Chapter 23: Thank you....

Richie covered the three of them in dark magic as he walked toward the part of the encirclement that was closest to the mountain.

"Toriel, after I cause chaos there, run away quickly."

Toriel bit his lips in response.

'I'm so useless. I can't already can't help it yet I even brought more trouble to him.'

Toriel looked at Richie's back. He suddenly felt that his shoulders were broad, and they look like they've been training all these years just to withstand pressure. It brought him a sense of safety.

'When did he get taller than me?'

Toriel always considered himself as the elder brother, yet Richie at this moment looked like a wall. It separated him from all the harm and pain. 

"Don't die. If you die, I'm going to kill you."

Toriel said angry words, yet his voice was shaking in self-guilt.

*Sigh...*

'I'm so useless. All I can do now is run away fast enough to not bring more trouble to him.'

Richie looked back at Toriel. He saw Toriel was looking at himself with watery eyes.

Seeing him like that suddenly made Richie want to comfort him. This made Richie a bit proud and happy.

'Yes! He can finally rely on me! I'm not useless anymore!'

Richie was training all day just to be strong, independent, reliable and someone that can protect Toriel while being proud of him. Seeing the result made him happy and proud.

"Hahaha, you don't have to react like that. You know, when we were young, I would always rely on you. But now that we're older, you can always hide in my back."

Hearing him brag, Toriel suddenly felt ashamed.

"What are you laughing at? And who needs to rely on you? I can take care of myself!"

Toriel replies in a shaky voice.

Richie was about to tease him when a breeze flew by. He felt a deeper concentration of wind aura in this breeze.

'A breeze? Looks like they discovered us.'

Richie looked solemn and apologized.

"I'm sorry, okay? Anyway, the enemy discovered us. Get yourself together."

Toriel didn't reply, instead, he took a deep breath with his eyes flowing with determination. He looked down to look at his hands that were holding a little girl's.

"Izzy, we have to run away quickly, okay? That's why I'm gonna have to carry you. You must not be naughty and hold on tight, okay?"

The little girl nodded obediently.

"Yes uncle. By the way uncle, can Mr. Rabbit come with us?"

The girl asked while holding the rabbit in her other hand.

Toriel chuckled to himself.

"Sure."

"Thank you!"

The girl smiled brightly.

"Shh!!"

Richie shushes them and says one last goodbye.

"I'm gonna distract them and you take that chance to run. Okay?"

Toriel and Izzy both nodded.

"Don't die okay? I'll be waiting at the foot of the mountain."

Toriel looked him in the eye. Richie saw that Toriel was really determined to do something for him this time.

Richie just smiled and nodded to make Toriel relax, but it didn't lessen Toriel's worries.

"I'm going now."

Richie's voice echoed as he dispersed in the darkness of the fog.

Toriel pulled Izzy's hands and moved.

"Let's go."

"Hmm.... Brother... it seems that they separated..."

The scout reported to the squad leader.

"Where are they?"

"Someone is approaching us while the other 2 are detouring. The enemy is about to make contact with us in 20 seconds. He is running at full speed."

The squad leader nodded and caressed his sword.

"That's good, my sword has been thirsty for some action anyway. It's all their fault for making us act as cleaners. I'm not a f*cking janitor! God damn it!"

The scout just bows his head and waits for his order.

The leader looked at the scout and thought of something.

"By the way, you said that there were 2 who detoured right?"

"Yes."

"The enemy must be confident in facing us alone if he's running at full speed.  Here's my order, tell all idle power to come here and give support. And you, those 2 who think they can escape, let them know what despair is like."

"Yes sir!"

The scout bowed in understanding.

"Dismissed!"

The scout took his leave and executed his order.

Seconds later, the idle soldiers all gathered. There were about 40 of them.

All of them were on standby behind the squad leader.

The squad leader looked at the direction where Richie was, but he didn't see him.

'I thought the enemy was approaching here? Why can't I see them?'

What the leader didn't know was that the shadow of a tree nearby was already creeping up towards him.

The leader suddenly felt a foreboding feeling. He looked around and only saw fog, trees, and his soldiers.

"Did any of you feel that?"

"Felt what sir?"

"That! That....."

The leader was perplexed but he suddenly remembered what the scout told him.

[What's weird is they don't exude an aura at all...]

'Don't tell me?'

The leader suddenly saw the world was spinning. He saw that the soldiers looked at him like they saw a monster.

'What...'

The leader didn't even know what happened when he met his demise.

The soldiers saw their leader die but they didn't discover the sharp shadow because of the fog and darkness of the night.

'What the f*ck was that? The leader just suddenly died!'

"Enemy attack!"

After a second of shock, all the soldiers formed a circular formation. The buffed and tanky earth users were all at the front, shielding the others.

The earth users created a wall of earth as they hid behind it.

"Wind users! Try to detect the enemy!"

The wind users sent out a breeze but all they felt was boulders, fog, trees, grasses, and dead bodies.

"The probe is no use! There are no moving enemies and there are too many dead bodies, he may be one of them!"

Hearing that, the soldiers panicked. But one of them was collected enough to think.

"Let the earth users try this time."

The earth users hurriedly sent out seismic waves in an attempt to search for any vibrations. This search can check for any sound and movement, even heartbeat. Nevertheless, all their efforts produced no results.

"N- Negative! There's no foreign vibrations!"

"But how? If they're flying, they can be sensed by the breeze, if they're in the ground, they can be sensed by the earth. But they're gone!"

What they didn't know was that while they were searching, they didn't notice that the people in the center were dwindling in numbers.

"Waaah!"

A scream was heard in the center of the formation. Tens of soldiers were beheaded as a tentacle-like shadow sliced them.

The shadows were hard to attack as they would climb your body and attacking them would be tantamount to attacking yourself.

"Damn it! It's Dark magic! Flame users! Give us light! Hurry!"

The soldiers screamed in terror as they dodged and attacked the shadows.

The flame users hurriedly conjured fire and made them bright. They spread the flames into the surrounding fog and trees to remove the shadows.

Unfortunately, this only caused the soldiers to produce more shadow as they were in front of the fire.

Richie was actually in the middle of the formation. Richie can only use the shadow that he is in contact with.

While watching the fire, Richie moved his dark energy through his feet and made the shadows move. He put on a panicked expression and fought his own magic while killing the others.

"Earth users, quickly cast barriers! They can't enter something that is opaque!"

Hearing this, Richie grew irritated.

'Who the f*ck is that noisy b*tch? I swear I'm gonna kill her.'

Richie thought to himself as he looked at the source of the sound. He saw that she was floating and overseeing the whole field.

'Tsk! I can't do much to her if she's up there. Especially if she's on guard.'

"Some of you, call for reinforcement!"

Some soldiers ran away and called for reinforcement. Richie also ran away while acting like he was fighting a shadow.

After he moved out of the view of the floating girl, Richie hurriedly blended into the shadows and escaped.

'Damn it! I already killed their squad leader but there's actually someone sensible enough. Whatever, I'm sure that Toriel would have escaped anyway.'

Richie ventured deep into the foggy mountains in search of Toriel. While walking, he suddenly saw a bloodstain.

'This....'

Richie felt his heart accelerating, his head was perspiring as the sound of his surroundings blurred.

He quickly went straight ahead into the foggy mountain and saw more bloodstains and pieces of clothes.

'No, this can't be. It must have been a different person. Right, it's a different person.'

Richie convinced himself when suddenly, he saw a stuffed rabbit. It was dirty and bloodstained, yet they gave Richie a scare.

He discovered that it was the stuffed rabbit that the kid that Toriel was carrying.

Richie felt scared, it was different from fear of dying. He felt that his heart was about to jump out. His breathing unconsciously fastened. His eyes were bloodshot and his  pupil was dilated.

'N- No way! It can't be!'

Richie didn't dare to let his imagination run wild. He hurriedly ran towards where the trails were leading, it was only for a moment but this running felt like a century to him.

'Faster! Faster! I need to be faster!'

Richie applied dark magic on his legs, but they were useless, they only made his legs more durable.

Richie went deep into the fog. He kept running until he finally saw something. He stopped in his tracks as he looked at the view in front of him.

There was a beautiful clear pond with grasses growing on the side. It was inhabited by little fish swimming that occasionally releases bubbles which make small ripples in it.

The buzzing of insects and the lights of little fireflies made the fog a bit see through, giving life to the darkness.

The reflection of the bright moon in the pond rippled with the waves. 

In a stone beside the tree, there was a young man sitting above it.

He was watching the fish in the pond, he occasionally threw some bits of flesh from the corpse of a man beside him.

The fishes were scavenging happily, they were unrestrained and energetic. It made him smile a bit as they reminded him of cute naughty children.

"Toriel!"

Hearing his name being called, Toriel looked behind him and saw a smiling Richie running towards him.

"Toriel! I was worried about you! I saw many bloodstains and... and..."

Richie hurried speech stopped like he was being strangled. He felt that his breathing stopped and his legs felt heavy. He can't take his eyes off the man in front of him.

"You're late. I was waiting for you, you know."

The man smiled as he nagged. But Richie didn't care about that.

"Y-You.... Y- Your mana heart..."

Toriel was heavily wounded. His clothes were full of cuts and were dyed scarlet. There were scars around his body but what was most particular was the giant cut in his abdomen.

There was faint life energy leaking out of it, it was like a flat tire, slowly releasing air.

"This? Ha! No worries! It's only a little bit of pain."

The man said proudly, but he was slightly out of breath just saying this. There was also a hint of shakiness in his voice.

"There must be a way somehow, don't worry, I'll find a way to cure you!"

Richie was about to go back when Toriel stopped him.

"Don't! Please, I wanna say my last words in a cool way, you know."

Richie didn't look back but his feet stopped.

"Stop joking, what are your last words? There's no way I'll let that happen."

"Richie!"

Toriel called out to him in a loud voice but he still didn't look back.

Seeing this, Toriel made his voice softer.

"Richie... please... forgive me okay?... I didn't mean to go like this..."

"WHAT ARE YOU APOLOGIZING FOR?! IT WAS MY FAULT! IF I HADN'T—"

Richie turned around and shouted but when Toriel talked, he hurriedly stopped.

"Richie! It's okay! You already tried your best! Okay? Please, forgive me, all right?"

Toriel looked him in the eye. Richie saw  his bright eyes were slowly dwindling, like a sun slowly setting in the horizon.

Richie felt his heart was breaking into pieces when he saw those eyes. He just can't bear to see them filled with sadness.

Richie hurriedly walked in front of him. He slightly kneeled so that Toriel could see his face clearly.

"Richie, listen to me, okay?"

Richie didn't say anything but nodded. He felt like if tried to say anything, all his emotions would burst out.

Toriel looked him in the eye. He saw self-hate, sadness, and loneliness in them.

Toriel raised his hand but wasn't able to reach him. Seeing this, Richie moved himself towards his hand.

"Richie.... learn to forgive yourself okay? You have to live on."

"Mmh."

Richie looked down but he nodded.

"You should also cry.... whenever you're sad, don't just bear it in."

"Mmn."

"You should always smile too.... I love your smile. They always make me feel relaxed and.... at home."

"Mmn."

"You... should always..... take care of yourself. Don't make.... too many enemies. You... should also make some... kind friends so you won't be.. lonely."

At this point, Toriel's voice has slightly become hoarse.

"Mmn."

"Richie... You're awful... obedient now huh... haha.... Hey.... can I... see your smile one last time? I.... I kind of want it to be my... last memory."

Toriel's vision was spinning, he felt lethargic and his heartbeat was slowing down, but he still persisted.

Hearing that, Richie slightly froze, but he still raised his head.

His bloodshot eyes and dusty face was stained with glittering tears, but he still smiled, albeit it was forced.

"Thank you..."

With one last word, Toriel closed his eyes.

Richie lowered his head. He cried his eyes out, but he didn't scream. He doesn't want to release these feelings, he wants to feel every single bit of melancholy.

Because it was the proof of Toriel's living, it was the proof that his memories still live within him.

It was the proof that Toriel's smile, laugh, anger, nag, hate, miss, needs, boredom, laziness, etc. still lives with him. He doesn't want to let go of it.

'Toriel!... That's right.... I still have to live on... I can't die yet... so... Richie... open your eyes...'

Richie said to himself. He heavily opened his eyes and saw a burning wound in his chest. They were deep but they were being healed by the referee beside him.

"This... I'm still.... alive?"

"Phew! Thank goodness you're alive."

The referee beside him sighed in relief.

"B— But how?"

"Well..... a canteen.... was thrown in front of you, it was just for a moment but it was timed well. In the blink of an eye, because light is relatively fast, most of the light was redirected in just a millisecond. But a level 10 attack is not to be belittled, too much heat melted the canteen and you received the remainder of the attack."

Richie took a second to process that.

"Wait... A canteen?"

"Yes... A canteen...."

The referee smiled wryly.