Chapter 48: Viva La Vida [MOON]

The Queen's head rolled on the cold hard floor as her body finally crashed down with a loud thud. I approached the head and noticed that despite all the damage that I did, it was already starting to heal from the lightning wounds albeit slowly. Time to deliver the coup de grâce.

"S— stop! You don't know what you're doing! Everything I did is for the benefit of all living beings. Can't you see that?!" shouted the head.

"I have enough of your bullshit," I walked faster towards the head as I removed the daggers that pierced me and tossed it aside.

"W— wait! My God had graced me with knowledge of the future. Everything will perish if I did not follow through. I am saving humanity as a whole! The only thing that I needed to do was to eliminate all of the Hawthorns and all will be saved. You have to believe me!" she shouted.

I gave her a pitiful look. Perhaps what she's saying might have some hint of truth, but I was not about to risk it.

"W— wait.. I was wrong. It was you. You are the catalyst for our destruction. I— it was you all along," uttered the Queen as she realised something.

"Send my regards to the Demon King and your God," I smiled to her.

The captain began running towards me with insane speed after he finally noticed his Queen was about to die. Obviously trying his best to save his precious Queen. But he will never make it.

"Are you willing to live with the consequences? Knowing that you're the catalyst that will end all things?! Are you willing to shoulder—," her speech was cut short as I sliced through her skull with a vertical strike. Then I continued with a horizontal slice and then another, and another, until I just started dicing her head into a million pieces.

The captain who was close suddenly dropped to the floor, skidding towards the Queen's head. He tried to reached out to his beloved Queen's head but his body started melting. It would seemed that there's some strange pact between these two where if one dies, both of them will. The body eventually melted into a pool of disgusting fleshy material leaving only the helmet and the greatsword behind. Not even the bones were spared from the disintegrating process.

Is— is it really over? I stood ready, just in case there was any from of resurrection by either of them. But after a minute or two, all seems quiet. The Queen is finally dead. She is dead. Viva la vida, long live the Queen!

The Dark Lord limped his way towards me. Thank the above, he's still alive. What about the Paladin Lord? I quickly went to checked on him. There was a pool of blood where he was lying on the floor. I feared for the worst with every step I approached him.

Upon a quick inspection, it was clear his left arm was dismembered. A quick check to his pulse showed there was still some heartbeat but it was getting softer by the minute. I quickly took out my healing gel to stop the bleeding. I hope that helps in keeping him alive.

"The captain missed his aim when he turned his attention to the Queen right after you struck her with lightning. The Paladin Lord will live. Despite his age, he is strong willed, something like this will not stop him," said the Dark Lord with a tone that I was not expecting. His voice sounded like a child.

"I'm sorry, Zen. You're gonna need to take care of us—" the Dark Lord trailed off as he dropped to the floor.

I was wondering what he was sorry about at first but I found myself having the need to care for both of them. Honestly speaking, I'm on the brink of fainting myself, but I kept smacking my cheeks to force myself to remain conscious. I checked the pulse of the Dark Lord and the Paladin Lord alternately to ensure that they are still alive. The Dark Lord's body was morphing back to normal size. The Paladin Lord's pulse was stable now despite still looking pale. Can I faint now knowing both of them are relatively stable now? I was in such a daze that I almost forgot to stop my own bleeding. I quickly applied healing gel over the wounds caused by the thorn daggers as it had ripped my flesh badly when I pulled it out.

I shouted "Is anybody around?! Someone?! Anyone?!" hoping there was at least someone to help me. I jumped for joy figuratively when I saw a head peeking through the throne door.

"Hey you! Come over here and help me!" I shouted to the guy.

He went back into hiding. Damn it, what is he so scared about? A moment later, a couple of them walked through the door cautiously. Ah, no wonder he was cautious. They were all soldiers.

"The Queen is dead, as you can see she's a demon. Lay down your arms and help the wounded. We're all humans here," I announced to them while sitting on the floor.

They were hesitating on whether to help or to capture us. But for what? There is no one to prosecute us even if you capture us.

I forced myself to stand up which made them retreat a little. I had no strength left to summon any of my weapons so I just pulled out the elven dagger hidden behind my back.

"The war is over. Unless you wish to fight me, which I will gladly do so, please help the wounded," I glared at them.

I was lying, it is taking everything I have just to maintain myself standing up. I hope I'm able to convince them to give up instead of continuing this pointless war.

One of the soldier threw down his spear with a loud clank. The others turned to look at him and followed suit. They crouched down and carried both the Paladin and Dark Lord out the door. I tried to follow after them but my legs gave in. I fell face flat on the floor as I started breathing hard. The last thing I saw in my vision was someone wearing a white coat overlooking over me before falling unconscious.

***

We met some adventurers along the way. Peter was guiding us to more locations of the summoning circle as though he was the one who summoned them himself. Perhaps he really does have vision to see magical prowess. Just— how many more circles do we need to close before it's done? They were demons coming from all directions to attack us. Maybe it's my imagination but it felt as though there were less now. We had closed about a dozen circles by now and I really hope there won't be many left.

"Only a few more to go— Halt!" shouted Peter as he raised his fist all of a sudden.

All of us stopped at his command. What's going on?

"The circles— it would seemed that they're powering down. Zen did it," he said softly.

"He— did it? Are you sure?" asked Rose.

As we were contemplating on what's going on, we heard someone ringing the castle bell. It usually meant to signify an announcement, a start or an end of a war. Which is it though? I strained my ears to hear whether there was someone announcing something?

We were quite some distance from the castle so I will need to put all my concentrate to pinpoint the source of the location. My eyes might not be as great as other elves but I am fairly confident with my ears. A few of the adventurers were chatting away and Peter shushed them. Absolute silence was needed.

"The Queen is dead! The war is over! I repeat, the Queen is dead!" shouted someone from the castle as he continued to ring the bell.

"Zen— did it, he did it! The Queen is dead!" I announced to everyone.

Cheers erupted from the adventurers as they jumped for joy. Peter raised a hand and all of them quiet down immediately.

"As much as I would like to give you all a celebratory time, we're not done yet. There are leftover demons that are still running about inside the city. Let us make haste and eliminate all of them. Only then, do we celebrate like kings," he explained.

The adventurers sighed due to the sudden mood breaker but accepted the fact that Peter was right. We all followed his lead until we heard a loud thud behind us. All of us stopped and turned behind to see what it was and saw Rose lying unconscious on the ground. I rushed towards her but realised that even I was starting to lose consciousness myself. I tried to stop myself from fainting but eventually dropped to the ground. The last thing I heard before I lost full consciousness was Peter's voice saying "Bring them to the infirmary. They deserved a good rest".

***

I opened my eyes. W— where am I? I don't see another ceiling with a giant hole in front of me so that's a good sign. I scanned the room and felt familiar. Strange, this is my home. It would appear that I'm on my bed right now. I tried to push myself up but my body was unresponsive. I couldn't even move a muscle aside from moving my eyes.

Someone knocked on my room door, it sounded like Rose.

"Onii-chan, I'm coming in," Rose opened the door after she had knocked.

She brought what looked like a meal and placed it on my alchemy table. She got closer and stared at me. "Hmm, still asleep, huh?" she said. What? Can't she see that my eyes are wide opened staring at her? Is this— a dream of some sort?

"I guess, just for a bit. He's always a dead log once he sleeps," said Rose as she sat on my bed next to me.

Is she letting me continue my sleep? She's such a nice person, always taking care of me. She suddenly leaned closer to my face and stared at me intently. W— what are you trying to do, Rose? Aren't you letting me continue with my sleep?

"He won't wake up, will he? He always slept through it," said Rose as she leaned closer and started kissing me. I couldn't move at all. Only my eyes were staring widely at her as she kissed me for who knows how long. It felt like an eternity when you couldn't move a single muscle. When she pulled back her kiss, she stared at me with such passionate eyes I've never seen before.

"I can't hold back any longer," she said all of a sudden. W— What do you mean by that? Hold it back, Rose. Hold it back!!

She straddled on top of me ready to take me for a ride. What the hell?! Is she planning to rape me in my sleep? Rose, what the hell are you doing?!

"I waited for so long and you didn't even give me an answer. It's because of your indecisiveness that got you into this mess," she said with a straight face.

Ugh, she's absolutely right. I need to decide soon or I'll end up hurting both of them. But this is not the way, Rose. This is just not right. I shut my eyes as I didn't want to see what she's planning to do with my lifeless body. Hmm? Nothing seems to happen after some time. But I still felt her weight sitting on top of me. I took a peek to see what was going on.

W— what? It was Lily riding on top of me now. We weren't having sex per se but it felt familiar. Wait, isn't this that time where we ended up sleeping together? Why is this scene happening again?

"Zen, I can't wait any longer. I can't— control myself. Something is wrong with me," she tried to hold herself back.

I remembered trying to talk her out of it but she was barely listening. It was as though lust had overtaken her that night. She explained to me that elves have a period where they are fertile which only comes in a couple of years. When that happens, the couple usually lock themselves up in their home and copulate until her lust passes. Lily definitely locked herself up after that night we were together. I'm so glad she didn't get pregnant that night. But— why am I experiencing this again? Was I that desperate to relive that memory of our night together?

"We shared a night together, but you still refused to choose me. Was I just a plaything to you? Answer me, Zen," she said all of a sudden. Woah, hang on. She never said that to me before.

I blinked my eyes and she changed back to Rose. This time Rose was grabbing my face with her hands.

"You promised that you will give me an answer. You promised! I waited so long for nothing!" she shouted at my face.

I was no longer on my bed. All I can see was Rose gripping my face and dark clouds were brewing up in the sky.

I blinked once again and Lily re-appeared. She was crying while still sitting on top of me. It was raining and thunder can be heard. She was mumbling something that I can barely hear. I had to strain my ears to hear what she was saying.

"I'm pregnant with his child, and yet he didn't choose me. What am I going to do?" she mumbled to herself.

Wait what? She's pregnant? With my child?! But she told me she was not!

I blinked once more and Rose appeared before me once again. No, it's Lily. Wait, it's Rose again. What's going on? It would seemed as though they're overlapping each other. Their hands reached out to me and gripped my neck. Are they planning to choke the life out of me just because I was indecisive? Am I going to die by the hands of the two woman I love?

"You promised! You swore we will be together for the rest of our lives! Now you shall pay with your life!" both of them spoke simultaneously as their grip started tightening around my neck further.

Ugh! I'm being choked out of my life. I don't remember promising any of them that I'll take care of either of them but what the hell, maybe I do deserve death for playing with the heart of two maiden. But I know for sure this isn't real. This is a nightmare. One that I have no control over whatsoever. Please, let me wake up from this terrible nightmare! PLEASE!

"Very well, I shall grant you this one wish," spoke a voice in the background that I've never heard before.

***

"Ahhhh!!!" I awoke abruptly as I panted heavily. Now where the hell am I? I tried to move all of my limbs to be sure. Alright, I can move them. And I know where this place is. I'm in an infirmary room.

I looked around and saw a vase with a lily and rose flower in it. Way to be discreet, ladies. I pushed myself to sit up. Ouch ouch! My whole body hurts! I don't remember it was this painful before lost consciousness. Did someone dropped me when they carried my body here?

I leaned against the headboard and remembered about the nightmare I had earlier. Why was the dream so intense that it felt so real? I don't believe either of them would act this way in real life. But I guess I understood the message very clearly. It is a sin to play with a woman's heart, yet I played with two of them. After I settled my last revenge, I swear I will give my utmost sincere answer to the both of them.

Many voices could be heard as people walked by my room. The infirmary must be extremely busy now that the war has ended. Someone opened my room door and walked in while talking to someone behind. It was Rose and right behind her was Lily. They were busy chatting with each other that they didn't even noticed that I was awake.

Rose turned to look at me and dropped her bag. I raised my hand a little and managed to say "Yo" with a raspy voice. Woah, what happened to my voice?

"Zen, you're awake!" said the both of them simultaneously. Do they share the same brain cell or something?

Both of them rushed over to check on me. I'm not sure what they were capable of checking when both of them were not doctors. They asked me whether I was feeling alright and whether there was anywhere that I was still in pain. My brain completely filtered out what other things they said as I focused on what I needed to tell both of them.

"R— Rose, I'm sorry. Please forgive me," I said with my raspy voice.

"H— huh?" replied Rose with a confused look.

"Lily, please tell me honestly. You are certain that you're not pregnant?" I asked her.

"W— what? No, I'm not. I told you before that nothing happened after that night. What's going on, Zen? Are you trying to imply something?" asked Lily with a concerned look.

"N— no, I am not implying anything. Both of you, I'm sorry. I will give my honest answer to the both of you after I am done with Tom. I promise the both of you. I hope you can allow me that much," I told both of them.

They stared at each other with a confused look. They whispered something to each other which I can sort of guess. They must be worried that I knocked my head or something and it's somehow affecting me to say all these. But I am feeling normal and realised that my indecisiveness is what lead me to that nightmare. It is a genuine wake up call.

"Don't worry, Zen. None of us are rushing you. Just take your time and don't worry about it," answered Lily with an awkward smile.

"We aren't rushing you, Onii-chan. Take all the time you need, alright? Are you sure you're fine though?" asked Rose with a concerned look.

"I'm fine. Thank you, both of you, for understanding," I smiled at them. Tears started flowing from my eyes without me even realising it. Both of them were shocked and quickly went to call the nurse but I assured them I was fine. That's odd, why am I even crying?

I started laughing at the level of their concern and was genuinely happy that they cared so much about me. They just gave me a puzzled look that I suddenly started laughing despite tears still flowing from my eyes.

Rose's expression changed once again when she noticed something. Seems as though she's staring at my neck.

"Onii-chan, what happened to your neck?" she asked with concern.