Chapter 219: A Walk Under the Stars
The noisy tavern was far behind them. The night had grown deep, and a chill was in the air. The streets were empty, save for the occasional magical lamp that cast a fleeting light on their path. They walked in silence, side by side, her hand now clutching the small, black stones from the Godfall Land, her knuckles white.
"In the worst-case scenario... she has succeeded," she said, her voice a sharp and clear sound in the quiet of the street.
They had just learned more about the Godfall Land from the adventurers.
"I am afraid that that forbidden land has now... completely fused with her." She could almost see it, Annelise, standing on that now-cleansed wasteland, the same corrosive aura now radiating from her.
He did not answer her right away. From the adventurers' disjointed and rambling tale, he had managed to piece together a part of the truth. The black mist of the Godfall Land had thinned to the point of being almost nonexistent. And the Demon King... she had been born from it. There was no other explanation for the corrosive divine power she wielded. And she had been born a long, long time ago, perhaps right after their final battle.
But what had been her vessel? The remnant of the Goddess of Procreation's own power... it was not enough to create a Demon King. Even Eirik had had to be slowly, and painstakingly, corrupted. And that corrupting power... without a host, it would have been nothing. Had some other living being stumbled into the Godfall Land at that critical moment? A being who could have contained that power? It was a far-fetched theory, but it was the only one that made any sense.
"Yes," he said finally, his voice a flat and emotionless sound, but she, she could feel the turmoil beneath it.
"This is a problem. Her power... it has likely reached a whole new dimension."
"A 'dimension'?" she stopped and turned to him, a clear and undeniable annoyance in her golden eyes. "We have already slain a true god. Are we now to be afraid of a being that was born from her mere remnant?" She held up one of the stones. "What are you worried about?"
"That we are not strong enough," he said, and he, too, stopped, and his own gaze was now a frank and honest one. "The Demon King... her very being is a chaos. She has fused with the corrupting instinct of a god, a thing that has been festering for a thousand years. She is... unstable."
He reached out and, with a gentle touch, he traced the edge of the stone, feeling the faint, residual power within it. A power that was of the same origin as hers, a power of a pure and unadulterated destruction.
"Unstable?" she said, her own brow now furrowed.
"To forcibly fuse with such a vast and terrible power... it is not an easy thing. She needs time to adapt, to tame it. And in that time... she could lose control at any moment."
He looked at her, and a complex and unreadable expression came over his face. "And that is what I am most afraid of. If she were to lose control... I am not sure if we, with our current power and methods, could seal her away."
She was silent. She understood now. "So what do we do?" she asked directly. "Do we continue to search for clues? Or do we go to her now?"
At the latter, her own aura grew sharp and deadly.
But he did not answer right away. His gaze went past her, to the distant horizon. "'The Light of Ersten', Org, Athos," he murmured, as if taking stock of his own resources, "and the legendary Hero's Sword... in theory, with all four... we might be able to purify the world before her own, dying power can corrupt it. But..." he shook his head, "...that is just a theory."
His gaze returned to her. "What do you think we should do?"
It was a rare thing, for him to ask for her opinion.
And she, in turn, gave him a look that said, 'So you do need me, after all'. "I, of course, choose to go to her now. If she is so dangerous, we cannot just let her be. Even to just seal her away... it is better than just sitting here and waiting for the end of the world."
He just looked at her, at her simple and direct solution, a solution he had already considered himself, but had not been able to commit to. To kill her... it would be to risk the world. But to find another way... it was a slim hope, but a hope nonetheless. And then he smiled.
At the sight of his smile, she was a little taken aback. "You're right," he said. "It is not our style to just sit and wait."
He reached out, not for the stones, but to brush a stray strand of her golden hair from her face, a gesture that was now as natural and as easy as breathing. "And even if the power of the holy swords is not enough, I have other ways. At the very least... I will not let it come to the worst."
She felt the warmth of his touch, and the unshakeable confidence in his voice, and the coldness in her own heart began to melt away. "Alright," she said with a nod.
He let his hand fall, but his gaze still lingered on her, and a new and deeper emotion was now in his own eyes. "But before that..." his own voice was now a lighter, more playful sound, "...look up, Serie."
She did, but all she saw was the stars. She looked back at him, confused, but then... she understood.
They were both burdened by a heavy future. But now... in this small and quiet moment... he was inviting her to just... be, to walk with him, under the stars, to share in the simple and fleeting peace of a traveler's life. A peace before the storm.
She did not speak. She just put away the small stones and, with a will of her own, she took his hand. And in that moment, in the feel of their intertwined fingers, a new and silent understanding passed between them.
"Come," she said, her voice still a cool and level sound, but her own hand now squeezed his, just a little, "let us go."
And they walked on, side by side, under the stars.
The shadow in the darkness had not yet been banished, but for now... they were just two ordinary travelers, enjoying a brief and precious moment in time.
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