PARALLEL STORY NEW BEGINNING CHAPTER 2: IT’S TIME
A grown man and a masked young woman traveled through the sky after burying the fallen.
Whenever they encountered monsters corrupted by the chaos that abounded in the area, the young woman would only unsheathe her sword to cut them down and continue.
Mechanically, her body moved, trying not to think.
Beside her, the man let out his pain for the losses numbed by the cruelty of this continent.
Then, traveling in the distance, they noticed a small town, and both stopped.
“This...” Turay hesitated as he saw the young woman take off her mask.
After removing her mask, another appearance was revealed.
Black hair like her eyes, with a thin and weak figure whose gaze was filled with a coldness that tried to hide more complex emotions.
“It wasn’t necessary,” Turay muttered under his breath.
Aurora watched the mask silently and, as if in automatic mode, put it away.
“I don’t want to cause trouble by extending my presence,” she muttered.
Turay’s expression changed in different shapes and forms.
For someone recognizable like her, who had very different news from dangerous areas, it was not strange to think that her presence would cause trouble.
Still, it was unnecessary for her to reveal herself so directly.
Aurora switching her equipment as if in automatic mode, she softly heard the sound of battle in the distance.
“Something’s going on in town...”
A voice rang in her ears, and she immediately moved.
Flying at high speed, she approached the village and noticed that a pack of Lycaons, led by a C-Rank magical beast, were attacking them.
Her hand unsheathed her sword and without thinking, she swung it, launching quick and precise slashes toward all the enemies in her path.
In just a few seconds of her appearing, the town fell silent as all the enemies fell to the ground, dead.
“...” The silence stretched out, and she saw her surroundings.
An old and ruined town, she could tell that people found this place and then made it their home.
Children locked in their homes, watching in fear, men and women holding old weapons.
There were no more than a hundred of them and they all had one thing in common: they were normal people, with no skills.
“Let me help you.”
Those words came out of her mouth immediately as she saw someone injured and, without hesitation, she walked over, pulling a potion from her ring and sprinkling it on the wound.
“Everyone can be calm. She’s an ally,” Turay said, calming the mood and without hesitation, walked over to perform basic medical care.
His gaze was grateful to see her use her healing potion on his people, but Aurora’s expression didn’t change.
When she reacted again, she realized that she had managed to heal all the wounded and perhaps because of the number they didn’t receive as many injuries and it wasn’t as unfortunate as Turay’s group.
“Thank you very much for helping us,” Turay said, leading the group.
He had already given notice to the family of those fallen that accompanied him, and those families were mourning the death of their loved ones.
Aurora’s mind was filled with questions and questioning.
If only she had arrived earlier... If only she had heard them sooner... Wouldn’t they still be alive?
Feeling guilt over an event that wasn’t connected to her, Aurora turned her expression cold again, closing her mind completely.
“Chief, these Lycaons attacked us because of being pushed out of their area... A temporary dungeon has appeared and seems to be about to overflow. Pushing the wild animals away,” reported an exhausted man.
He appeared to be a hunter from the village, though the bow and shoddy equipment revealed how hard life was in this place.
The report was given looking sideways at Aurora, whose strength was seen in a straightforward manner.
“I’ll help...” Aurora replied in a flat tone.
Wanting to sound like some kind of robot that felt no emotions, her answer was given immediately... As if she feared that if she stood still, the emotions would overwhelm her.
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“I understand, but first rest,” Turay said, trying to do something, and with a hearty smile to cheer her up, he pointed. “Come, we don’t have much, but at least you can rest and eat something first.”
Directing her towards a small house that clearly seemed to be the best among the surrounding ones, Turay left her in that small house and then walked out with an infuriated expression.
“Why did you report in front of her? We don’t know what level the dungeon is and you want to send a girl?!”
“Even so, she’s stronger than all of us! We can’t resist a dungeon!”
Aurora, hearing those voices that both individuals thought she couldn’t hear because of the distance, fell silent.
As did Turay, who first scolded the other individual... Unable to deny his words.
This world could get to be that strange.
A fifteen-year-old ‘girl’ could become stronger than full-grown and burly men in their prime.
Looking around the house, whose furniture was old, Aurora realized that this town had had no connection to the outside world for a long time.
Feeling the silence pressing down on her, Aurora was about to move when she heard a creak and realized that the radio was on.
“Morning news about the world.”
The radio voice rang out and waiting for the listeners to gather themselves after a continuous moment.
“The death of Malik Zamora has been confirmed. His body was delivered by the Pacific Demon King and now that self-styled ‘Demon King’ has joined a newly formed guild to confront those dangerous demons,” reported the host and letting the people could digest the news, he added. “The death of the first SSS Rank has shocked the world, but above all, it has marked the beginning of the new war... The European-Demon War, as it is known, has reached the climax.”
The voice carried seriousness enough to match the news he was delivering.
“The old guild that Malik led. The ‘The Eternal Guards’ have chosen a new leader from among those who survived the attacks of the allied faction and are willing to continue the war their former leader started. Allying themselves with demons, their goal is to keep the lands under their command,” announced the host and, taking a breath, he continued. “Demons are unreasonable individuals and many of them want only to spread chaos or have fun performing massacres. That’s why there are many clashes between them.”
There was silence and seriousness from the other side, but then, after taking a deep breath, the announcer continued.
“This year 2043, 15 years after the ‘Great Cataclysm’ it can be officially said that Iraq, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, and Jordan have fallen and their governments have completely disappeared,” reported the host and giving a moment for the news to sink in, he announced. “But it is not all destruction and death. The efforts of the European Union and other international guilds have succeeded in repelling the demons in Turkey, whose capital was the first portal. By divine intervention, the portals either stopped functioning or have been destroyed by allied forces, leaving only the demonic portal in Ankara at the hands of the Pacific Demon King and tens of thousands of demons loose in this world.”
The voice took a moment, as if seeking to calm down and regain strength, then spoke again.
“What does the future hold for us? That answer we do not know. Turkey, one of the last countries, is holding firm with the support of the Peaceful Demon King and the recent guild ‘The Fallen’ that has emerged in that area. The King of Arabia has supported his army directly by trying to protect his lands and accepting refugees. The European Union is in a harsh confrontation. Millions of people have died, not only since the disappearance of Jerusalem, but since this total war began. Refugees, wounded and crippled... The world is facing another historic event and to mark it, much blood will be shed,” the host revealed, and after a sigh, he commented. “For people like us, the only thing left is to wait and survive.”
With a comment that carried the sadness and despair of those who heard it, the radio cut its communication.
Aurora, who heard everything, closed her eyes, trying not to let her mind wander, but still, she did.
Nothing changed.
Since that day when an entire city disappeared... Nothing changed.
Neither her revenge nor the deaths of the leaders... Nothing changed.
The leaders died, but as if they treated real life as a game, others took over and rose up without caring about the others.
Everything continued the same as if nothing had changed and at this moment where her thoughts were surfacing, she realized that the people she knew had completely disappeared along with the city where they had met.
Her heart began to tremble as emotions surged in her mind and, taking hold of the handle of her sword, her hand shook as emotions tried to explode.
“I have to take care of that dungeon,” she muttered, tightening her grip and suppressing her thoughts.
She had to do her job; she had to focus and forget and ignore... She had to not think and, if necessary, then go back to wandering.
Just like she did since she realized that her actions didn’t change the world... just like she did when she realized that reality was cruel.
Before she could reach the door, her body stopped and, from her shadow, a young woman stepped out of it.
Black eyes and hair of the same color, her figure was perfect, but her expression carried some pain at seeing her hurt in a non-physical way.
That young fifteen-year-old girl, who was sometimes extremely indifferent to life, now looked at her with pain as if seeing her wounded also hurt her.
She had not wandered alone and that young girl was always hidden in her shadow, supporting her... And now it was the same.
“That’s enough,” the young girl murmured, and without waiting for Aurora to react, she hugged her and continued. “It’s time to cry. Moving aimlessly won’t help distract you. It’s time to cry.”
Aurora’s body trembled like a flower near a hurricane of emotions and feeling them, she tried to escape from the embrace.
She tried to escape in the face of pain, grief, and guilt... She tried to escape the pain of having lost acquaintances, and Alice didn’t let her and hugged her with a greater strength as she trembled.
“It’s time to mourn, for those lost, for those who are gone,” Alice murmured in a complex tone that carried a depth no one knew, and stroking Aurora’s back gently, she whispered. “It’s time to face the pain.”
No wandering, no ignoring it, no hiding in a false coldness... It was time to face it all and accept it.
Aurora froze, and then hugged Alice tightly.
“Everything I did. Didn’t it work? All those I killed didn’t change anything?” She wondered aloud and looking down at her hands for a moment, she saw them red, stained with blood.
Just like her sword, her hands were stained with blood... Too much blood.
Her question needed no answer, the answer was spoken over the radio.
The war continued even though many died, others took the place of the fallen and everything went on as usual.
There was not the peace she sought and her revenge only ended up staining her hands with blood... Without bringing back those she had lost and without changing the world as she had hoped.
“Did all my vengeance bring any change?” she hesitated quietly as tears spilled from her eyes.
“No.” The answer came out of her own mouth.
There was no change... It only brought more pain and darkness, driving her deep into the abyss of despair.
The tears came pouring out, and she cried like the child she was... In the arms of her best friend and sister.