[David Armand Perspective] [Elemental Knight of Fire Perspective] [Athetosea Great War Aftermath] [1/2]

As I opened my eyes, I only found a barren land… The only thing there was a deep crimson color…

When I kneeled and touched the dirt, a strong smell of blood filled my nostrils.

Intoxicating… Nauseating… I suddenly felt as if the air became thicker and the sky suddenly turned deep black.

The terrible odor of the blood, of the splattered and smashed flesh against the dirt… the broken weapons… the suffering…

Their faces… Full of despair… They couldn't even close their eyes as they died…

The piles of corpses amounted thousands… Thousands of people dying horribly, suffering…

I couldn't even move, a terrible pain assaulted my heart, I felt as if it was being burned to ashes, bit by bit, completely…

In my own desire to live, I crawled... I struggled, even if I had to move the piles of corpses out of my way… I had to escape... This place, this pain, this suffering…

I crawled and crawled… But the sky never showed a hint of light, the barren and bloody land seemed endless, an endless sea of blood and death.

When will I escape?

Am I destined to be here?

Suddenly, I felt the warm hands of someone I recognized… Emma, Beatrice…

The fair skin, the beautifully painted nails in light and adorable colors… Their sweet scent.

As I glanced were these hands originated, there wasn't a body, but their detached arms, holding tightly of my shoulders.

I once again felt an incredible fear… The pain in my heart intensified as I tried to take these arms from my shoulders, however, they tightly grabbed from me and didn't let me go, they suddenly began to crawl like spiders as the two arms tried to asphyxiate me.

The arms were strong and the pain of my heart didn't let me fight back… I slowly felt as the air in my lungs depleted… My mind became fuzzy and my vision cloudy…

Emma… Beatrice… I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…

I deserve this… Kill me… I want to die as well… Let us meet once again… In the afterlife…

However, as I was finally going to die, the hands banished in ashes as the wind scattered them...

"Emma… Beatrice! No! Don't leave me…! Let me die! I want to be with both of you! I can't…! I can't keep on living…! I simply can't…!"

Suddenly, the deep dark sky opened for a moment, to reveal a gigantic multi-colored eye. All the colors of the rainbow were there, their blinding light was overwhelming, I could feel my eyes being fried by just staring.

A massive hand descended, made of a strange rainbow-colored liquid, it grabbed on me, as the eye in the sky opened into a giant jaw, filled with bloody fangs and thousands of tongues, in the being's throat, there was an endless abyss…

I glanced at the abyss, completely different from the various colors, and a sudden feeling of despair filled my heart.

I yelled as loud as I could, but my mouth couldn't produce a single voice… As the jaws approached me, I would have preferred to die strangled by Emma and Beatrice than by this beast…

This beast… This beast is the one who took them from my life…

And now… It will take as well… To an endless void of despair…

As the void engulfed me, I fell endlessly…

However, in that void, a strange dot of light tried to come at me…

The light approached me with a gentle demeanor… Who are you?

"Da…!"

Da…?

"Davi…!"

Davi… Who is Davi… Who I am? I…

"David!"

David?

"Master David! Please wake up!"

Flash!

The light engulfed me as I managed to open my eyes at last, and I found Blaire at my left side, while my mother, father, and sisters were on my right side, crying.

"Master David! You are not alone! You are not alone!"

Blaire suddenly embraced me in a warm hug as she cried in my shoulders.

"Master David… Don't cry… Don't cry…"

Was I… crying?

I realized that my eyes were wet and that my whole face was moist…

"My son!"

"Brother…!"

My parents and my sisters jumped over me as they embraced me in a tight hug as well.

"Please David, don't cry anymore… We can't… We can't…"

"Brother… Don't be sad… Snif…"

"Was I dreaming this whole time…? But I…"

Blaire suddenly cried out loud, as her eyes cried intensively.

"You were! Master David, you suffer so much… Snif…"

"Blaire… I just… I was having a dream... It was so horrible… I… Emma… B-Beatrice… They were… They are dead, right? All of this wasn't just a dream… Right?"

My father cried over my head as he caressed me with his trembling but robust hands.

"My son… It wasn't a dream… It was never a dream… They… And Wallace as well…"

"Father… Ooh… Aaah… N-Noo! Ooh"

I couldn't help but cry, remembering the death of my beloved Emma and Beatrice, the death of my master and mentor… All in front of me… And I… I couldn't do anything…

"I am so weak… I am so weak… I'm so sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

"Don't cry anymore, my son…"

"Big brother… Snif"

"Brother… Snif, snif"

"Mashteeer…! Snif"

Somewhat, while being embraced by my family, as we all cried, I felt a warmth in my heart…

The pain faded, and there was a strange and warm atmosphere… Calming, soothing…

I can't just cry as we escape through the continent… I can't just keep saying that I am sorry… It won't lead to anything…

I need to get stronger, alone…

Relying on my friends, ended in their demise… I cannot let this happen again…!

I need to get stronger on my own, and by my own strength, I will protect them…!

"I-I promise… That I will never cry ever again… I promise… That I will never falter ever again… I promise… That I will never despair again…"

"Mashter…"

"My son"

"Brother…"

With blazing eyes, I glanced at the horizon through the caravan. With fiery determination deep within my heart, I cleaned my tears as I bowed to my family and Blaire.

"I'm going to protect all of you, and I will avenge them, all of them…! No matter what…!"

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Since the Athetosea War, I was rescued by my subordinates and Blaire, and was carried through a caravan towards the outskirts of the Kingdom. My subordinates managed to pick up my family somehow, I was grateful that Wallace as made me make those underground passages that led to the outsides of the Kingdom, as a safe escape route. The Kingdom doors were all close and the people were being contained inside against their will…

I wasn't even able to grasp the situation at all, what was the reason behind such a chaotic battlefield? The Knights and Adventurers were acting like berserk beasts… And they were being mercilessly killed by those groups of highly evolved demi-humans…

I feared that on my own ignorance, I completely misunderstood the truth about this war, there was something more behind it. Although its painful to remember, I do remember the slime monster talking about a Master… Whatever that Master is, to be able to control such a beast…

As days went by, we made into a nice distance from Athetosea, in an area called Soothing Hills, we rested. This was one of the "safe" places in this continent, mostly used as a merchant route, the place is desolate enough for bandits to not be here, and monsters were very rare as well, only weak variants that anyone can hunt.

I thanked the gods as I was still able to save my family, there was also a fair amount of my subordinates with us, and with their help and protection, I didn't have to be so worried about my family safety.

Blaire has been at my side most of the time, talking to me about our next plans, and what to do in this uncertain future. 

Just like I promised before, I want to become stronger… But just by killing random monsters, I won't get anywhere…

Then Blaire spoke.

"Master David… If you want to get stronger but feel like leveling won't help much… How about talking with the Great Dragonoid Sage?"

"S-Sage? Blaire, who is he?"

"When I was still in my village, we Salamanders lived alongside Fire Dragonoids, there was a very respected Sage of the ancient times that had masterful control over the Fire Spirits and possessed amazing magical talent… We called him the Great Dragonoid Sage!"

"Was that… Before you were enslaved?"

"Y-Yes… But my village was destroyed and my people killed and enslaved… Some of the Dragonoid's escaped while the Sage never showed for our help. Instead, he escaped inside of the Fiery Lava Dungeon… I assume that he must be somewhere inside…"

"Such a coward… With his power, he could have saved you, Blaire, he could have saved everyone… All of your people…!"

Blaire looked with a saddened expression at the ground, as her scarlet eyes tried to contain her tears.

"T-There are people that have the power to save others, but choose not to do so… They only use their power to save themselves… That's how it is…"

"Blaire…"

Blaire suddenly approached me as she grabbed on my hands.

"But Master David is different, you are kind and benevolent… You are a real hero! That's why… I don't want Master David to be sad anymore, to suffer anymore, to be alone anymore… Heroes don't do that… Heroes are always looking up to the future, no matter what…"

"Blaire… I? A Hero…? But I couldn't save them. How am I a Hero? I am just a pathetic excuse of a knight…"

To my words, Blaire's scarlet eyes shined in a bright blaze as she approached me even more, I could feel her breath right in front of me, she was very warm.

"No! Don't say that, Master David… I know that you can do it! I know that you can save everyone… You just need to believe in you, and to get stronger… That's why… That's why… If we go to the Sage… He could help you"

"Blaire, thanks… But how will he help me? He only cares about himself…"

"I-I know! B-But… We can convince him… He was a greedy old man… If we somehow manage to grab the Sacred Relic of the Dungeon… He could offer his help in exchange for it!"

"That means… Conquering the Dungeon…?"

Blaire nodded with energy, as she found new hope in her heart.

"E-Exactly! I-I know its hard… B-But if we are together, we can do it, Master David! I can heal you… and I can always bring you back, even from near death… If we are together… We can do it…!"

"Blaire…"

I could feel as Blaire's heart was fighting for that small amount of hope that has bloomed inside of her. After losing so much, she was someone very close to me and seeing her hope and expectations filled me with intent and determination.

"Alright… However, if that Sage ends up tricking us… I will just force him to help me"

"M-Master David!"

Blaire suddenly embraced me in a tight hug, with her strong and big scaled hands, her body was naturally very hot, thankfully I had a high Fire Resistance. I patted her head as I smiled.

"Thanks, Blaire, for being with me…"

"I will always be at your side, Master David… Since that time that you saved me from slavery… I knew that our destinies were to be together… I will always…"

Suddenly, Blaire approached her lips towards mine, looking at me with enamored eyes. As our lips approached each other, I remembered Emma and Beatrice… I just couldn't forget them…

"I'm sorry, Blaire… I can't…"

"M-Master David… I-I'm sorry… Did I go too far…? Hehe… I was too happy to see you happy… S-Sorry…"

"It's fine… I accept your feelings, Blaire… But not now, I need to get stronger first… After I have my revenge and find a safe place for my family… However, now we must concentrate on the tasks given…"

As my words finished, Blaire scarlet eyes shined in blazing light, as her adorable face showed a happy and sincere smile.

"Master David… I will always be at your side, and I will await… for that day…"

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