew.
And now she was faced with two entities stronger than any other humanoid creature she has faced till now.
The First Hero and the Demon Empress themselves stood before her.
"Dragon Slayer."
The Empress spoke.
The Dragon Slayer cracked her neck as she approached the duo, clearly ready to fight... but.
"W-Wait!"
The Hero yelled out.
"You can't intrude! This is a battle between me and her! It's disrespectful to interrupt."
The Dragon Slayer stopped in her tracks, gazed at the Hero and sat down.
Crossing her arms, she seemed to be waiting.
"Wait. She actually understands us?"
The Empress muttered.
"Wait. Can you speak?!"
"..."
The Empress looked at the Hero as he shouted another stupid thing.
"What?"
The clear voice came from the direction of the Dragon Slayer. It sounded almost like a child's.
"She can speak! Someone besides us can speak!"
The Hero excitedly glanced at the Empress.
"You mean she is the only one besides us who speaks in this language."
"Tomato, Tomato!"
"You didn't change the second... never mind."
The Dragon Slayer sat there as she watched the conversation.
'They were supposed to be fighting but now they're just talking. Can't they get done with it? I'm leaving them to it because they're the only ones who don't automatically attack me on sight but they're just wasting the opportunity here.'
The Hero then spoke to the Empress.
"Maybe we can do that thing that we talked about now!"
"You don't even know if that would work. Neither of us does."
"It's better than fighting for another few thousand years."
"...Fine."
The Empress and Hero turned to the Dragon Slayer.
"Slayer, may I call you that?"
The Empress asked.
She turned her eyes towards the Empress, not saying a word.
'She's talking to me?'
"May we ask for your assistance?"
The Empress asked as the Hero suddenly interrupted.
"Can you kill us?"
'What?'
"What?"
The Slayer thought as the Empress voiced out her question.
"Well, that's what they'll be doing, right?"
"Well, that's Not It, Idiot!"
The Empress punched the Hero in the gut, sending him flying.
"Slayer, we have been stuck here for millennia and wish to ask you to end the life of the victor of our duel. We do not wish to be stuck here, in this hell forever. If one of us wins and absorbs the power of the other, it will be impossible to die here. So the victor would be cursed to stay here.
That is what we wish to ask you. May you kill the winner of our duel?"
'Wouldn't that mean I would be stuck here forever then?'
She remained silent.
"Oh, do not worry Slayer. You will not be stuck here if you were to kill us. We believe that this is a trial made by a few of the long-dead Old Gods. As long as you are the last one left, you should be set free. We just do not wish to deal with all that and would rather rest our souls and perish than stay another year in here."
'What a convenient opportunity.'
The Slayer slowly nodded their head.
'I don't have anything to lose.'
The Empress smiled as she turned towards the Hero who was making his way to the two.
"Hey! I was going to ask her for the thing!"
"The Slayer already agreed."
"Really? Finally! We can go at it at full force now!"
"That we can."
The two readied their weapons.
"I'll see you on the other side, Yukino."
"Farewell, Kirami."
Their battle began.
...
The Slayer, she, could barely keep up.
The way they used their weapons was beautiful.
The sparks of metal versus light were both visually and audibly pleasing.
A low hum came from the weapons as they seemingly vibrated at unseeable speeds.
Light battled dark in this void comprised of neither.
Looking closely, they seemed happy. They were smiling. Their end would be with them soon.
The shockwaves made by their collisions were stronger and louder than ever. The ground shook like an earthquake was happening.
Looking around, she could see pieces of light and dark make their way toward the duo.
'Don't tell me. Are the shockwaves killing everything in this place?'
She sat on the head of the dragon. Watching the spectacle.
Jumping down from the head and landing on her feet, she grabbed the final piece of the dragon as it dissipated.
The fight continued.
After a while, only a fang of the dragon remained and both participants seemed out of energy.
The fang slowly dissipated as the two made their final collision.
A sword pierced through a soul.
The dragon fang fully dissipated.
Particles of light exploded into the surroundings.
They were coloured white.
The void, for a moment, turned pure white and in the middle of it stood the Empress.
Holding the body of the dying Hero, they spoke.
"Ah. You got me."
"So I did."
"Well. It's not that bad."
"Why do you say that? Dying is not painless whether that is in body or soul."
"Well. I got to look at the love of my afterlife while on my deathbed. Can't get much better than that."
The Hero smirked.
"Pft."
The Empress smiled.
"You corny bastard. I'll be joining you in hell soon you know."
"Like I'd be thrown down there."
The Hero closed their eyes and took their last breath.
All the pure white particles of light flowed into the Empress, returning the place to the same void that it was before.
The Empress smiled sadly.
"Idiot..."
She stood up and looked towards the Slayer.
"If you would, please..."
Without saying anything, the Slayer stood up and walked to the Empress.
'That was so corny. I would even call it stupid.'
Reaching the Empress, she reached out her hands.
'But it was a good story nonetheless.'
She hugged the Empress.
'I still think the sabre was unfair though.'
The Empress's wide eyes narrowed as tears flowed.
She rested her head on the Slayer's shoulder for a moment.
"Thank you."
She whispered as a hand pierced her heart.
Particles of black and white exploded out and she died in peace.
The Slayer took the dropped sword handle cylinder.
'I will be taking this though. Hope you don't mind.'
The particles of light were all absorbed by her like matter being pulled into a black hole.
And as the last particle was absorbed, she couldn't help but think.
'Why wasn't the dragon the same?'
But just then, she heard a small noise at the back of her head.
And just then.
The ground started shaking again.
'Damn it. What now? There Shouldn't be any other living or dead soul here!'
The ground started to rise.
Fearing that something might be coming out of it, she jumped back but that did not save her.
The ground, or rather, this planet stood up.