Watching the twitching body of the little creature that saved his life, the boy felt an unexplainable tightness in his chest and stomach.
Wait, maybe she is tired or just ran out of steam… If she was dead, the wings wouldn't be twitching… right?Lawkey wondered as he reached down.
He had gotten into the habit of referring to the butterfly as a "she" and "her", even though he hadn't confirmed any of it. He hadn't given it any thought. To him, this simply felt like the right way to refer to the tri-colored butterfly.
And if that is the case, there was no reason for him to treat "her" any differently than a normal person. "She" was able to think and speak, and most likely had a name too. He didn't need to hold back.
"Now you choose to ignore me again?! If you don't answer, I'll eat you!" Lawkey threatened as he picked up the butterfly, and brought it closer to his lips. The only time it spoke is when there was danger, and he wanted to make sure it was alive. "I'm sure you don't taste as good as pancakes, but it's still better than nothing!"
{Aghh! Stop it, you dunce! Every time I speak, telepathically or out loud, I use a great deal of energy! Threatening to eat me, what are you, a moron?!}
The butterfly shouted in his mind, causing Lawkey to drop it to the ground and cover his ears out of reflex.
{Aww!} It let out as its small body hit the hard ground again.
"Ah, sorry…"
{Sorry is not going to ease my pain, you idiot!}
"Fine, want me to kiss the wound or something?"
{Huh?!}
"That's what Jay always did when I was a kid. So…"
He trailed off, looking towards the moonless sky again.
{You are still a kid!}
The butterfly stopped itself. It was using too much precious energy for this.
But… isn't that what that energy was for? Wasn't it all saved up for moments like this? After all the endless waiting… the eternity of suffering…
Didn't it at least deserve something?
{…}
{I suppose… I'm not opposed to… to the idea.}
If a butterfly could blush, its embarrassment would've been more obvious. For that, at least, it was grateful for its current form.
"Really? Alright, if it helps, I'm willing to do it. Here we go!"
Lawkey picked up the butterfly again and brought it closer to his lips.
{...}
Then at the last second, before he could do it, the little mysterious creature flapped its wings and flew away from him.
{Actually, I'm fine. I'm quite sure you were just going to eat me.}
"If you're fine, don't make me worry, dammit!"
It hesitated at the last moment, it can't allow itself to indulge just yet.
That moment will come eventually.
For now, there was a more pressing issue.
Lawkey stood up suddenly and went to pick up his things, all the while mumbling to himself.
"Seriously, after all that, I still have to deal with a crazy butterfly."
{I heard that!}
"Didn't you say you use a great deal of energy everytime you speak?" Lawkey said in a mocking tone, trying to mimic the butterfly's voice as he repeated the exact same words back to it.
{...}
"Oh look, now she's silent again. Great, some peace and quiet." Lawkey shrugged his shoulders.
Realizing he would receive no answer, he crouched down and picked up his sword first.
Then, he reached for his chest box, only to notice the playing card piercing the ground next to it. He gave it a long hard stare, studying it closely.
The pattern around the card seemed like a unique design. In the middle was an abstract shadowy silhouette that he guessed was supposed to be him, although a more mature version.
And at the bottom, it clearly read "The Phantom King".
Reflexively, he touched the back of his neck and with his fingers, traced a line to stop on the left side, about a fist size below his left cheek. It wasn't bleeding, there wasn't even a wound, but he still felt the remnants of the agonizing pain he endured as the butterfly was yanked out from deep within his soul.
He held up his sword to the side, and twisted his nape slightly, just enough to see the reflection of his neck on the blade.
There was something there after all.
It wasn't blood, it was a mark of some kind. It looked more like a black imprint outlining the butterfly's shape that was engraved on him by the recent incident.
He guessed it was going to be permanent.
"..."
He tightened his grip on his sword.
The recent scenes of the humiliation the Undying Elder put him through flashed into his mind…
His sense of weakness every time the deity commanded him to do something…
The paralyzing feeling in his body every time he tried to force it to move and it didn't…
He gripped the handle on his sword with both hands, held it high above his head and quickly brought it down with a downward swing toward the card.
One cut.
Two cuts.
Three cuts.
He swung his blade relentlessly without stopping to catch his breath, every time more intense than the last.
{…}
{Leave it be, we have to go.}
"Hah… hah… I… I will kill him one day. I swear!!"
Lawkey managed to let out as he attempted to take control of his emotions. He knew it wouldn't do him any good to get stuck here.
{...}
{This will be the last time I say anything, at least not until we get where I need to guide you. I don't have much energy left, and I will need every ounce of it when we get there. Just keep following me, no matter what happens.}
"Sounds like a fun trip. Where are we going anyway?" Lawkey let out sarcastically.
{...}
"Great, just follow the mysterious butterfly that refuses to talk to you, to who knows where. Why not?" He said while shrugging his shoulders again.
He picked up his things and followed the butterfly, this time not just leaving the battlefield a few ways back, but also the remnants of the playing card and everything that happened here, behind him.
His priority for now was survival, and the butterfly was the best, and the only chance he had.
He didn't have anywhere else to go, he had just lost everything on that battlefield.
**👑**
A few hours later, as the two made their way across a barren piece of land, silently, without a single thing to help pass the time, they eventually made it to a giant crack in the ground, a dark ravine with no way across it in sight.
The butterfly flew around him as if signaling for him about something.
Lawkey stood at the edge of the dark ravine and put his hand on his forehead, shielding what little moonlight obstructed his view.
First, he glanced around and saw no end to the ravine on either side. Then, he squinted his eyes and tried looking into the deep valley.
"You want me to go down there?"
{…}
"I can't even see the bottom!"
But this is it… The only way left for me… Knowing he had nothing left behind him, he realized he needed to find something new.
Without it, he wouldn't be able to look for the Leviathan, and wouldn't be able to come across that Undying Elder again.
He recognized what he had to do, and he resolved himself to it.
Starting now, he would walk the path of darkness, a path of nothingness.
"Hahah," he laughed nervously. "It's so dark…"
A smile formed on his face, perhaps out of nervousness or excitement, only he knew.
"That's perfect!"
Suddenly, his hair shot up as his eyes glowed emerald green. He had jumped down face first into the dark ravine.
I won't die until I keep my promise anyway!
He turned around midair, tightened his grip on his precious chest box and extended his arm toward the glowing and distant moon.
It was finally visible in the sky behind the foggy clouds.
I promise you, Jay! I promise, everyone!
Taken aback by his sudden reckless action, the butterfly quickly flew after him. Thinking to herself didn't take as much energy, but she couldn't hold herself back anymore.
{That idiot! I told him to just follow me, we could've found a better way down!}
{But I knew it! You're the only one worthy of me!}
As it flew deeper and deeper into the ravine after the boy, the pink shadowy trail glowing behind it started to fade into the darkness as well.
{I'll wait for you a bit longer until you are ready!}
{That Undying Elder may have called you a Phantom King, but he knows nothing about you.}
{You are the man who will bring darkness upon this world.}
{The man who will lead us toward our awaited vengeance.}
{You are not a savior, nor were you destined to be one.}
{You are my one and only Shadow King.}
{The Reaper of this world.}
{Its reckoning.}
{Or atleast, you will be.}
While the butterfly may have had a vague idea, Lawkey knew nothing about what awaited him.
Starting with the dark ravine he had just jumped into, the Shadow Valley itself.
It was infamously known to harbor violent and vicious beasts that even experienced adventurers knew better to avoid.
But what's a few more beasts at this point?