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Chapter 21 – Silent Scream As Spring Goes
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Before Estarossa could do it, Tristan had arrived first on the place where (considering his little sister's sense) the petrified Galand had been. He did the obvious, of course. Tristan murmured little apologize without a single hint of guilt, mercilessly destroyed the petrified Galand considering what he had done back then on the Camelot to his father and his comrades.
Tristan narrowed his eyes, remembering his parents and siblings' conditions "father, mother... hopefully I won't be late, otherwise my mother and sisters' life will...".
His train of thought was interrupted by what he sensed. F*ck, Estarossa was coming. He had to leave this place as soon as possible. His next aim was to find other Commandments before his insane uncle did. Surprisingly, it led him to Monspiet and Derieri who hid on the village.
Looking to Monspiet who tried to protect Derieri with hiding her behind his back, Tristan scoffed "very funny, to see you two acted as if you are humans...".
Oh, yeah. He hadn't forgotten (he couldn't, like hell he could, and perhaps he wouldn't be) what they, the Ten Commandments, had done to his father. Killed (butchered) his father mercilessly. As much as Tristan would enjoy making Ten Commandments pay off what they had done to his father, this was not the right time. His mother and sisters' life was put in the stake and they would need the reinforcement as much as they could get, for the sake of their mother and his sisters.
When Tristan arrived on the outskirt of a secluded village where his sister had felt two members of the Ten Commandments here, he felt the familiar presence of Derieri and Monspiet, indeed.
"my, my, your mystic eyes, 'True Eyes' which can see the 'Truth', is a fearsome ability, sister", Tristan lunged and landed on the floor, looking straight to Monspiet and Derieri who looked back to him in shock "well, well, well, who would think that you two would hide in such secluded spot like this?".
Monspiet lifted his hand to the side, hiding Derieri behind him "you, Meliodas' son... What do you want this time, kid? Haven't you had enough to beat us black and blue or you just will be satisfied after you kill us?".
"Good idea, why not?", .Tristan smirked devilishly before flatly said, "just kidding".
Monspiet and Derieri dropped their head further.
Derieri lifted her dark claw, swinging it to Tristan's face "Monspiet, let me go! Let me smack his head once!".
Monspiet who wrapped his arms around her shoulders, sighed heavily "this part of you reminded me with your father, kid. You do have the resemblance with him".
Tristan knew he could talk with Monspiet because of his calmer demeanor (compared to Derieri) "thank you. For your question, Monspiet, I want to have a negotiation with you".
That was when Tristan felt Estarossa's presence. Tristan clicked his tongue "tch, he's coming. Seems like we have to get rid of him first".
Estarossa landed right behind Tristan and smirked "what is it, nephew? Do you want to earn more of your father's affection, thus you went before me?".
"oh, come on. What do you hope of me, uncle? You are the type of someone who even able to kill his brother. There's no way I could believe you. I know you would want to collect the Commandments for yourself instead of collecting it to give it to my father as he asked to you and uncle Zeldris. Even uncle Zeldris and father knew it. So, I just need to move faster than you", Tristan sighed loudly and scratched his head "I wonder how could I have such psycho like you as my uncle".
Estarossa chuckled sarcastically "you're so mean, just like your father".
Monspiet lifted his hand, he felt like witnessing the sarcastic bickering between uncle and nephew "kid, is there something we have missed on our absence?".
"well, long story short, my mother's curse has activated and she's gonna die in three days after her curse has activated. Not only my father lost his mind, but also all his emotions and feelings after he went all out in his Assault mode. To save my mother, my father has decided to become the Demon King thus he asked his younger brothers to collect the fragments of the Commandments. The thing is, this psycho uncle of mine has the ulterior motive and he could have mercilessly killed you two just to take your commandments, had I not come here beforehand".
Derieri skeptically asked, "and you think we can believe you?".
Tristan rolled his eyes, pointing Estarossa "Deri-chan, do you listen to my explanation or not? You two, of all people, have been his comrade. You know him more than I do, right?".
Monspiet threw his shirt, wearing his white cape with his shadow covering his muscular body "hate to admit it, kid, but just like what you said... instead, because we are his comrade, I know he can do it. And what's with you calling her 'chan'?".
Tristan snickered as dragon hands came out of his back "as much as it annoys me, glad to see that your logics still working well, unlike your lover. Also, it's Tristan, I'm not a kid anymore, so I wonder why did you keep calling me kid. Don't worry, I already have a beautiful wife with our kids back at home".
Derieri blushed and stuttered "w-we're not lovers!".
Monspiet snickered "for your question, you are Meliodas' son and we are older than you. I called you kid because compared to us, you are still a kid. Speaking of which, what negotiation you wanted to have with us just now?".
"Whatever, old man. About the negotiation, it came from my sister, the Queen of Camelot. Give thanks to her. Otherwise, I was just gonna kill you two to take the Commandments, but when I thought of it again, it only would make me just the same with him", Tristan pointed Estarossa before answered Monspiet's question "my sister Guinevere who has the mystic eyes to see the 'Truth' also told me that you two wanted to give away your Commandments and didn't want to fight again, right? well then, why not join us and fight by our side as our ally? Make this your last battlefield. After we're done with this Holy War thing, you two can live peacefully on Camelot and my sisters themselves will guarantee it".
"nonsense. So you two have lost your will to fight?", Estarossa scoffed before lunged into them with the Hell Fire on his hand "there's only a way for you two, then. Die".
"not so fast, uncle", Tristan wrapped his dragon arms around Estarossa's torso "Derieri, Monspiet, give your Commandments away to me! My sister knows what should we do with it".
As he had planned, after he took and kept the Commandments from Derieri and Monspiet, Estarossa only focused his attack on Tristan. In the middle of their fight with Estarossa, before Estarossa could hit Derieri with his fist, Monspiet protected her and his heart was pierced by Estarossa's hand.
Derieri gasped "Monspiet!".
With the last of his power, Monspiet pushed Derieri to Tristan "run... bring her...".
"wait, let me go!", Derieri protested when Tristan carried her over his shoulder like carrying a sack. She only could see it when the dark hellfire exploded burning that place "Monspiet!".
After Tristan put her down on the ground, ignoring her lashing out the shouts of rage that blaming him for running and bringing her away like Monspiet had asked him to do, Tristan smiled and reached out his hand "you came in time, my wife".
Suddenly, the firebird appeared in front of them, turning into a beautiful woman who carrying Monspiet over her shoulder, hiding her naked body with her large wings after she landed near them "aw, I hate this. This fire always ruined my clothes".
Tristan wrapped his clothes around her body "you think you can save him?".
"well, I do. Just give this Phoenix pearl to him and—", Isolde showed the beautiful pearl in her hand that was immediately snatched by Derieri "wait!".
Ignoring her word, Derieri just put the Phoenix pearl into her mouth before pushing the pearl down into Monspiet's mouth. Tristan whistled and covered Isolde's eyes, complimenting how brave she was. Next second, fire enveloped Monspiet's body and all his wounds healed. When Monspiet opened his eyes again, Derieri cried in joy and hugged him, calling him an idiot for scaring her while swinging her fist several times. Monspiet apologized to her and hugged her, stroking her back soothingly.
Wiping her tears, Derieri turned to Isolde and thanked her "speaking of which, what did you want to say just now, before I snatched that pearl?".
With an impish grin on her face, Isolde explained "well, actually~ the Phoenix pearl is a magic pearl to heal and it even could bring back the dead, but this pearl is kinda dangerous. Only someone who loved the dead, who could bring back the dead because only with putting it within your mouth, it can burn you into ashes. Because you love him, the pearl didn't burn you and you can bring him back to life~".
Tristan clasped his hands with a broad grin that somehow, it felt like teasing them "long story short, your love brought him back to life. Congratulation~".
Ignoring Derieri who chased after them, Monspiet asked the running couple "you have my greatest thanks for saving my life, Lady Isolde, but what your plan with our Commandments, Tristan?".
Tristan was about to tell him that they would need to see his sisters because they were the ones who had the plan about what should they do with the fragment of Commandments, but he dropped to his knees as he felt like his heart lurching out of his chest. Isolde kneeled in front of him, asking if he was okay.
Tristan lifted his head "this pain... sister?".
Right before Meliodas hit Arthur with his darkness, Guinevere reached out her hand and everything in this place stopped. Using this moment as an advantage, Merlin snapped her fingers to teleport them all back to the Liones Kingdom. Once they all (Guinevere, Lancelot, Nanashi, Arthur, Lily, Merlin, and Escanor) disappeared, the time moved again. Zeldris, followed by Chandler and Cusack, felt chilling on their nape as they felt the uprising power level of Meliodas. Crap, they had to leave, at least until he felt satisfied. Zeldris, Chandler, and Cusack ran as far as they could into the safe distance. They watched from a far distance as Meliodas' darkness exploded again, leaving the ruins of Camelot Castle.
Zeldris landed behind Meliodas "what was that? The one your daughter did".
Not looking back "Chronos. It's one of Guinevere's magic power, to stop the time temporarily".
Zeldris couldn't believe he asked this to Meliodas but he couldn't help it "...brother, are you okay?".
Meliodas scoffed "it's been a while ever since you call me like that".
Zeldris averted his eyes "oh yeah, I wonder... perhaps I hit my head too hard".
"if you referred to my daughter, fret not. I've just gotta resurrect her once I become the Demon King and break the curses on Elizabeth and my children".
Zeldris stared at his older brother, wondering if he should communicate with his niece or not.
When Tristan and Isolde arrived on Boar Hat with Derieri and Monspiet, King informed them about what happened. Right now, Elizabeth, Merlin, and Escanor were with Arthur and Lily on Meliodas and Elizabeth's shared room in the Boar Hat.
Tristan barged in and pulled Arthur by his collar, lifting him off of the ground and pushing him to the wall "have you lost your mind, Arthur? Trying to kill my father to break the curse on my sister, only to end up killing her!?".
"Tristan, stop! Enough!", Elizabeth wrapped her arms around Tristan's torso "Just like how King Arthur tried to save your sister, your sister only tried to protect your father. No one should be blamed here! It won't bring your sister back!".
Feeling the trembling body of his mother, Tristan released his iron grip from Arthur and dropped him to the floor. Turning his back, Tristan told them that their presence was demanded at the meeting in the Castle "...I know, nothing we can do to bring her back".
After they all went to the Castle for the meeting, Arthur cradled Lily's body and took the teleportation orb "unless someone decided to sacrifice...".
On the Liones Castle, Merlin looked behind over her shoulder when she felt something wrong "...Arthur?".
Lily opened her eyes, she found herself on the Avalon, the utopia where the Lady of the Lake took reside. The Lady of The Lake reached out her hand and she took it. She gasped and opened her eyes, this time she was really waking up from her dream. She recognized she was sitting on the riverbank of the Magic Lake of Salisbury. When she looked down beside her, she turned pale as she saw Arthur with blood pooling around his body. The Lady of The Lake explained to her, he sacrificed himself to bring her back to life. To bring her back to life, he offered his still-beating heart to her.
"I want to scream until no sound comes out. However, I know, no matter how loud I scream, my sound could no longer reach you, nor you will answer me", Lily cried and hugged him tightly "no... not like this... why... why should you give me the light... when in the end, you left me alone in the darkness? ARTHUR!".
She didn't know for how long she sat there and hugged him, crying desperately before she let his body drown on the Magic Lake of Salisbury, to let him rest in peace as he sank into the Avalon "goodbye... Please, don't give me the light anymore...".
When Lily recognized the familiar sword, the Holy Sword Excalibur which killed her before and was used by Arthur to pull out his heart before the Lady of The Lake planted his heart in her body to bring her back to life. She lifted that sword and broke the sword as she swung the sword to the rock nearby. After the Holy Sword shattered into pieces, miraculously the pieces of Holy Sword that had turned into shred in her hands, now gathered into the new Sword fulfilled with magic.
She cried as she felt like Arthur wrapped his arms around her shoulders, hugging her from behind and whispering near her ears "use me... use me so you can live, my Lily".
Lily wiped her tears "I understand, Arthur".
"Are you sure? Think twice, girl. Once you pull out that sword, you will stop being a human".
"I am not human from the first place", ignoring the Lady of the Lake's warning. Lily grabbed the hilt of the Holy Sword and lifted it "I promise, I will live and I will fulfill what you haven't able to achieve, so your sacrifice won't be meaningless, Arthur".
