Hghvar, the name of the Elf King that I heard from the cheers of the residents of the Elven graveyard when I felt a terrifying aura emitting from a large tree that stood firmly behind the offering stone. The sound of cracks was heard from within this burial ground which began to move to shake leaving deep cracks, the Elves who were there could only be silent watching their house destroyed by the disaster they caused themselves but that did not frighten them and instead they continued to cheer for the King's arrival which they honor.
He has a large body like a giant old tree, his whole body is united with the bones of elves and humans who have become sacrifices for his offerings. He has a crown that looks like horns, his face is covered with tree roots but his eyes seem to glow in the darkness, he has no legs but he has many roots that can spread far throughout the area of the Elf graveyard.
“Eghv Siej Khalvr Sofctr? Man? I haven't tasted human blood in 100 years." Hgvar said as he looked at me.
“Your Highness Hghvar, he is a sacrifice for you yet he has fought and killed the Elves!” shouted one of the Elves.
“How disappointing for the Elves living in this era, they are struggling just to hunt a single human. But I am proud of you for still having hatred for humans and bringing me this human offering.” Hghvar said.
Hghvar's cold eyes looked directly at me and before long he growled raising both his hands followed by tree roots also rising up. He was able to control all the trees that had mixed with the bones around him, then Hghvar pointed at me with a roar and it made all the roots attack me from all directions. Attack after attack I avoided but still I received a scratch wound because my body began to weaken exhausted.
"Element user, no wonder the Elves have trouble catching you but your element won't affect me, Hahaha!" Hghvar said.
Hghvar continued to attack me without stopping even though I was able to dodge his attacks from behind the rubble and the moment I let my guard down, a root immediately wrapped itself around my leg causing me to be dragged and lifted up. Then the root immediately slammed me into a ruined wall so hard that several of my bones were broken and some of them were cracked accompanied by bleeding bruises. As my sword fell to the ground, I asked myself. How do I defeat this creature? Am I resigned to face my death again? Hghvar opened his mouth wide as he lifted the helpless me up, his tongue sticking out to feel my dripping blood dripping into his mouth.
Desperate to accept my death, I saw a point of light inside Hghvar's mouth. When I stretched out my hand, I felt an energy that immediately took me to see the past. The point of light was a ring worn by a woman I know and it made me think that this was what I had been looking for all this time. Back to my senses, the coils of roots in my legs unraveled and plunged me into the jaws of Hghvar's mouth until my legs were snapped off by the fangs in his mouth.
Inside Hghvar's belly full of carcasses, I heard the cheers of the Elf residents outside. Waiting for my death to slowly rot along with the carcass inside Hghvar's stomach, I began to doubt my previous intentions. Why am I doing all this for a ring for a female ghost? But the other me is like saying only I can save her and that's the only way to weaken the Demon King's power. When I looked at the sparkling ring that I was holding, I realized a small thing when I questioned whether I was weak? No, I managed to get what I was looking for.
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Instantly I came up with an idea with the lantern I still carried, "I hope my plan works."
Focusing on eliminating negative feelings, I began to adjust my breath to release a spark of my electric element to burn this lantern. I know this plan will kill me too, but it is the only way to get out of Hghvar's stomach. From the outside, neither the Elf nor the Hghvar knew what plan I was carrying out and suddenly an explosion of fire erupted from inside Hghvar's stomach, burning him up.
BLARRR!!
“AAA!! GHAA!!” Hgvar screamed in heat.
The elves panicked when they saw their King burning, finally they used water magic to put out the fire and that's when I released my electric element to stun them from the flow of their magic water until they fell paralyzed. When I felt Hghvar's body hit the ground, I managed to get out of Hghvar's stomach covered in blood and other carrion organs. With the last of my strength left, I tried to crawl with my remaining two arms as my legs. I don't care about the pain of my legs that have been severed, even though the blood is running down the ground I'm walking on, I will still fight to return this ring.
With this strong feeling, I suddenly saw the ghostly figure of the Mad Princess who had appeared before me with her mouth wide open. This was my chance while the Elves were still in a paralyzed state after being stung by my element. The seconds I lifted my helpless body and stretched out my right hand with a ring in my hand, I only hoped that she could be saved from her suffering which tormented her until the end of her life.
Instantly a piece of past memory made me feel the pain of the memory and made my mouth say her name. “Lanasta.”
Hghvar's roots suddenly penetrated my stomach until my blood spurted out but I still managed to hold out my right arm which was immediately cut off by an ax thrown by an Elf who had awakened from the effects of my previous attack. Before I died for the hundredth time, somehow I felt happy when I saw the ghost of Lanasta taking my severed right hand which was still holding her precious ring.
“…”
I can't smile anymore even though my heart is happy, “This is enough for me” I said to myself.
The elf who came over then grabbed me and slit my throat with a very sharp knife slash, blood was pouring from my neck which made me unable to scream in pain anymore. As I lay down, I could only see the Elves who started to surround me and slaughter me with their sharp weapons. The slashes and stabs had torn through my flesh and my already helpless body was covered in blood. Before I close my eyes, I'm grateful that they can't see the ghost in front of me and now my vision starts to blacken until I finally die for the hundredth time.
“You know, if you die for the hundredth time then you will turn into something terrible.” Said the creature of darkness that whispered to me.
“…” I couldn't say anything else.
On the other hand, Lanasta's ghost saw me, who had been slaughtered to death, leaving my severed head, making her remember her past and she saw me like a lover who had died when his promise had been kept. Her anger and deep sadness she couldn't hold back anymore and made it into something even more terrible.
“My hero!!! AAA!!” Lanasta screamed.
Before Lanasta slaughtered the Elves to avenge me, my body suddenly returned to its original state to stop it and instantly Lanasta turned into a beautiful female ghost with tears streaming down her cheeks. I couldn't control my body anymore but I was still half-conscious seeing this scene, like someone had taken control of my body. My fragile hands moved by themselves to take the ring in Lanasta's hand and put it on her ring finger. It made my awareness look at Lanasta's past by holding her hands in a flower garden, her longing for a hundred years has now been paid off with a ring on her ring finger like a promise made by her lover whom she calls a hero.
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[https://web.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=5711433425616655&set=a.218825468210839]
“Y-You came back, I knew you would come back for me.” Said Lanasta who rubbed her hand on my face.
“…” I couldn't express my feelings but inside my heart felt the same way that Lanasta felt and it made me feel that this wasn't me.
In my new form, I still can't see my face but what I see are the holes in my palms. At that moment my hand moved on its own like controlling an energy and made my sword fly into my hand. This surprised the Elves because suddenly they could see Lanasta's ghost and my new form. I floated closer to the Elves and when I saw the blood pooling on the ground, there I saw my face which had black eyes and had no mouth or nose. I started to ask myself, What kind of creature am I?
“The black eye has appeared!” shouted the frightened Elf citizens who saw me.