Adventure 24 ─ Crucial Moment

Four months have passed since those strange attacks occurred. Security was heightened in case they returned, but after several weeks, it was reduced to the point of forgetting their existence. Certainly, nothing mysterious has happened since that day. Everything has been very calm and boring.

Today, a family dinner with the royal family was scheduled. But first, I had a small meeting with Lisa and Shirley since Lisa graduated from the magic academy. I asked Alice if the other girls, who were concubines, would be present. Louise, Isabella, and Eliza were my concubines, and since it was a family dinner, I wanted to know if they would be there. She said:

"Naturally, they will be present, but mother said it was only for us, so they will be behind us."

"I'll tell her if she can organize a dinner for them later."

"Understood. I'll go get ready."

I left her study room and went to change.

◇

As I told Alice, I came to the small dinner Shirley organized for her daughter Lisa. Lisa was originally a sick girl because she was poisoned by her stepfather, but thanks to Eliza, she was saved. After we went to the kingdom's academy, she showed an interest in evocation magic, which allows the manifestation of spirits, and she turned out to have a talent for it.

This is why one of the members of the Ouroboros Order, Thor, the second strongest, kidnapped her and tried to use her power to revive his mother's corpse. Thor was the illegitimate son of the emperor, meaning Odin. Both he and his father, and Fenrir were the most difficult enemies to face, and I almost didn't defeat them without help.

Because the dead cannot be revived, his plan failed. In the midst of our fight and my imminent defeat, as the guy possessed the ability to move at lightning speed, heal with electricity, and even slightly manipulate the electrical discharges of the human body. He found out that his father was responsible for his mother's death because he was ashamed of having a son with a commoner. Fortunately, that made him angry, and he fought his father, leaving him wounded, which I later took advantage of to deliver the final blow. Before he died, he asked me to place him on his mother's corpse to say goodbye. I felt sorry for him and Fenrir because they only wanted to be happy with those they loved, the problem is that it threatened the happiness and lives of others.

The main members of the Ouroboros Order, including Odin himself, were people who wanted to recover or have the opportunity to apologize, like Loki, who before dying, apologized to his wife and daughter for being a bad man. Or in the case of Freya, who let orphans die for a day off. But no matter what their reason for their desire was. Putting the lives of others in danger to appease your internal guilt is a nameless crime.

I have also committed sins and will not look back.

"Lion-kun, are you there?"

"It's true, you've been out of it for a while. Is something wrong?"

"Huh? Sorry, I was thinking about the past."

Mother and daughter were worried about me. They are my concubines, or rather, they are Mary's since she will be the new queen. I enjoyed my meal while Lisa told us everything she experienced over the last 17 months at the magic academy.

"I really can't believe something like that happened by luck."

"It wasn't luck. The magic academy is a strict place."

"You earned the right to study there, now that you've graduated, you'll be able to work without a problem as a future court mage and also as the head of all."

Lisa blushed at my compliment, which was the truth.

"Hehe. You're exaggerating, it's really not that much."

"Of course, it is. Do you know how many court mages are in the palace?"

"You can count them on one hand."

"I don't think it's like that."

My time with my other wives was pleasant until I heard that.

"Enemy attack!"

"We are under attack by monsters!"

The alarm set by Eliza was a loudspeaker. A guard notified that terrifying news.

"Damn it."

I stood up immediately and ran to the door. I stopped to tell them.

"Sorry, we'll continue soon."

I nodded and ran out.

◇

I ran to the center of the city and saw the wall being torn down by a horde of different monsters. Estelle arrived at my position.

Estelle was an assassin who worked with a criminal organization that was dismantled by Eliza and me. She had been recovering since her battle against Jormungander, a guy who could turn into a giant serpent. It seems she has recovered.

She brought my sword that I found with Eliza.

"Master, the queen sent me to tell you that approximately three thousand monsters are surrounding the kingdom's wall."

"I see. We have a lot of work to do."

"Estelle, make sure to rescue those in danger instead of fighting."

"At your command."

Estelle left, it was my turn to get serious. I took a step, and suddenly I was lifted by something, I looked at the sky and saw a giant bee had kidnapped me.

"What the hell?"

I was thrown far away and landed in a nearby forest. I stood up and suddenly heard a voice.

"We finally meet."

I turned around, and it was a voice similar to the jaguar's. A sound like glass breaking. But this time, it came from another creature. It reminded me of a lizard man because of its reptilian appearance, but its white skin and red eyes said otherwise. I spoke to the strange lizard.

"Who are you?"

"Are you their leader?"

"Why are you attacking the capital?"

He responded immediately.

"We have not come to destroy this kingdom."

"I came for one reason."

"What is it?"

"To kill you!"

The lizard used his swords to cut me, but I used mine to defend myself.

"Why do you hate me so much if I didn't do anything to you?"

"That's the reason. You didn't do anything to us, but they did."

"Who?"

"Humans!"

The lizard revealed his identity.

"My name is Lambdadelta. I am an experiment from an ancient country that was destroyed by its own stupidity."

"Experiment? What exactly are you?"

I asked because I still didn't understand why he was attacking me without knowing me.

Lambdadelta laughed slightly.

"The four of us. My sworn brothers are dead."

"The first one you killed was called Alpha, he was a very kind boy who didn't like to hurt his enemies."

"The second was Beta, he was very rude but very compassionate."

"Epsilon always sought to help others even if they rejected him."

"They were all good boys."

What he said left me really confused.

"Why do you speak as if they were people?"

Lambdadelta looked at me with an expression of pure hatred.

"That's because we were humans once."

"..."

"Not only that, we are like you."

"Heroes brought to this world against our will."

"...!"

(How does he know that?)

(No one but the people I told my secret should know.)

He told me more about his life.

"We fought for this world as our gods in charge explained to us."

"But humans betrayed us and experimented on us."

"But someone freed us. A mysterious voice told us she would free us under one condition."

Lambdadelta took his weapons and marched towards me.

"And that was to kill you. Die for our future!"

I used my sword to block the first attack, then the second came, and I kicked his hand. But he used his tail to counter my blow, so I used my legs to propel myself backward. Before I could stand, he lunged at me and cut my arm.

"My comrades and I agreed to study your abilities."

"That's why each of their sacrifices will not be in vain."

"I haven't done anything to you; you don't have to attack me."

"We are like you, but you were blessed and had a full life. We want to kill you more than anything out of jealousy and frustration!"

My arm regenerated, but he cut my leg now. He knew my abilities. That's why he prevented me from fully regenerating and taking my weapon. Before regenerating, I stored a bit of magic power in my arm. I made it explode after distancing myself, and Lambdadelta was unharmed.

"Your cheap tricks won't work!"

"Who says it was a trick?"

"...?"

Lambdadelta didn't notice the explosion was a feint; the real explosion was touching his face. It was a button from my shirt that I threw without him realizing. I learned the ability to turn small objects into bombs thanks to one of my enemies. The explosion was small but lethal. The lizard fell to the ground with half its body injured.

This was his end, or so I thought until he began to regenerate.

"The natural ability of a lizard is regeneration. You can never defeat me!"

"Maybe he can't, but I can."

"...!"

We both heard a voice coming from somewhere. But I could recognize it, it was the voice of a woman. I looked at the sky and shouted with joy.

"My goddess!"

The goddess Amylene descended in a pillar of light that fell on Lambdadelta, who slowly melted due to the sacred power falling like rain on him. Once she descended, the lizard was almost melted with no chance to regenerate. I approached her and hugged her.

"Mylene!"

I called her by her name, I was happy, she hugged me too. But then she immediately let me go. Her face, for some reason, was horrified.

"Darling, I came to see you because I thought you were in danger."

"On my way here, I had to fight the idiot Helbram who revealed himself as the incarnation of the Evil God, but that's not important right now."

She said something I couldn't comprehend.

"You are in the sights of someone. Helbram told me that someone really dangerous is watching you."

"Watching me? What do you mean?"

"I mean…"

She suddenly stopped. Not just her, but the wind blowing her hair stopped, frozen in mid-air. I looked around and saw birds frozen in place.

"Hehe, she finally came."

"It would have been better if you had let yourself be killed."

"Now you will know… true fear…"

I looked at Lambdadelta, who was turning into dust. Above his ashes, a dark portal opened. At first, I saw a strange deformed silhouette, like a mosaic on top of a bizarre tentacled creature. But when I blinked, I clearly saw a human female face. Her skin was pale, her hair and eyes white. She wore no clothes, but the important parts were covered by a strange light.

Suddenly, the surroundings started to turn gray as if it were an old movie. All of this was caused by the strange woman in front of me.

"Who are you?" I asked.

The woman laughed and said, "It's time to end the show."

"Show?"

"The show you call life."

"You can call me… the storyteller."

An eerie chill ran down my spine. All I could think was,

(I'm going to die. My whole body says I will die.)

An absolute sense of despair.

________________

The fanservice is precisely for the three waifus that came out here.

https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/6415540

https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/7826983

https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/7771345