As Leon rushed at Elish in desperation, he only had one thought swirling in his mind.
'Is this the end for me?'
The closer he got to the target, the more that seemed to be the case.
'No, it can't be! I dedicated my whole life to strength. I even got the opportunity to learn Hex, the ultimate Art of destruction.'
After all of that, he couldn't just die, could he? There was so much he was yet to do… too many things he had yet to achieve.
'I would have sold this fairy and gotten so much money. The boys and I would have had our fill of some good beer at the local pub. I would have risen in the ranks until I became truly unstoppable. I would have—'
"Goodbye. I can't say it has been pleasant," Elish's whispered reached Leon's ears as he watched the glowing orb dance in his direction.
'No… no…!'
He was powerless. His body wouldn't stop moving forward, and even though he knew it was for naught, he couldn't halt his moving blade.
Until… the orb finally made contact with his body.
~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!~
The fiery explosion consumed Leon and everything around him, swallowing everything in a swirling dome of flames.
Everything, to no exception, was devoured by the raging fire, leaving nothing but embers in their wake.
An absolute cremation
"And thus it ends." Elish stated nonchalantly as he took his eyes away from the now smoldering flames.
As he turned from the pitiful sight of the man, he moved his gaze in the opposite direction.
"Now, where were we?"
There was no one behnd him—at least, not anymore. The Fairy he had gone through all of this effort to save had suddenly vanished.
"Ah, so she fled," he thought to himself in a sigh.
His eyes glowed crimson, and his dark hair swayed with the hot wind as he looked in the direction he sensed the little one had scampered off to.
"That foolish girl."
Elish vanishing from where he stood, his feet propelling him with such speed that he suspected he'd be at his target location in no time.
'Time to catch my little runaway.'
********
'I must get away!' A certain Fairy thought to herself, running as fast as she could.
Her breath was heavy, and her legs hurt so much from running so much—an act she wasn't quite used to since she would have resorted to her wings.
… Her lost wings.
"Haa… haaa…"
One could only wonder why she would push herself so much, but this runaway Fairy understood perfectly. She understood what had just unfolded before her eyes.
"Haa… haa…"
What she had just witnessed was a monster beyond any she had ever seen.
'The way he instantly killed the 6 soldiers who were assaulting me without any effort or emotion. The way he instantly healed me, which I'm still not sure how. And he was even able to withstand not just one, but two Hexes!'
She could do nothing but flee for her life.
Not only was he a monster beyond anything she had ever seen, but he was also a master of Hex.
Initially, she had been too engrossed in the scene unfolding before her eyes to even say a word. However, after she had witnessed this total stranger use a Hex so powerful that it reduced his opponent and everything around him to dust, she couldn't stay there anymore.
'Am I next?' The thought rang through her head.
But he saved her from the soldiers and even healed her. Surely, he didn't mean her any harm. Or did he?
'No! Don't be fooled by that! All humans are the same. They're all the same!' She cried to herself, picking up her pace as she ran through the woods.
She wasn't sure if she could even outrun him, but she had to try. If she didn't struggle till her last breath then she might as well be dead.
"I can't die now. I must live!" She told herself while breathing heavily. Sweat stained her skin, but she kept pushing regardless.
Survival! That was all that mattered to her now.
"Gah!"
As she ran, her leg hit one of the roots which had risen above ground, causing her to stumble. Due to the sudden change in momentum, she could not regain her balance and instead fell to the ground.
"Argh." Wincing in pain and frustration, she held her legs and fidgeted on the dirty floor.
It was so painful… so frustrating.
She wasn't used to moving on foot. The balance dynamics were weird now that her wings were gone.
"M-my… my wings." She felt tears welling up in her eyes as she thought about how beautiful she was.
And how she had now devolved into this dirty, disgusting thing now wriggling on the ground, like a filthy caterpillar.
Such pain was indescribable, but this Fairy had to stifle all of it. This was no time to indulge in her pain or sorrow. She had to escape first, or else—
"There you are," a sudden voice came from behind her.
"A-ahh. Ahh…" Her eyes widened as she instantly recognized the voice.
Her bones rattled as her body froze in pure fear. There were many who had the power to induce fear within her, but only one man could make it feel this raw.
'It's him!'
********
It didn't take Elish any time to find the runaway fairy. With his heightened senses, it was no big deal. Plus, she hadn't even gotten very far.
He watched everything from behind her, how she ran so desperately away from him. The struggle in her movement clearly indicated that she wasn't used to moving without her wings.
'Their removal must have been recent,' Elish thought to himself.
He watched as she approached a root in her path.
"She's going to stumble and fall now," he whispered in silent observation, and true to his words, she did precisely that.
He let out a chuckle the instant it happened.
'Foolish girl. It's high time I end this farce anyway.'
He approached her slowly, noticing the scars on her back where her wings were supposed to be. It had healed finely thanks to the Hex he used on her, but still...
'The fine line of scars will still remain on her bare back, a fine reminder of what she has lost.'
It was so grim to the point of being poetic.
"There you are," he smiled, watching as she turned her face in surprise at the sound of his voice.
Pure terror oozed from her, and Elish couldn't understand why she had such an irrational fear toward him.
'I didn't even harm her or anything.'
Sure, he mercilessly killed her attackers, but if he showed her mercy, it meant there was a reason behind that. Why would he just kill her after going through all that trouble?
"P-please spare me," she whimpered in submission.
'Is she trying to garner my sympathy? I expected a little more from her.' His thoughts echoed in mild disappointment.
Was she not going to fight back like she did back then? Or, after seeing the vast difference between them, had she decided pleading was the best solution?
As he ruminated on her words, she suddenly sprung up with a sharp tree edge in her hand, intending to strike him down.
Her swift movement betrayed her previous powerless pose to the point that Elish was a little taken by surprise by her action.
"Now that's more like it." His eyes instantly lit up at the sight.
She charged towards him with a fierce look in her eyes, and it was nothing short of amusing.
While Elish was only interested in her for her story, he found everything she did to be entertaining in the most unexpected way.
The way she struggled to run, the way she squirmed around in the dirt, and the way her legs wobbled and her fragile hands brandished the only weapon she could use.
Everything in her unrelenting dance of desperation.
'It fascinates me.'
The wood was filthy, so Elish dodged it quite easily, and utilizing the force of the wind by flicking his finger, he pushed the branch away from her.
"Ueh?!" She looked stunned to see her only weapon fly from her hands, and Elish let himself enjoy the moment and observe her next action.
The Fairy looked at where the wooden branch had gone and then returned her gaze in his direction. The distance between her and her weapon was vast, and since he was closest to her, she must have believed he wouldn't give her the chance to retrieve her weapon.
It was at this point that she did the most the most amusing thing Elish had seen thus far.
"Haa… haaa…" The Fairy raised her fists and took a fighting stance against him. Elish could see her body trembling and her hands shaking, yet she wouldn't give in.
"Pfft.. hehe… haha.. hahahahaahahaha!" Elish found himself uncontrollably at this point.
'This girl is so amusing. Really? Your fists? What can you possibly do with them?' It truly was never a dull moment with her.
The Fairy looked startled to see him laugh. She just couldn't understand what he found so amusing about her situation.
"W-what do you want from me?" After deliberating internally for a few seconds, she asked him with a cautious tone.
Her tone was mildly disrespectful, but Elish couldn't even notice it.
"Tell me why you have those eyes." His calm voice echoed, piercing the tense silence that pervaded the expanse where they both stood.
"Eyes? What…?" She muttered, further confused.
"Tell me what happened to you, Fairy?" Elish repeated, his eyes narrowing as he stared down at her with his cold gaze.
"Do that, and I'll let you go."
*
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[A/N]
Thanks for reading, everyone.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please remember to support this book.
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