After a few seconds, I reached the end of the cave, lit by the flames of the never-ending battle.
A long, shiny red sword pierced through the iron-like hard scales. And the poison spreading like rain was being dodged with the grace of a professional dancer.
The serpent lunged, and Killer blocked its sharp fangs with his red sword.
"I see you caught up to me, kid! If you want to join me in this fight, then come forward and don't be afraid. But I can't guarantee your life, even if you are one of those main characters from fantasy stories."
A sarcastic chuckle escaped me. A laugh mocking his current situation. Sarcastic and amazed.
"There's only one person who talks like that in the face of danger like this, and luckily it's me. So save me a VIP seat in this fight!"
I haven't used fire in many days, so let me return to some of my old tricks for a bit!
Flames erupted from my sword, lighting the place with it's power, and I dashed forward with a flash step I'd been training on after seeing Zote.
I raised my flaming sword and aimed the strike toward the serpent's neck—almost.
In a split second, the serpent moved its head and slammed my body into the wall with a sudden force that made blood spill from my mouth, and my vision shook for a moment before Killer lunged and hit its nose with his right elbow, pushing it away from me.
I fell to my knees and looked at the ground where my blood dripped slowly.
I wiped the blood from my mouth and lifted my head to see Killer extending his hand to me.
"Come on, man, don't waste your seat like that," he said before I took his hand and got up.
He looked away from me and toward the serpent preparing its next attack.
I felt a slight dizziness from that hit.
I rushed in again—this time not because of an inexplicable attachment to someone, but because of my desires. I need to control my emotions.
I grabbed his hand and we rushed forward before the serpent could lunge and swallow the two of us.
"The fight has just begun." I took a deep breath, and an idea crossed my mind.
Instead of igniting my sword with flames, why not share the heat with the sword? After all, the fire element isn't just a specific degree of heat. The more you evolve, the more heat you can endure, and the more you evolve, the better you can control the degree of heat.
But the problem is that iron melts at 100 degrees Celsius, and I certainly don't want my sword to melt, so I have to be precise when increasing the heat.
I transferred heat to my sword's blade gradually until it reached 70 degrees. Killer raised his sword, and that's when I noticed the height difference between us.
I'm 172cm, but this man is about 183cm. And even so, his sword is long for someone his height.
"Leave the final blow to me!" he said before we moved forward.
"You love stealing the spotlight."
Killer launched forward with his super speed, and I followed him with flash steps, followed by a fiery slash from my sword that created a light that made it hard for the serpent to see, and as it tried to focus its vision, Killer pierced through its tough scales and stabbed a sensitive area inside its body, causing it to go wild and slam itself against the cave walls until its right eye was pierced by a sudden fire bullet, making it rage even more.
Arthur caught up with me.
I smiled with excitement when I saw him, and he did the same. I dashed toward the serpent and was about to slice it when it suddenly lifted its head and I couldn't stop my charge, ending up directly beneath its head.
Killer was too far to reach me even with his super speed, and a shot from Arthur wouldn't stop the serpent's attack at this moment.
But I see a way out.
The serpent brought down its head with speed and power beyond expectation, but I used the earth element and launched sharp rocks from the edge of my sword that struck the scarred part of its lower body, making its body easier to pierce and forcing it to retreat quickly.
But then Arthur shot at its eyes with his pistols, causing permanent blindness.
And finally, Killer leapt with his sword wrapped in compressed air with a sharp blade edge, followed by a scream that would send any enemy who hears it to hell.
He dashed with terrifying speed, but the serpent's tail, flailing wildly, was about to hit him.
Killer was bound to be hit... and without thinking or realizing it, a flash step over ten meters long brought me to the serpent's tail, and I sliced it with my sword, now heated to 150 degrees.
Even though Killer was about to be struck by the serpent's tail, he continued his attack without hesitation, with a will and strength unlike anything I'd ever seen, and finished it all with a stab that pierced the serpent's brain and split its head in two.
Killer's fight, which lasted for three years, had finally ended, and now I could take him on my mission.
But for hell's sake—how did I manage to pull off a flash step of that range? And releasing fire to this extent is not right; I can't exhaust my power like this. But the fact that my sword didn't melt is truly astonishing. What is this sword made of?
Arthur approached me and leaned on my shoulder, laughing.
"Next time, know that I'll catch up with you as fast as I can."
"The next battle will be ten times harder than this," I said. A smile of relief on my face.
I looked at Killer, who was standing, staring straight ahead without looking anywhere else. His sword planted in the ground and both hands on the hilt, looking forward only. As if mourning the serpent's death.
Then I noticed his silent tears falling to the ground.
Killer, despite having fought this serpent for three years, it was the only creature with him. Whatever bond they shared, it carried a deep friendship. Deeper than any human could imagine.
A tear fell from the serpent's eye, and Killer spoke in a proud voice:
"Rest in peace, dearest of all I ever had."
We sat, watching him in silence, as the poison dried on the ground, along with Killer's tears. After about fifteen minutes, Killer returned his sword to its sheath and bowed before the serpent's corpse one last time before turning and heading toward the cave's exit.
We followed him without saying a word, and soon we reached the end, where Kafka, Ank, and Ella were waiting for us. They must have wanted to come too, but the battle ended faster than expected.
Killer's torn clothes showed the trials of the past years, but they were a badge of honor too. He looked at me, and a faint smile appeared on his face—gratitude, and sorrow—and he spoke:
"You helped me end this fight, and now I must repay you."
***
"Go to hell, you damned bird!"
This newspaper bird put the newspaper in my mouth while I was sleeping; it definitely wants to kill me!
I opened the newspaper and was greeted by big news. Railroad trains are the newest and fastest mode of transportation in the Luxaria Kingdom, and they are officially available throughout the entire kingdom.
Is this possible? If I take a train from the capital to Cake City, will it take me one day to arrive instead of two days by car? What about the route from the capital to the Golden Water City? Three days?
This means that refugees from other cities will be able to reach the capital by train instead of Despaye-powered cars, which will provide more knights when needed.
Although Despaye-powered cars are extremely fast, to the extent that they took Arthur and me from Interline City to the capital within hours, providing knight power for other matters would be more valuable to the kingdom.
And if the railways connect the entire kingdom... that means we can go to the City of Tears using them!
When we asked Killer to help us in the City of Tears, he immediately agreed without hesitation. We exited the cave thanks to Ank, who used the ice element to freeze the lake water. Her control over Depaye is getting better.
And now that we've taken a break in this forest, we'll continue our journey and change our destination to the nearest train station!
Bang!
A gunshot. Arthur wasn't there. I thought he had gone to train as usual, but even when he trains, he never fires his guns.
I gripped my sword and dashed towards the sound of the shot. Animals fled far away, and birds flew further because of the loud sound of the bullet.
I stopped. Arthur was lying on the ground in front of me, and on top of him was a strange, motionless person.
Arthur pushed the person off him, and I saw his pistol was aimed at the person's chest.
I quickly approached to check on Arthur, and I saw blood soaking the ground around the man who was on top of Arthur.
Arthur stood up calmly.
"Who is this man?.. What happened suddenly?" I asked him. My voice was puzzled and tense.
"I went to train, and he started attacking me," Arthur said.
I wasn't tense because of the man's death. Rather, I was questioning Arthur's expression, as this was the first person he killed himself. And even though it was the first person, Arthur's voice seemed calm... and extremely cold. Indifferent.
He turned to look at me. Blood was on his left cheek and covered part of his mouth. His eyes were empty, and his gaze was cold, carrying no trace of emotion.
Feelings of questioning and confusion appeared on my eyes and my whole face.
"Arthur, why do I not see any expression of regret on your face?" I spoke in a low voice.
"There are many things that should not be said."
My expression hardened, and I became frustrated. I yelled at Arthur.
"Are you kidding me now? You were rambling all the time about regret when killing, and now you're saying this? Even if you were forced to, it's inconceivable not to show a speck of remorse on your face if this was truly the first time you killed!"
Arthur received my shouting calmly, wiping the blood with his special red handkerchief. He walked, and stopped beside me, he placed his hand on my shoulder and whispered.
"And who said it was the first time?"
Clearly. He was repeating what I said.
He continued: "In the palace, I told you that we would kill if we had to. And for that, I will not ask you about your stance anymore, and you should do the same."
He removed his hand and continued on his way.
The birds returned, and the deer began to eat the grass, and the crows began to feast on the pale corpse. The weather was hot, and I felt my head heavy. My mouth was closed, and my eyes were wide in silence.
But I quickly regained my calm expression and launched a glowing fireball at the corpse, setting it ablaze. And I thought then.
Arthur... might pose an annoying problem.
I returned to where the others were sleeping and found Arthur wiping blood off his weapons. I looked at the firewood and saw a small flame remaining. I stepped on it several times until it extinguished, and then Killer woke up.
He rubbed his eyes and looked around. What would his thoughts be after waking up in a place other than the cave?
"Since you're awake, why don't we go hunting together?" I asked Killer.
Killer smiled, agreeing without hesitation.
Is this man too pure or too stupid?
Killer got up and washed his face with cold water placed in an ice box that Ank had created. And after that, he took his dark red sword.
We started walking silently inside the green forest, searching for suitable prey. And while we were searching, Killer spoke.
"You didn't tell me yesterday, but why do you want to go to the City of Tears?"
We reached a path blocked by plants. I started cutting them with my sword, and when I do, a viscous green liquid came out.
"We want to talk to the resident of the City of Tears, Elios. We want him to make us a cure for the Violet Thorns disease."
As I was cutting the sprawling plants, my foot stepped on the viscous liquid and stuck to the ground.
How annoying.
"And who do you need the cure for? And also, what kind of disease is this that you can't just buy medicine for at the pharmacy?"
After several attempts to pull my leg from the ground, I finally succeeded and continued cutting the plants.
I explained to him about my mother and the violet plant that had become a disease due to Despaye. And when I finished, he was surprised and asked me.
"How long until the disease worsens and reaches its final stage?"
"45 days."
After a few seconds, we crossed all the sprawling plants.
"Count on me. I will help you until the end, even if it costs me my life."
His words made me feel relieved, a slight relief amidst everything. But then he said something interesting.
"I'm curious about this Elios's type of evolution."
"Type of evolution?" I asked, wondering.
"You don't know the types of evolution? You're supposed to know them since you're an adventurer; they tell adventurers about them before giving them their cards. Like education."
We finally found a lone deer, drinking from a small lake.
I raised my sword towards it. And I felt its breath from metres away, and the feel of my sword's hilt in every detail before it extended faster than the deer could evade, and I stabbed it in the neck, and it fell to the ground.
It's hair began to mix with the red colour of blood.
"They seem to have removed the mention of evolution types from the test. Can you tell me about them?"
Killer agreed before carrying the deer on his shoulder.
We started walking back to the others, as Killer spoke.
"There are two types of evolution. The first is Evolution under Pressure. That is, when a person is under pressure or in a critical situation, their abilities, whether mental or Despaye abilities, evolve."
Almost like Ank.
He continued: "And the second type is Evolution in Comfort. That is, when a person is in a state of comfort and almost... freedom, that's a suitable word almost. In this state, they can produce new ideas and unique abilities, but if placed under severe and strong pressure, they will become agitated uselessly."
Doesn't remind me of anyone.
"This is useful information to benefit from your allies and understand your enemies."
But... what type do I belong to?
We finally arrived and found everyone awake, but their faces showed shock and tension. Ank was holding a letter in her hand. On it was a circular golden piece engraved with the figure of a woman with a crown on her head. This is the mark of the royal family. Why would Ankvorena's mother send a letter now?
Ank stood up and approached me, slowly extending the letter to me.
I took it from her and began to read it.
"Ethan Lumiere, I extend my utmost gratitude for your care of my daughter and your companionship with her on her journey of strengthening her power. However, I regret to return this favour with painful news: your mother, Erathia Lumiere, is experiencing a rapid deterioration of her health. She has only twenty days left to live. Hasten to bring the cure.
-Stasioni Luxarin."