Chapter 531 - Time To Come Back
"You have an interesting thought process, kiddo," the Healer Guardian smiled. "I want to know how the Seika managed to pick someone that would bite his hand."
"I am making sure he returns."
"You have very little faith in him?"
The question made Lusica's mind shake. It was true that the Seika could do anything, but the saint did not seem to be lying, and it made sense somehow because he could also feel himself losing control over time without the Seika.
"You are not a villain, nor a murderer," the Healer Guardian walked toward him. "How about we take this..."
As he was about to dissuade Lusica, the ceiling began to shake. A roar shook the souls of whoever heard it came from above, and Lusica recognized it. Gwen and the rest made it to the palace, and the saint was in front of him.
"This place is falling apart, so how about we change the stage?" smiled the Healer Guardian as his hands shone green. The ground began to shake and break down as roots appeared.
The giant plants took down the ceiling and brought out all those inside, including Lusica. The dust clouds prevented them from seeing anything, but the throne room was nowhere how it looked like before.
"Lorius!" a voice snapped Lusica out of his disorientation, which came from in front of him. As he opened his eyes and looked forward, he found Courage darting forward with her great sword as a giant blood monster swung its arm at her.
The great sword swung and struck its arm, freezing it instantly before destroying it. Then, however, the monster regenerated as Courage tried to reach Lorius.
Lusica can see the vampire carrying a smile on his face before he waved his arm. But, unfortunately, that simple gesture made all the blood on the throne move to attack the Knight of Courage, sending her flying toward the other side of the hall.
The Knight of Courage coughed blood as she fell to the ground, but she stood up again. As she looked upward, she finally realized that in the head of the battle, Lusica and the other two arrived.
"...the saint," she muttered, with a face that looked frostbitten. Her appearance terrified Lusica as he realized that she no longer looked human. "Gwen! Lux!"
Following her shout, a serpent's head descended from the sky to attack the giant blood demon behind Lorius, who stood there with a smile. The demon raised its arms and roared, making Lusica's body tremble.
'This is not a battle I can handle,' he realized.
Unless he used his darkness, Lusica would be obliterated by the impact of these attacks. As the hydra hindered the blood demon, Lux descended from the sky to snatch the saint.
"Lux, wait!" shouted Lusica as he knew that someone as terrifying was protecting the saint. When his friend landed, roots sprung up from the ground to strike the mecha, pushing it back.
Lusica gritted his teeth as the darkness took hold of him. His face disappeared inside the black tar-like substance that oozed out of his eyes. All that was left of him was a dark humanoid creature that dashed toward the saint.
"The saint is not one that you can kill."
His voice was chilly and absolute, and the Healer Guardian appeared between the two. Saint Ai was trapped inside a giant tree that seemed impossible to destroy, while the guardian stood in front of her with a smile.
"...die!" his voice came out hoarse, nothing like it was before. Lusica did not care as he attacked the guardian with his dagger, which was the only thing that made him retain sanity.
"This dagger..." the Healer Guardian stared at the weapon with confusion. "I gave it to the king a few minutes ago, so why do you have it?" the confusion strained in his voice.
Lusica did not answer, and he was not in the state to do so. As he struck with his weapon, the guardian received the attack with his hand.
"I asked, why do you have this?" his eyes were terrifying to behold. "This belongs to none other than..." then, the guardian stopped talking as his hand was destroyed. "It belongs to..."
***
Abraham stared at the monster in front of him with confusion. The appearance of this dagger was similar to the one he created a few minutes earlier to give to the king.
However, this dagger was different, and it did not look to be as new as the one he created. Instead, this one was filled to the brim with the powers of creation, which worked to negate the powers of Nameless.
It did not make sense to Abraham that Arthur had this dagger because he had yet to meet him in this lifetime. However, the world was not the same as the one they knew it, and the Seika was the first to return fully.
"...the split," muttered Abraham as his hand regenerated. "We never took into consideration that the split might have transcended space and affected time as well."
This meant that Arthur would meet King Solomon in the future, taking this dagger from him. However, that also told that Arthur wanted Solomon to meet Abraham.
It made him terrified that this was out of his hand. Time has always been linear until the split emerged, and all of the guardians have no idea how to work around that because there was no one to manipulate the events of the future.
They had assumed that Arthur was the same man as before, the one who wanted to save the world even if it cost him his life, but none of them tried to think of what if he was not the same. On the contrary, it left Abraham with the chills and filled him with interest.
"Arthur is different," he said with a shaking smile. "And he remembers me?"
It made his heart flutter to think of that possibility. After so many years, the concept of Arthur caring about him never crossed his mind. However, the waves of rage flooded his heart after remembering what had happened before.
"I will... kill the..."
The anomaly in front of him was losing control as the powers of creation started running out. Abraham stared at the dagger with a complicated gaze as he wondered why the Seika gave it to him.
The world was a lot easier to understand when Abraham was a druid who sprung out of a tree. However, it all changed at some point, and there were consequences for his actions now.
The fight continued as another serpent tried to attack Lorius but failed. The Knight of Courage rushed forward toward the saint, but Abraham waved his arm.
"This is getting boring," muttered Lorius as his smile disappeared. "I believed that he would be here by now."
Abraham thought the same, but he wanted to inform Kar that Arthur might be different. The old Arthur would have returned to reality no matter what lives it takes because he knew that saving others took priority.
This was the same mindset that led him to betray the Healer Guardian and tear their relationship apart. However, if he refused to come back because of the love he felt toward these people, then there was a chance to make him the same as before.
The blood demon roared as it grew bigger and tore the palace apart. Then, as the structure was about to fall apart, the demon struck the ground, and waves of blood rushed to destroy everything in its path.
Those present tried to shield themselves, but the attack was too powerful, destroying the palace. Abraham closed his eyes as his plants protected the saint, their last card against the Seika.
Then, they were struck by blood.
His eyes opened after a few seconds, and he realized that the attack had flattened the palace. It was a wasteland now that had the blood demon and destroyed rubble.
Their enemies rose again for reasons that Abraham could not understand. The Knight of Courage was resting on her great sword as she rose, and the hydra was recovering the two lost heads of its serpent.
Abraham wanted to tell them that Kar could not be killed, not by them, and not today. Instead, however, he wanted them to die. These ignorant fools were risking their lives for someone they met months ago and who was not even here.
"I want to know why you are all doing this. Are you also being manipulated?" he asked with sadness to no one's answer.
"I do it for love," answered a voice from behind him.
Abraham's eyes snapped open to find someone flying behind him. The giant wings were created of blue flames that well-suited the sad eyes of the person they carried. Abraham stared at her with a gaping mouth, and he realized it instantly.
"You are the person he loves now," he said, and she turned to him. However, no joy in her eyes said she was proud about being that person.
Abraham thought that if this was the person Arthur loved, she did not deserve him. However, there was something in those eyes that wore him off. She did not respond and turned toward the saint.
"It is time to come back, Arthur."