CHAPTER 231: She Kept Laughing Bitterly

"Have you been here all this time? It is already morning," Carmilla asked as they watch the kingdom burn to nothing.

"I want to watch the place burn down till it is gone. I want to see its last moments and remember everything," Saphira replied.

Even the concretes were being burned telling one just how hot it currently is.

"You really wish to erase it from the map? People who used to live here could have returned and rebuilt it," Archie asked this time.

"They can rebuild it but the whole place was filled with nothing but dark energy, no one could have lived here no matter how much time has passed."

"So you are burning everything including the dark energy."

She nodded her head.

She was already sleepy, she did not rest at all.

She was drained and hungry but she still wanted to stubbornly watch till the end.

"They are not the whole of it," she started making the other three to return their look at her.

"There are some missing knights, I have remembered the faces of their knights but I didn't see them within the corpses that we have gathered. Hunter rechecked a couple of times but there were no more bodies."

"You are saying that you will face them somewhere else?" Asherton replied.

She nodded her head, "I only feel bad that we won't be able to bring them back in their home place but there is nothing we can do about that. At the same time..."

She faced them with seriousness, "We had talked about it. That there is a big chance of them becoming stronger when we meet them again."

The other three frowned, that is indeed the case.

It won't make sense if they are to remain the same, as strong as those they just defeated.

"I am just glad that Raizen, the one whom Willow became close to, were left here-"

She stopped when she realized something.

"What's wrong?" Asherton asked her.

Saphira started laughing, "He was mocking us."

"What?"

"He deliberately left most of the people in this place, he knew we would return once we felt the strong darkness coming from here. And he allowed us to see all of it."

She kept laughing bitterly, "It was as if he was saying, go on and struggle, everything was futile. I can make each adn everyone a part of my dark force."

She clenched her hands into fists as she nodded her head, "That's right it is easier for him to do this because even the smallest darkness in a person's heart can become the spark of a fire."

"Saphira," Carmilla called to her.

"Don't worry mother. That might be the case but I am not disheartened. I'll keep doing what I have to, plus when this war started, I was prepared that there is no such thing as a one sided peace. Surely we'll face more until we reach them. But I don't care, I'll just keep on remembering until I face them and make them pay."

Her resolve was clearly visible in her eyes.

It was visible even in the way she simply stood there.

"I just want all of you to be careful as well. We still have no idea just where they could be. The reason why we are travelling around," she reminded them.

"Don't worry, we'll keep each other in check. We will make sure that no matter what we won't allow ourselves to succumb to darkness. The same goes for the rest, each of us will watch over as many people as we can. For all of you to have the peace as you go along in your mission."

Saphira smiled, "Then I can be assured."

She returned her eyes to the fire as her smile disappears.

The dark force is really moving now, the prelude had just ended.

*****

It was close to sun down when they were finally able to meet up with the rest.

but Saphira was already in deep slumber.

The moment the last fire extinguished and the Hydra Kingdom became nothing but a barren land, she fell unconscious.

"She must have been very much exhausted," Felissa said sadly.

"She stubbornly tried to stay awake until the very end," Carmilla sighed.

"You must be hungry as well, shall we leave her and eat for now?"

It has been so long since they camped out in the wild.

More like, have they ever experienced it?

They don't think so.

Which means this must be their first time camping out in the wild.

Willow offered to make a house but they disagreed saying that a new experience is a good experience.

So as the families and eat and chat, the heads came together and Asherton informed them of what Saphira had spoken about.

"To think that he added sal in their wounds," Reginald shook his head.

"He won't be the dark lord if he were not to do such despicable things," Truman followed.

Each of them sighed before looking back at the other six, even Felix was the same.

They were smiling but their eyes were still filled with devastation.

Especially Willow, who smiles but have not spoken at all.

"All we can do now is to make sure that the Empire is fine, the only way we can get a load off of their shoulders," Ferdinand commented.

They then joined the rest and everyone chatted for a while before Saphira woke up and it is time for them to leave.

A day is already too much for them to disappear from the empire.

Especially the empress and the emperor.

They didn't say much about taking care or what not, the eight of them didn't need it because they know what to do.

Instead they simply smiled and gave them warm hugs before leaving.

The warmth is what they all seriously needed.