Bit of a shorter chapter today. But if I went beyond this point, it wouldn't feel right tonally. So, enjoy.

Chapter 40

The Death Worm Curse

I helped get the wounded towards the back line. For the moment, the defence of the Human Empire against the first wave seemed successful. A few cheers could be heard amongst the soldiers. Quite a few of the different tribes had managed to retreat to the Dark Territory, but that wasn't much of a concern. We had suffered maybe a hundred casualties in exchange for thousands of Dark Territory members.

It wasn't exactly a number to be proud of…

Deusolbert had instructed me to head to the back lines because "I didn't deserve to be on a battlefield". I suppose he was right, but honestly, I didn't care. After Crystal, if I killed anything that wasn't a monster in a game…it just caused me to vomit and have a panic attack.

Besides, I was far more interesting in protecting lives than taking them.

I walked up towards Sheyta's group. She looked at me, a little curious. "Deusolbert told me to head to the back lines. He doesn't believe I'm fit for the battlefield." She just nodded, living up to her name.

My eyes were suddenly drawn behind her to a smoke pillar. There shouldn't be any sort of battle there. The only thing back there is the… A cold hand of dread gripped my spine, sending a shiver down it. I instantly began running towards it, ignoring the look I got from Sheyta.

Within a few seconds, I was at the supply unit tents. Putting my speed to the back of my mind, I began looking around. Corpses of the Mountain Goblins and a few soldiers were laying on the ground, freshly killed. Several of the tents were ripped open or collapsed. I began to search them, hoping to never find the body I was searching for…

I opened one of the tents and immediately that cold hand was replaced with relief. There sat Luna, Ronye and Tiese, hugging each other, a blood spray over Luna's right eye. Her sword rested on the ground, blood on the blade, and the corpse of a goblin collapsed on the floor.

Luna looked up in shock. "Light? What are you doing here?"

I walked past the corpse and embraced her. "I'm so glad… My worry was for nothing."

She smiled a little. "Of course it was. I had you as a mentor after all."

I cupped her cheeks in my hands, looking her in the eyes. "Are you okay? What happened?"

A light blush appeared on her face. "I'm fine. We all are."

Tiese nodded in confirmation. "Luna protected us…and Sir Renly took care of the rest."

"Renly?" I looked at them in confusion. "He was supposed to be on the back lines."

"I don't think you can say much Light. You're here." Luna poked me in the side, smiling a little. I let a small smile slip, glad she could still joke around. "Why are you here? And how so quickly? You came all the way from the front lines."

I frowned a little, thinking. Twice I had moved faster than should be humanly possible. Once to protect Lord Grant, and the second to protect Luna. I had moved that fast before back in The Land Beyond, thanks to my high AGI stat. Maybe because Infinity was linked to Underworld, I could apply that speed to Underworld. Kirito probably had some answers, but I doubted I would see him soon. "Deusolbert told me to retreat to the back lines, saying I wasn't fit for battle. Then I-"

"That's stupid!" Luna looked angry, but then her right eye twitched. "There's no one more suited to battle than you…"

I looked her in the eyes again. "Luna…there's a difference between fighting a one-on-one duel and a war." I looked down in shame. "I…I can't kill… No matter how much experience I have in combat, I can't bring myself to kill anyone. Not even if they're about to kill someone I care about. I can immobilise them, knock them down, render them unable to fight…but never kill them."

She pushed my chin up to look at me. "What's so wrong with that?"

"Because we're at war…with more than just our lives at stake."

Luna just shook her head. "Dummy… I know how you feel." She looked behind me to the corpse of the goblin. "When I killed him…I didn't feel like I was killing a monster…even if he acted like one. I saw him kill a soldier outside…and both of them died in the same way." She shuddered. "It didn't matter if he would kill me at the first chance he got. He died like a human…"

I smiled a little, tears threatening to drop from my eyes. "You've grown so much from the girl who thought she could take on the entire Dark Territory by herself…"

"I have you to-"

Screams came from outside, interrupting her. I jumped up and headed outside, staring towards the source. And immediately I saw why.

Coming towards us was a flying swarm of death…

"The Death Worm Curse…" Fizel whispered, appearing at my side with Linel. "We're all doomed."

"What is that!?" I looked at her in panic.

"It's a massive swarm of worms that eat through all Life it can see, only being satisfied once it reaches absorbs enough Life. It could easily eat through us all and make its way to the next settlement before it's done. We're dead…"

I felt my arms trembling. That must've been where all the Spatial Resources went. All the work that Kirito did was for nothing…

At least this time, I'll die alongside the ones I love…

Then…a literal ray of light shone through the darkness.

From the centre of the front lines, a pillar of pure light raised into the sky. It was so bright, the entire trench shone like the sun itself had been placed inside, turning the permanent night to day.

The beam of light pointed towards the Death Worm Curse. The beam stopped dead at the worms. They started to eat away at the beam, consuming the light. At first, I thought it was a pointless attempt, but then several gory explosions came from the beam.

Linel's eyes widened. "Lady Fanatio…"

"The Death Worm is consuming Solus's Light in placement of Life!" Fizel wrapped her arms around Linel's neck. "She's saving us all!"

They were absorbing the Life of the blade. In the same way that too little Life would put your life in danger, too much would be fatal too. I wanted to share their enthusiasm, but the swarm was shrinking too slowly comparing to the beam of light. All we could do was pray that somehow it was going to be enough…

The swarm ate away at the light, the darkness it carried with it slowly shrinking. The longer the battle went on, the faster the swarm began to shrink. For a moment, it looked like it could go either way. I closed my eyes in a silent prayer, hoping the light would cast away the darkness.

As the light ran out…only a tiny speck of darkness remained.

I ran towards the front lines, going straight past Bercouli's group, skidding to a halt at the front of the group. The pure heat from the blade had blackened the ground around…the body that lay there…

Three lesser Integrity Knights were cradling the body of Fanatio Synthesis Two. Her throat was open and half of a worm was still attached to it, dead thanks to a cut that had severed its tail from its mouth. Judging by the rotten blood on the Osmanthus Blade, Eugeo had managed to kill it. I dared a look into Fanatio's eyes and immediately regretted it. Her soft amber eyes had become cold and distant, all light gone from them.

Kirito was kneeling on the ground, tears of frustration in his eyes, Eugeo gently patting his shoulder. I walked over to him, kneeling down in front of him. "I should've done better…" He managed to say through the tears. "I should've kept going with my Memory Release…but their screams of panic…I couldn't…"

"Kirito…" I wanted to find the words to comfort him, but I didn't know anything to convince him otherwise.

Fortunately, Eugeo seemed to find the words, gently embracing Kirito. "You always do this…put others before yourself. You saved so many people from the Dark Territory that would've died if you hadn't stopped."

Bercouli arrived from the back lines, staring at Fanatio's body. He looked pale and his eyes were glazed over for a moment, almost like he had died too. "Take her body back to the supply tents…and get the clerics to save the kid…"

My body began to tremble. "The kid…?"

"Lady Fanatio was pregnant…" One of the lesser Integrity Knights whispered, his voice on the edge of breaking. "First Dakira…now Lady Fanatio and her child…"

Bercouli shook his head. "No…we can save the child…" He crouched down next to Fanatio and gently brushed her eyes closed. "Rest in peace Fanatio… I will raise our child to be proper…"

I wanted to hug him. As painful as Fanatio's loss was to everyone else, it had to be infinitely harder for him. But no tears dropped from his eyes. Instead, his gaze turned cold but focused. He placed his hand on Fanatio's chest and a glowing ball began to form in his hands. This ball formed into a Sacred Art which he sent into the sky.

I helped load Fanatio's body into a cart and it headed for the supply tents, Bercouli driving it. I gave a silent prayer that the child would be safe. I knew Alice was back there and she would take care of it as best she could with the help of the more experienced Sacred Arts wielders.

Rest in peace Fanatio… Without you, none of us would be here…

I'm sorry.

There is no version of War of Underworld that would end with everyone alive and happy, as much as we would like that. There's a reason why it's called War of Underworld. War is brutal, unkind and unfair. And Fanatio's Divine Object is perfect for killing the Death Worm Curse. And under these circumstances, I believe the Death Worm Curse would've been completed. Alice isn't there to absorb all the Spatial Resources, and Kirito stopped absorbing them because of the pain of others. He always puts others before himself.

But there's still hope for her child. For those who have read Moon Cradle, you would know about Berchi, Bercouli and Fanatio's son. He will live thanks to the miracle of Sacred Arts, helped by Alice and the other Priests of the Central Cathedral. Though I think with this, he'd be called a different name. No longer to remember Bercouli, but to remember Fanatio. Maybe Fanchi? I'll think of something XD

Reviews:

blackbutterfly1313: No need to say anything major sweetheart, as long as you enjoyed it 3

If you'll look at the publishing date, it's been a year since I've started this journey. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so so much. I've only been able to continue this story thanks to your support. I love and appreciate every single one of you. We've got so far left to go, and we'll get there, thanks to all of you. Until next time, Stay Cool.