Princess
It had taken a few hours of constant travel, but I could finally see ruins in the distance.
"Please tell me these are the ones we're looking for and not some fakes like the other ones."
Roan stared forward, steadfast in his path. Not even the slightest edge of a crack of a smile formed on his lips. Damn, usually he likes my sense of humor.
He's been acting even harder than usual. What the hell did Miko get himself into?!
The closer we got to the ruins, the more I fidgeted with my swords. A Furokan style blade and a Balchian style blade, to be more accurate. With all of the training I've been doing, I thought I would be more prepared for battle and less jittery, but I guess that would be a part of me that would never change.
A world without the need for combat knowledge would be so perfect.
But we live in a world with people like Vakash and Miko.
People who needed to die, and people who constantly needed saving.
What's the deal with that anyway Miko?! I'm the damn princess...
Sighing, I threw one of my swords in the air. Before it could begin its downward trajectory into my hands, Roan stopped it at the peak of its ascent. Damned telepaths.
"Calm yourself, princess. Ready your blade, don't toss it in the air like a child."
Using his mind, he glided the sword back to my grasp. If he was anyone else I'd beat him up for calling me a child. But I knew Roan was right because he was always right.
That's the lesson he never needed to preach because his lessons and advice would do that for him. I can't think of a time Roan ever gave me a reason to doubt him.
And so I calmed myself and readied my blades.
We were a stone's throw away from the ruins when Roan suddenly stopped me.
He gave the ruins a good hard deadpan stare before saying, "Something's not right. Princess, I sorely hope you were putting your free time to good use. I think the ruin has woken up."
What does that- what the hell is that!?
I saw little more than a blur of a mass of flesh before Roan procured a sword out of thin air, slashing it in half. I looked down at the corpse to see what appeared to be a person. A strangely deformed, monstrosity of a human who had lost all his flesh, but still... human.
"PRINCESS!"
Pulling my eyes from the corpse I noted 4 blurs closing on me with incredible speed. Stupid!!!
They were mere milliseconds away from my face when I slashed my swords, slicing all 4 of them cleanly in half. A Balchian sword is better against other sword users since the hitches allowed it to disarm my opponent easily. Essentially, it would be useless. However, a Furokan blade would be perfect here. It was practically made to slice through flesh.
Using my illusion magic to trick the world, I turned my Balchian sword into a Furokan one. It was a technique I learned from one of the most prestigious illusion mages in the world. I would need such a technique here.
From the corner of my eye, I saw that Roan was employing his own special technique, summoning swords out of seemingly thin air and hurling them at the creatures. Thousands upon thousands of them charged towards us.
Setting steely eyes on 5 of the creatures closest to me, I flung myself into the fray.
Roan and I were flashes of metal, slashing through flesh and bone as if it were butter.
Although yelps filled the air, we paid them no mind. If we faltered even in the slightest, those yelps would turn into savage screams as we were torn apart.
Eventually, we would falter.
There were just too many of them.
Even after killing 100, 1,000 more filled their place. The longest I've ever been able to spar against Roan was 6 hours. If the battle continued in its current state, we would have to fight for an eternity.
Still, even if I were to fall, I would fall fighting, in hopes that I killed just enough for Miko to escape. He needs to live. And... Kill Vakash!
Screaming, I jumped to my next series of victims. 15 of the hideous monsters surrounded me, thinking they found prey. With a flurry of slashes, they were shown to be poorly mistaken, now only existing as piles of flesh on the ground.
15 more.
20 more.
Somewhere I knew Roan was killing twice as many as I was. Maybe even more.
With determination, I led an even more furious charge. Screaming so hard that blood flew from my mouth, I cut down 30 of them. And they just keep coming!!!
Slash!
Suddenly I stopped fighting, looking down to see a gash appear on my right side. Somehow... it had penetrated my armor. As I forced pressure onto the wound, I saw dozens of blurs closing in on me.
No... I need to fight longer! There are still too many for Miko!
Although I only had 1 sword arm left, I managed to hold back this attack. Each slice growing heavier than the last, I could only let out a painful breath as the 30th monster died. Blood soaked through my right hand, pouring down to the ground like a pitcher watering a garden.
As the next wave of monsters came after me, I began feeling dizzy. My vision shaky, I felt it becoming harder and harder to hold my sword. But I had too... they were coming...
Clank!
I looked down to the ground, unable to see the sword I had just dropped but knowing the battle was lost all the same. In the last few milliseconds that felt like years, I ignored my life flashing through my eyes to focus on one thought.
As their claws rip me to shreds, I'll use my teeth to rip out their throats. As many as possible.
I continued this train of thought, over and over. Perfecting my strategy. Just for the milliseconds to pass. The milliseconds quickly turned into seconds that lasted an eternity.
Why am I not dead yet?
"Princess, dammit!"
Roan? No, we were just fighting. We were overwhelmed. You... didn't have a chance to save me...
As I was moments away from passing out, I felt a sudden surge of energy coursing through me, strengthening every fiber of my being. Sure enough, this was healing magic. I don't know how he did it, but Roan defeated them all. But I could tell it wasn't enough. Not even healing magic can bring someone back from the dead.
"Princess, dammit! Don't FUCKING DIE!!! PLEASE!!! If you do... w-who's gonna kick me awake! Roan's damn boots actually hurt you know!"
Huh? Mi-miko?
No... no. That's impossible. You sleepy dolt... you're down there goofing off. You're not here...
"DAMMIT!!! WHY ISN'T THIS WORKING!!! YOU DAMN SYSTEM COME OOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!"
I felt someone pushing down on my chest as if they learned survival skills from one of those scam schools you would see in the Shik' ga districts. Damn silly beautiful peasants.
It was time.
I don't know what that little intermission was about, but Miko wasn't here. He was alive.
I'm so happy.
I don't know if the in-between place is still messing with me, or if I finally found my way to hell. But do your worst, I've already won.
I was swimming in a sea of darkness, with no reference to location or existence. I felt as if I was dead, but this place didn't feel dead. It felt incomplete.
It felt fake.
A beam of light shot through the darkness, illuminating the landscape. Through a tiny hole, I could see... Miko? Crying? I reached for him as I felt the hole closing. I was falling for real this time.
The next place wouldn't be fake.
Father, when I see you don't yell, please. It isn't Miko's fault you're going to see me soon. Plus, I would like a little peace and quiet.
"TO HELL WITH THAT!!! DAMN YOUR FAILED ATTEMPT, BRING HER BACK!!! YOU STUPID, USELESS SYSTEM!"
Shut up.
Another beam of light shot through the darkness, showing Miko's face again. Almost. For some reason, Miko's left eye was red, instead of its normal blue. And a weird marking or tattoo was crawling down from it.
"WAKE UP!!! Pleeaaseee..."
"Shut up."
"Huh?"
Closing my eyes, still so sleepy, I repeated myself. "Shut up Miko."
"You... you're alive!?"
I felt tears drench my armor as he dropped all his weight on me, gripping me in a bear hug.
"Ow."
Scrambling off me he muttered sorry.
I still didn't want to open my eyes, to be honest. Not only was I sleepy, but I was sure if I saw what was in front of me, I'd be looking at a demon. There's no way Miko...
No, he's become strong.
Finally opening my eyes, I saw his stupid face smiling at me. For some reason, his face was all wet. Crying for me, huh?
I let out a weak laugh.
Miko returned his own laugh, closing his eyes in relief.
After a few minutes, I gathered enough strength to sit up.
Where are the mo- oh.
I looked out to a field of corpses. A field created by Miko.
My savior, their conqueror.
Grateful, I hugged him as the earth itself split open, spilling out an unending behemoth of destruction.