Good day everyone, did you enjoy my story?
I'm happy if you did so!
Since this pairing is quite rare I'm not expecting
many views but at least you like it.
Elsword: In the first place this pairing is already strange.
Karis: Strange or not, just do our best.
Let the fairy tale begin.
Chapter 2
Elsword and Karis are living together because Elsword have nowhere to return, he's feeling too guilty to even return to the kingdom only to report that they failed and his whole team are annihilated in a blink of an eye. Now they're going to set off because they ran out of food and need to find new place to stay where they can get food easily.
"Cherry boy, what are you doing? We're going to set off soon."
"Wait a while. I will make a proper grave for my friends."
"... Okay, make it fast."
Elsword's building ten graves.
Aisha, Rena, Raven, Chung, Eve, Add, Ara, Elesis, Lu, and Ciel.
He's feeling too guilty to let them be like that, so he decided to build graves for them.
"No matter you build a grave or not it's useless, souls don't care about what happened in real life after all."
"You won't understand, the hardships we've gone through together. Bonds between us are strong, I can feel them smiling at me now."
"... Ridiculous."
Karis pouted.
She's not being angry or something.
She did tried to understand Elsword's feeling.
However, is she permitted to do so?
After the slaughter she did?
Is she even have a place to remain?
Will Elsword allow her to do so?
She will not know.
Hence, she decided to go with the flow.
"Rest in peace, my dear friends and sister. I will continue to fight on, your spirits will remain in my heart forever. I'm not going to ally with the evil no matter what, so you guys don't have to worry about me, now if you'll excuse me."
He bowed to those graves with his friends' names carved on it.
"Ready to go?"
"Let's go."
They start their journey, a journey to be stronger and to claim revenge.
Elsword's POV
We've been walking for 10 hours, but I didn't see anything except forest.
I wonder where are we going to.
"Hey, Karis."
I can see her shoulder twitched.
Don't tell me...
"Are we... Lost?"
Her cold sweat flow down.
And she awkwardly look at me.
"I-I'm sorry, hehehe."
"DON'T 'HEHEHE' ME! WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW!?"
For the love of El, I'm starting to get worried about the future, what are we going to eat?
Where can we sleep?
I worried about many things.
"D-Don't worry! I can stay alive without food for 1 week!"
"STOP THAT NONSENSE! IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT HUMAN! I CAN'T STAND NOT EATING FOR 10 HOURS NOT TO MENTION 1 DAY!"
She's beginning to panic.
She looks around and finally a spark flash in her eyes.
"Oh! Look! A way out!"
"Really!?"
Finally I can breathe in relief.
We hurriedly get out of the place and we arrived in an unknown village.
Wait- I think I've seen this village before...
It's Kayak's village.
The lizard shaman who once brainwashed Berauk.
Its village now was abandoned, however I and Karis still can stay here to find somewhere to rest, let's see if they got food supply here.
"Let's see if they got foods or not."
"Y-Yeah."
Unused to survive in wild, Karis awkwardly look around for food.
Normally her servants will always serve her with foods, but due to our hardwork, we from El Search Party managed to wipe all their servants, too bad we failed to kill her.
The day's already dark, it would not be preferable to stay outside, but we need to secure food first, or else I might die of hunger. Karis' not having trouble with food since her body constitution's not the same as human, how I'm jealous with her, humans can do nothing without food!
*Growl*
See? My stomach's already rumbling.
*Growl*
Hm? Wait, that isn't my stomach's sound now that I hear it clearly.
*Growl*
This sound sounds familiar...
*ROAR*
From behind!
I quickly jumped to the other side to avoid its attack.
As I thought, a Lizardman.
Lizardmen normally wouldn't attack others like this, but when it's dark outside, they turned into something different, it looks like they've gone berserk.
"So, there's still a remaining here, huh?"
I tried to pull out my sword, however.
"Huh?"
My sword's not at the place where it should be.
Karis haven't return my sword!
Stab.
Woah! That's dangerous!
This Lizardman realised that I don't have any weapon and so he dare to attack.
"But it's too bad for you."
I open my palm and summon up Cornwells to both of my hands.
I can fight even without my sword as long as I got the courage to do so!
I rushed to the Lizardman and do a quick stab.
"Sword Blasting, Spread."
Following my stab, Cornwells are summoned behind me to stab the Lizardman furiously and explodes like a bloom of flower, this is the upgraded version of my Sword Blasting.
The Lizardman stands no chance against the current me.
If I remember about the past, Aisha used to be bullied by these Lizardmen, I chuckled.
Hm?
I can see something shining from that box over there.
I opened the box and-
"OOOOHHHHHH!"
A huge amount of foods, fruits, and water!
To think that Lizardmen would also stocks their food supply like this I'm really grateful!
I took the box with me and return to Karis.
Even though she's my enemy I can't just leave a girl alone.
"Hey, Karis. Where are you?"
"Cherry boy!"
"... What are you doing?"
"Resting."
My reaction is just right, Because She's laying on the ground while looking at the stars.
I thought she will go to find food, too.
But I guess it's too much to ask a noble demon to find food in wild.
So I'll just let it go now.
It's not because she's a pretty girl, okay?
"I found quite an amount of food, here."
I put the box I found on the ground, her eyes are sparkling like a child.
I thought she's not hungry?
Looks like what she meant is she still can feel hunger but she still able to stay fit for 1 week even when she's so hungry.
And so we end up eating together, we need to save these foods so that we can survive, we can't afford to eat all of these in one day. That's the rule of surviving in wild, eat as little as possible and as efficient as possible.
"Thanks for the food, Cherry boy."
"You're welcome."
I'm sad to approve of this, but I'm already used to her calling me 'Cherry boy'.
But I still swear that one day she will die by my hands.
I can't get too close with her.
"I'm going to sleep now, you go find your own room, we got so many cottages in this village after all, see you tomorrow."
I stood up and went to one of the cottage.
She stood up too and look around as if searching for a good cottage to stay.
Well, I don't really care though.
Midnight 1AM
I look at the cottage's ceiling.
Somehow I remember this feeling, when the three of us, me, Aisha and Rena are just being assigned as El Search Party. We used to quarrel for space in the cottage, well... Only me and Aisha, though. Rena's someone we can't disturb no matter what. She's so scary when she's angry, so we tried to avoid her.
Aisha's always trying to pick a fight with me whenever she have the chance, it somehow pissed me off, but now that she's gone I'm starting to feel lonely. She's the closest person to me in El Search Party. I really regretted that I can't protect her. If only we're still alive and we managed to kill Karis, what will our future be? Will we end up together? Will we get married? Will we make a good family?
Crap.
No good... I'm going to cry if I keep on this lingering feelings.
But, it's true.
I think I adored Aisha, not as friend but as a girl.
However, now that she's dead I can no longer see her.
This feeling of mine will never reach its destination.
Aisha...
I remembered her smile.
Her angry face.
Her crying face.
And... Her dying face.
I can feel my tears flowing down slowly.
"Aisha..."
I'm sorry, I'm too weak.
I failed to protect you.
I don't have a face to meet you anymore.
I'm a useless man, so... Please forgive me...
Suddenly, the night's silence broke.
Explosion.
"! What is that!?"
I hastily stood from my bed and got out of my cottage.
Karis' POV
Midnight 1AM
I can't sleep.
Normally I can sleep whenever I want, but why I'm unable to sleep?
This is strange, it's not like I'm having Insomnia which only happens to humans.
Well...
I'll just try to close my eyes and wait until I fell asleep then.
"... Who's there."
I turn hostile toward an uninvited guest outside of my cottage.
Female?
I can sense her scent.
It's not a male's scent.
She slowly entered my cottage.
Impossible.
"You... How..."
She should be Ara Haan, the one killed by Elsword due to my skill.
But she's now standing before me, with a different aura.
The last time I see her, she has a holy aura. But now, it's just dark. All dark.
"Good evening, Karis the Succubus Queen."
"You..."
"Oh, how rude of me to not introduce myself, hohoho."
Her eyes shone with dark purple color.
"My name is Harza, be grateful to know my name before your demise."
Sensing danger from her I create an explosion in this room.
Explosion.
Elsword's POV
What's going on!?
The cottages are on fire.
There's a fight now!
I hurriedly rushed to the scene.
There I saw Karis and...
"A-Ara...?"
I can't believe my eyes, she's Ara.
One of my dear friends whom I killed by my hands.
"A-Ara! Ara! Is that you!?"
Ara(?) look at me, her eyes are hostile.
Not like the gentle Ara I knew.
She slowly opens her lips.
"... Elsword? You're alive?"
"Yes! Is that really you, Ara?!"
She stays silent.
Then she raise her spear.
"King's words, El Search Party was annihilated, you're just a fake."
She released a spiritual energy towards me.
Ara... Why?
"Stop daydreaming, Cherry boy!"
Karis blocked the attack with her bare hand.
She's strong as expected.
"Karis, she..."
"I know, even I was surprised, but that isn't Ara. Her name is... 'Harza'. The dark version of Ara."
"Harza..."
She's not Ara...
What am I dreaming about?
Ara's clearly dead, in front of me.
How naive of me to dream of Ara still being alive.
But...
"Cherry boy!?"
I fell on my knees.
Even though I know she's not Ara...
I can't fight her.
I can't fight someone who looked just like my friend!
"Tsk...!"
Karis leapt forward to charge Harza.
She pull out her knife.
"I've researched your capabilities, Karis. 'Soul Fangs'!"
Harza spoke fearlessly.
She get her spear ready and shot out spiritual wolf fangs toward Karis.
"!?"
Surprised by sudden attack she evades those spirit fangs.
Getting hit by 1 means nothing to her, however if she get hit continuosly things will surely get ugly for sure, so she chose to evade it.
"Look where's your enemy, hohoho."
What an emotionless laugh.
She do a wide sweep attack with her spear.
That attack hits Karis' side.
"Kyaaah!"
Karis' falling.
I-I need to do something, but my body's frozen, I can't move!
"Looks like you realise it now, Fake Elsword. You're being binded by my 'Spirit Bind'. Now sit obediently like a child and watch your master being slaughtered."
She smiled maliciously as black mist covers her body and leapt toward Karis.
She's... Not Ara!
Ara will never use words like 'Slaughter'!
Move... Move...!
"Kuuh... 'Blood Rain'!"
Karis wounded herself and do the same trick she did to sis.
'Body Substitute' can't be used to an enemy whose not able to be seen due to being covered by black mist. Facing those countless needles Harza creates a spiritual shield of darkness from the mist. Those needles are being absorbed into the void.
What's with that skills!
It's just like Harza's sole existence is only to kill Karis!
Her fighting abilities are just too perfect to fight Karis, at this point...
Karis will-!
"You're FINISHED!"
Shouting that Harza disappeared from my sight, and-
Explosion.
Just when they fell to ground an explosion happened.
What happened?
What happened to Karis?
The smoke's too thick.
I can't see anything.
Step. Step.
I can hear footsteps.
Whose is that?
Karis? Or ...
Harza, appeared from the mist with Karis' abdomen being stabbed by her spear.
She smiles fearlessly.
"Looks like only me alone is equal- No, surpass the power of 'El Search Party', huh? Hohoho."
Fear.
What I can feel now is fear.
Karis, an enemy who we can't even kill with eleven people, was defeated by a single girl.
She's not human...!
She threw Karis' body to me and released my bind.
I hurriedly hugged Karis and see if she's still alive.
Thank goodness, she's still breathing.
"Weak, she's too weak. I wasted my time coming to this place. If your power level is only like that, you won't be able to defeat us, 'Void'."
"... 'Void'?"
"Looks like you don't know, Fake Elsword. Let me tell you, the Kingdom where you used to serve and protect claimed that El Search Party was annihilated. Hence, we from 'Void', replace your position to protect the Kingdom. You guys are NO LONGER NEEDED."
She puts a harsh statement in the last part.
We're... No longer needed?
Are you kidding?
We've protected you guys for 3 years!
Is this how you will repay us?!
You guys are not even trying to find us!?
"STOP SCREWING AROUND!"
"I'm not screwing around, I'm just stating the 'Fact'. I'm going, you guys are not worth my time."
She turned her body as her long black hair flutters.
"I..."
"Hm?"
She didn't turn back but she's listening.
"I will surely make you pay for this, just you WAIT!"
"Hohoho, I'm waiting, come anytime. Weaklings."
She laughed emotionlessly and went back.
...
Harza, 'Void'...
Just what's happening to the Kingdom...?
For now I should take care of Karis' wound...
Hmm?
Her wound are healing.
I see... She's not a human, a wound can heal as long she have a rest.
She slowly opens her eyes.
"Kuuh... Damn that girl..."
Her head seemed to be hurt.
I lay her down on my arms.
"Don't move, you should take a rest. You're injured."
"This level of injury means nothing... I can't accept this humilliation..."
What a stubborn noble pride.
I poke her forehead.
"Ouch!"
"Going into a fight unprepared means 'Death'. Even thought I'm your enemy I won't let you be killed by anyone other than me."
"... I understand."
Slightly blushing she rest her head to my chest.
E-Even thought she's my enemy...
She's still a girl!
Not to mention she's pretty!
H-How can I get excited of this scene.
Calm down Elsword, Calm down.
Now that I think about it, why did Harza didn't finish us?
She purposedly avoid vital points.
Is she just demonstrating her power?
Or...
For now I'll let this slide, not like they will come again in the near time.
I let Karis sleep in my arms as I fell asleep too due to her warmth.
This kind of thing...
Is cheating isn't it?
-Kingdom-
"Your Highness, I've returned."
"Welcome back, Harza. So, what's the result?"
"I'm really sorry your Highness, they managed to run away through a secret passage."
"-They?"
"Yes, aside from Karis, there's one more person with her, I can't be sure but he looked just like 'Elsword the Infinite Blades' from El Search Party."
"... This is clearly a problem. If it's only Karis you should be able to handle her alone."
"Yes, but this Fake Elsword's giving me quite a hard time."
"I understand, let's re-assemble the 'Void'. We will have a meeting tomorrow morning, for now please have a good rest, Harza. Thanks for your hardwork."
"Thank you, your Highness."
The King patted her head.
Harza seemed to enjoy it, but...
He suddenly gripped her head rudely and spoke in a mean tone;
"But, if I found out that you're the one who let them go, don't think I will be nice to you, Harza."
"I-I understand."
Like that, the King let her go.
She returned to her room and lay down on her bed.
"... Elsword."
She remembered about her past.
Her beautiful past, however that's just a sweet dream for her now.
She needs to fight, to keep the secret of the Kingdom.
And to protect the Young King, Alexandrite.
Chapter 2 End
Chapter 2 is finally done!
Woah, I feel like I'm actually writing
an original novel, however
I don't have any rights for Elsword.
That's the bad news :P
Elsword: This story is nuts.
Karis: It's getting more mysterious.
Yeah, that's the point after all.
The more mysterious the more fun it will be.
Regarding the question about why Elsword's
able to accept things the way they're
will be explained in the future chapter,
who knows what chapter is it~ :P
Okay see you again guys!