Chapter 03-My Broken Soul!
(Sad chapter alert.)
Hours passed by in a flash as I indulged in this bloody battle. I fought, retreated, and fought again relentlessly. Each orc was hard enough to kill using all my efforts, with 20 of them, I was basically screwed.
All I could do was to keep on mindlessly swinging and stabbing my swords, my mind ceased working at some point. My heart was beating so loudly that I felt as if it was about to explode at any given second.
Blood dripped down my face soaking my clothes in a sticky crimson. My right arm was brutally broken into pieces and bent at a weird angle. My ribs were basically turned into dust and my internal organs were so damaged that they were barely still functioning somehow.
My left eye was now basically useless and half of my teeth were now nothing but small remains stuck in my mouth.
All I had left were my worn-out legs and my left arm which was holding tightly to the dagger not letting go. My body screamed for me to just fall down, to close my eyes, and to fall asleep. My lungs begged me to just calm down and breathe properly. My heart screamed in pain at my excessive efforts as it tried to pump whatever amount of blood was left in my veins and keep me alive.
The pain I felt was something that no human should ever experience. I was amazed at my tenacity.
Even when I was dancing between life and death, I asked myself. What the fuck am I even doing? Fighting a bunch of monsters until I die? That would've sounded cool to my old self. The one that would basically relax in his room, eat snacks, play games and enjoy his time.
Now, I was surrounded by blood, guts, and the foul smell of death that I already grew accustomed to. But, why was I fighting with my life on the line? To save innocent people? Oh yeah, right… To save those people. I almost forgot about that goal.
Hehehe! It might sound pathetic, but I genuinely don't get where that sense of heroism came from. I was never a kind person. I mean, yeah, I would help an old woman cross the road if I can but never more than that. I wouldn't go out of my way to sacrifice myself for others.
However, I somehow became some kind of self-proclaimed hero after the apocalypse. I followed Marcus and his ideal view of the world.
He wanted to save everyone, to lead the people to a better future where no one dies. As stupid and naive as it may sound, I admired that dream and thought that it was also my own dream.
Now that I think about it, I, Rin, have lost everything because of that same flawed ideology.
My mother and sister died because we were ambushed by a bunch of survivors. They were killed eventually, but they were able to drag my family with them to the afterlife.
The cause of that ambush was Marcus's mistake of leading the group to an unknown part of the city in search of food and water. I tried to reason with him about keeping it low for a while and not getting greedy with supplies as we have more than enough to survive for a few weeks at the time.
But, with the help of his harem, they turned me down and we had to move toward the biggest mall in the city just because.
After losing them, I cried for days and felt like killing myself multiple times. They were what I had left and suddenly, they were gone. But, I didn't blame Marcus nor did I hate him. I thought that maybe it was all meant to be. I thought that it was maybe fate that decided to rob me of my loved ones.
So, after some time, I moved on with my life. Of course, I don't need to mention the countless mistakes he made that led to people losing their lives. I was dragged to near death multiple times before because of flawed decisions.
I mean, I should've hated him at that point, right? I mean, he was the reason for my suffering and all. But, I kept my optimistic side working as I advanced forward. 'No pain, no gain' was my motto as cheesy as it sounded.
Where did that get me? To my imminent death is the answer. I am now literally staring at the grim reaper in the face. He was definitely waiting eagerly to drag me with him.
"Ahh… There are…4 left…" I muttered under my breath.
"Waaaa!!!" Mika called for me near my ear yet I barely could hear her.
She was saying extremely worried about me but I couldn't respond that I was fine, that they were merely scratches and I will be able to kill these orcs. But, I knew that if I spoke, I will lose all strength in my body and I will faint.
I am barely standing anyway. One of the orcs came rushing toward me ignoring my poor state. I tried to move my legs to avoid his attack but something unexpected happened.
"BLUUURRGH!!!" I spat out a huge amount of blood from my mouth as I fell down on the ground.
*BAAAAAM*
To add salt to the injury, the club smashed my body into the air. I was like a bloody ragdoll that lost all of its strength.
'Ahh… Why is the world somehow more colorful now?' I thought confusedly.
Even though I was now losing consciousness slowly, my head was very clear and my thoughts were pretty much up to speed.
'Mother, little sis, I will finally follow you. Sorry to keep you two waiting. I should've been with you sooner than this but it is what it is.'
My body fell down again head first and I stayed motionless as I looked at the sky above me with a dazed look.
The blue color filled my vision and made me feel relaxed somehow.
A small, weak smile crept to my face as I admired the scenery silently.
'I'm sorry, Mika. I have to go first.' I thought as I felt the earth shake.
Each step the orc took toward me was like a slow countdown to my death.
"Run away, Mika… Live and become a great being." I muttered to my partner who I could feel was standing by my side.
She screamed continuously as tears fell from her face. I felt delighted and also sad that she cared for me that much. I didn't want her to suffer as I did. I wanted her to live happily, find other dragons and live with them if possible.
But, no matter how much I begged her to go away, she didn't budge. I couldn't even shout at her since my throat was destroyed.
Then, the orc was finally close enough. It lifted its club and tried to smash it down to end my life.
But, much to my shock…
"Waaaaa!!!" Mika screeched loudly with a mad look on her face.
Then, she attacked the orc and started biting the orc's face viciously.
"N-No… Mika!! L-Leave… Please…" I tried to speak as the orc started stumbling left and right.
At some point, it caught Mika and threw it on the ground. After that, the monster stomped on her. A painful groan escaped her small mouth.
The orc kept stomping her again and again as Mika tried to resist.
"N-NOOO!!" I gritted my teeth till I started bleeding from my mouth and I tried to stand up. But, I guess even sheer will has its limitations. My body was simply refusing to listen to me.
'Come on. Move! Move goddamit!!' I cursed under my breath.
But, even this didn't seem to work. At some point, Mika's voice vanished and coincidentally the monster stopped stomping her before turning around toward me.
I could see blood stuck to the monster's feet.
My eyes widened in deep shock. I refused to believe what happened and merely looked at the monster motionlessly.
As the monster was about to finish me off too… Something happened.
*Swish*
A silhouette appeared and lunged on the monster's back, the monster didn't feel its presence at all until it was way too late.
*SLASH*
I watched as the orc's head got decapitated and fell down on the ground.
The monster's huge frame followed suit soon after as it fell down too. I could barely understand what happened as my mind was only occupied with one thing.
"MIKAAA!!!" I shouted at the top of my lungs when I saw my dragon companion lying motionless.
In a fit of luck, I gained some control over my body so I started crawling toward her. I ignored the pain, the person that saved me, and everything else around me. My sole focus was on Mika.
Finally, after a horrible journey, I reached her. Her beautiful body and her shining scales were nowhere to be seen. She was now nothing but a disfigured mess of blood and flesh. All of her scales were scattered around her. The only intact part of her body was her head.
Her eyes gazed at mine weakly as she breathed her last few breaths.
Unknowingly, tears started falling down my face like a waterfall. I didn't make any sound at all. I couldn't make any sound at all.
"W-Waa." She called for me with her sore voice.
Her energetic voice was nowhere to be found.
"M-Mika… Wait, I-I will heal you up. I will get you a potion and you will be back to normal quickly."
"W-Waa." (It's over for me, Rin…) [PS: I will translate Mika's voice from now on since it will be kinda confusing.]
"No, no, no, no. You can heal from that… You can.. hick…" I couldn't even finish my sentence before a burning sensation filled my chest.
"W-Waaa." (Meeting you was the happiest moment of my life. You took care of me, fed me, and loved me.)
Even though she was dying, she still called for me with her gentle tone. She was still my Mika, the happy and beautiful Mika.
"Waa. Waa. Waa" (You are a great person, Rin. Your heart is the most beautiful thing I felt. It's so clear, so warm.)
"I'm nothing but a pathetic, weak, and stupid bastard, Mika." I replied as I tried to hold in my tears.
"Waa. Waaa. Waa." (You don't have to blame yourself. I want you to keep living, Rin. You deserve to feel happy.)
"How can I feel happy without you, Mika. I can't live alone, Mika. I can't live without you."
I waited for her response but it never came. My eye that was closed finally opened again and I looked at Mika. She had already closed her eyes and died peacefully with a serene look on her face.
"Mika… Mika… Oi, Mika… Answer me, Mika!!" I begged her as I tried to gently touch her body with my working arm.
But, no matter how much I called for her, she didn't respond.
Mika… My cute dragon died in my embrace.
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[3rd POV:]
Marcus and the other girls looked silently at Rin as he looked at his dragon companion silently. He had cried for a few minutes but he suddenly stopped and didn't move at all.
Marcus looked at the girls with a difficult look. They all nodded at him so he took a deep breath and approached Rin.
"R-Rin… I-I'm sor-"
Before he finished his sentence, Rin responded with a terrifyingly calm tone.
"Why did you save me?" He asked.
"Wha-"
"Why didn't you let the orc finish me off?"
"I… I'm sorry for your loss." He said with a pained look.
"Sorry for my loss? Which one of them? My sister and mother that you led to their deaths or Mika that died because of a monster stampede you caused?"
"Rin, Marcus wa-" Claire tried to speak and defend her beloved.
"You shut the fuck up," Rin said coldly.
"Which one of them are you sorry for, Marcus?"
The latter fell speechless as he didn't know what to say. He couldn't retort to anything Rin said.
"I… I feel pained fo-"
"Feel pained? Hahahahah!!" Rin suddenly started chuckling loudly as if he heard the funniest joke of his life.
"The person that robbed me of everything is giving me his condolences. Much appreciated, brother."
Rin suddenly helped himself up after putting Mika down and he faced Marcus. The latter looked horrified as he gazed at Rin's disfigured face and his destroyed eye.
"Frankly speaking, Marcus. I fucking hate you. I hate you with every fiber of my being. Following you for all this time had only brought me sadness and loneliness. I followed your sorry excuse of a dream in hope of finding a place safe enough for me to spend my life with my loved ones. Look at me now, I lost everything. While I have to bear with the harsh coldness of an old house, alone with nothing worth living for, you can bask in your own fucking glory with your harem."
Then, Rin shook his head.
"You got what you fucking wanted. Look at you, you got way stronger now along with your beautiful wives. Now you can now go home and fuck them all night. Nothing happened really. Who fucking cares about a mere friend when I will be hailed as the great Marcus who became a hero of humanity."
"Rin! I didn't mean to do that. I know how painful it is to lose Mika but…"
"You wretched demon of a human!!! What the fuck do you know? Look behind you… You lot are safe and sound. Your parents are living happily. You know fucking nothing! The only thing you know is how to trample over other people just to reach your selfish dream."
Then, Rin's eyes shifted to the girls behind Marcus. His apathetic gaze made them shudder unconsciously.
"Then we have you three. I can't even come to comprehend how you lot possess a brain. No matter how wrong that scumbag is, you lot always are backing him up. 'Oh, Marcus. You are always right. Rin is the fucking idiot for not following your decisions.' Then what, you fucking went with your selfish desires leaving all the burden for us. Elise is probably still fighting monsters till now for all I know or she could even be dead. She had to handle your childish egos and protect the shelter. She's the only salvageable human out of your group."
The girls' faces turned pale with shame as they looked down not saying anything. Even the rude Claire couldn't say anything at all. Marcus's face was the worst out of them when he heard that his beloved could be killed because of his stupid choice.
After saying all of that, Rin took a few deep breaths and looked down at the ground before adding.
"I never want to see your faces again. Just the mere sight of you and your bitches disgusts me to no extent. I'm leaving this place. Have fun doing whatever suicidal shit you want to do. I'd rather die from hunger or from a monster than to stay close to you for even one more second."
After that, Rin bent down and started collecting Mika's scales one by one. Tens of them scattered around the area and were swept by the wind left and right.
At some point, Marcus and the girls left without uttering a single word.
Rin didn't care about them at all. They could go rot in hell for all he cared.
Minutes passed as he picked Mika's scales. He didn't care how long that will take, he didn't care if it took days to collect all of them… She had to be complete in his hand.
As he was picking them, he heard footsteps walking toward him. He didn't bother to look who it was.
Elise reached him, she didn't say anything at all and merely started collecting scales with him.
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