She was amazing. That woman I’d fallen for.

Strong, but not for her strength. Beautiful, but not for her looks.

I’d fallen deathly in love with her, I felt there was no other word to describe what I felt for this woman.

Now as we stood at the precipice of reality itself, on the verge of nothingness, witnessing the likely destruction of the world I couldn’t think about anything but the sheer beauty her smile had as she swung her sword one last finale time.

With both hands wrapped around the hilt of the slightly curved single edged blade, tip pointed skyward, sword held above her head in defiance of the crushing air about us.

Looking forward, up at the skull-faced being that stretched out almost infinitely in the sky above, the parts it wasn’t touching appeared scarlet and as though the space around the planet itself was bleeding from the horrendous damage dealt already in the fight. It had eight sets of distorted mangled bird and bat like wings drenched in seeping liquid that spilt onto the world below it causing writhing masses of monsters to be born from it. Long tendril like arms that yet still appeared with hands were spread out wide beckoning forth energy from the realm.

Turning back to the woman with her sword raised, I watched as her body tensed and her teeth grit when she made to take a single strained step forward planting her right foot down in a stomp.

With a grunt of strain, a look of determination and the final smile she’d ever wear I watched on as she ripped the sword downward in a slash- it tore a wave in reality a hole appearing in the cut on the gigantic being looming above as it screamed out in pain a horrible noise deafening all.

Glancing up at the woman I’d fallen for-

“!” A silent scream left me, unable to be heard past the sound of the endless skull-faced god.

She was no longer there, gone in the flash of time I’d taken my eyes off her while wincing from the pain.

It wasn’t before long that the sound of its pain was cut off and the world seemed to return to normal as though nothing had happened when it too left this realm. The bloody sky returned blue and the clouds formed back, having left when the god appeared. Far as the eye could see around the lands were destroyed still, but dust-like specks of people could be seen crawling out from their hiding spots to see if it was finally over.

On the ground where she had stood were a pair of swords, a shorter blade and the full length blade she had used to kill the monstrosity.

Their handles were wrapped in purplish-blue silky cloth with golden designed pommels and blacked steel guards, the perfectly reflective blades unmarried and intact. They were without sheaths as I gently picked them up from the ground. A grimm expression took over my face as I looked out at the destroyed lands holding the swords, a gust of wind bellowed out, the baggy clothing I wore whipping around in it. The gust seemed a cry of return from winds having gone deathly still and silent when the skull-faced disaster appeared.

“Daru…” a voice said from behind me, bringing my attention toward the person.

My eyes laid upon a close friend who I’d been travelling with for the past two and a half years. Matt was shorter than I was by about four inches, he had soft light red hair that appeared pink-like a majority of the time. His skin was marked with blood likely not his own, some of it had dried onto the dark metal cuirass, greaves and sabatons, his forearms and hands were clean of crimson because of the large towering shield he carried everywhere with him.

“Are you alright?” I asked, noticing his right eye was closed with a wound on his forehead seeping down that side of his face.

Raising his hand up to it he wiped away the blood opening his eye. “I’ll be fine, but are you okay?”

A sigh escaped my lips as I felt a pain in my chest. “In time.” my response earned a nod from my friend who stepped forward looking out over the land.

There wasn’t time to grieve now, we had to move- get to where the others we had come were waiting and tell them what happened. And so wordlessly I pressed forward to where a shattered mound of stone steps led down the hilltop we stood on.

Stolen novel; please report.

Matt kept pace with me as we traversed the unstable steps, I made no sight of slowing as I bounded from rock to rock hopping like a rabbit across it all. Unintentionally this garnered speed more than I had anticipated throwing me further than intended.

“WoAh!” I called out as my footing slipped-

A tight grip around my left arm pulled me back from almost certain death at the tip of a metal spike jutting out from the ground- likely it was part of the supports from a the temple that once had residence on the hill and at its foot.

“Easy! Whew…” My friend let out a breath, I turned seeing his shield dug into the ground with his feet perched and arm outstretched to grab me.

“Thanks.” I replied, gaining my footing back.

“Careful, we still need to make it off the mountain before you’re allowed to keel over.” The pink haired man said wrenching his shield from the spot he’d stuck it.

“Just excited to make it down from here is all.” I said without really thinking, it wasn’t exactly true, but it was all the same.

I did want off this gods forsaken hill more than anything, but my excitement was more adrenaline that had kicked in when I nearly fell while my mind raced to fix that situation before I was pulled back.

“C’mon then, not much longer.” He said taking charge and getting me to follow his steps so as not to lose my footing again.

It was a short way down like my friend said, if I were to put a number to how long I’d say about thirty minutes or so to reach the bottom from where we were. As our feet touched down on the flat plane of soft grass next the marbled path ruined next the intact lower part of the steps, I let out an exacerbated cheer of relief forgetting for a moment what our victory had cost.

We’d lost so many comrades and friends to get here, then in the final part of the battle been left helpless in the face of true might put on display by the King Naeralith. But he had been put to an end the world would never suffer under his pressure again, at least not this era.

Reaching the bottom of the hill however allowed us to meet up with a Shaytan pair, identical twins named Asahi and Mitsu. As well was Remus, a fellow human, Euphemia our Gods sent Elf to keep us on the right track. They all looked just as beat up as Matt and I were, dried red patches on their clothing and scuffed up armour with new deep grooves carved into them by the claws of monstrosities.

Remus and Euphemia were seated on large boulders that had once been apart of the a structure, while the twins were resting on their feet standing about talking to each other about something in the Shaitan language.

The twins despite being in conversation were the first to notice our arrival, which had been par for the course in the recent months of them travelling with us. They always saw things before everyone else, when I’d asked about it on previous occasions Asahi was quick to laugh and just saying it was something all Shaytan were good at. My bet was however on the age of the pair being a factor in it, as they were, by there own admission around twelve thousand years old putting them at old enough to have literally seen the end of an Era.

Though they hardly acted their age a majority of the time.

“Looking like a corpse, Daru.” It was the male twin Asahi who commented almost idly at my appearance.

“Considering what he lost he has the right, brother.” Mitsu replied, elbowing her sibling in the ribs.

“She’s really gone then?” The voice of Remus cut-in, his bluish hued brow raised as he stepped forward putting a large muscular hand on my shoulder.

I gave a nod, we’d all known it would take a life to slay Naeralith, but that’s all in theory and that didn't account for how damn much it hurts to see it happen otherwise.

“Keep her swords, she'll want them back some day and knowing you had them would make her happy.” The large man moved around so he was on my right now supporting me with his arm around my shoulder as we walked toward where the nearest road was that could take us to a hamlet.

Once there we could finally rest properly and mark the day as a win.

Glancing down at the swords in my hands I couldn’t help but agree to what he’d said, but I’d need to find some or get scabbards made for them