Arcadia, the Land of Demons…
Icy flowers shimmer faintly under the soft warmth of the morning sunlight. Snow and crystalline grass glisten like pristine gems, slick with half-frozen dew, as I open my eyes anew. In this place where destiny is made... there is no blood. Only death and the demons who’ve twisted this realm into their frozen, shadowed image.
I should be dead. Yet I’m alive. Somehow… even as the Demon Lord still stands. The reforged Runestone – the key to fulfilling my Prophecy as the Hero summoned to Nisha – stolen from me by that bastard. In the distance, where the World Tree stands tall amid the frozen heart of the Land of Demons, arcs of dark energy tear through the sky in jagged streaks of deep purple.
I have to get there. Now! Because I, Arisa Ishii… have to kill the Demon Lord. That’s what I’m here to do. But then… close by in the snow... I see my Paladin…
“Anna!”
“Ari… saa…”
Bloodlessly, she stares at me as I fall to my knees beside her. Her eyes are dilated and delirious. Ascalon, her ever-faithful claymore, lies shattered in the snow. My weapon – the angelic staff Elizabeth – is fractured, its radiant, bladed wings broken.
“Don’t worry...” I gasp breathlessly, extending a trembling hand glowing with white and blue light towards her. “I’ll Heal your wounds, like so many times before…”
“No. Conserve your Mana...” Anna whispers, pushing my hand aside, her pained smile defiant even now. “Use it to stop… the Demon Lord...”
“I need you, Anna. I’m your Healer. I...”
“I used it, Arisa.”
Elizabeth falls from my grip, landing in the snow with a muffled thud as her words sink in. Desperation claws at me as I stare into her eyes, hoping what she said wasn’t true.
“I had to do it…” Anna whispers, her breath shallow as she chuckles faintly. “Divine Intervention, Arisa. It was my last chance to save you. If not, you would’ve...”
“No!” I yell at the top of my lungs, my voice raw. “I’m your Healer, Anna. That’s my job! I should be the one to…”
“You’re my Healer… but I’m your Paladin.”
“You are! But this ain’t right! This…”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“I did my best, didn’t I? Arisa...”
“You did,” I answer gravely, the pain in her voice choking me. “You always did…”
Her eyelids grow heavy, her gaze softening as she forces a weary smile. Bloodied fingers rise to caress my cheek, trembling and fragile. Her strength is failing rapidly… for that’s what Divine Intervention does – a life for a life.
“Talk to me. Stay with me…” I beg desperately. “Please! Look at me…”
“Tell Mom I love her…” Anna murmurs, her voice barely more than a breath. “Please tell her I wasn’t afraid at the end...”
Before she can finish, her body begins to dissolve. Dust slips through my fingers, carried away by the frigid winds of this evil, fucked up place.
“Anna…”
She was my Paladin. I was her Healer. And now... I’m alone.
“Anna.”
I whisper her name one final time into the void, my voice hollow. With trembling hands, I pick up Elizabeth once more, its shattered form catching what little light breaks through the darkness. My gaze locks onto the World Tree in the distance.
The ground trembles with every step as I press forward, my resolve unyielding like the frozen hellscape around me. Somewhere in that accursed place, the Demon Lord awaits. There, amidst the shadow and frost, lies an ending to this nightmare, this Prophecy of mine.
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In the sacred heart of the World Tree…
Before me stretches a hall of snow-laden stone, its timeless beauty ensnared in icy leaves and white roses, their blooms unyielding against the cold. Each step forward is tainted with smears of inky, black blood. Demon blood.
Somehow, golden sunlight filters through towering antique windows, its brightness stinging my eyes. This ancient interior is said to be the cradle of existence… the alpha and the omega, the birthplace of time and space. And honestly? Fuck this place.
Just a few more steps ahead of me, the Demon Lord stands. Clutching the Runestone in its shadow-wreathed claws, it looms before a massive antique clock fixed to the far wall, nestled between the sunlit windows. The clock’s ancient gears creak and groan as they tick forward, the grind of time itself mocking me. Not for long, though!
“Look at me, you motherfucker…”
The stench of decay hangs thick in the air as the Demon Lord turns to face me. Its eyes, blood-red and black with corruption, bore into me with disdain. Rows of scythe-like teeth part in something between a grimace and a smile as pain flickers across its grotesque face.
“That last one didn’t count…” I snarl, gripping Elizabeth tightly. “Let’s go again right here, you ugly son of a bitch. I’ll kill you!”
Holy Fire erupts from my hand, a blazing torrent of blue sanctity that engulfs the Demon Lord, its flames biting deep into its shadowed flesh. It retaliates with dark, icy talons, their force like a sledgehammer, their sharpness like a hundred blades. The impact of our clash sends shockwaves through the hall, splintering and shattering the antique clock in a deafening cascade of glass, stone, and metal.
In the Demon Lord’s grasp, the Runestone fractures, its shards scattering across the frozen floor. Meanwhile… my limbs feel like they’re about to give out… my breath… ragged and shallow…
Good grief. Is this it? Is this how it ends for the Hero? For me? If it is, then so be it.
And yet… I have my regrets. Anna… oh, Anna! Rinnah willing, I wish you could be here with me for one more moment. For just a little longer, you and me… together…
Thanks to you… in Arcadia, deep within the sacred heart of the World Tree… I killed the Demon Lord. And it…