Pain

"What did you just say?" Rage overflowed from my mind and I activated hundreds of abilities as I took off.

Appearing mere hairs away from the king's face I asked again, "what did you just say?"

Yet the king was unable to get a single word out. He was hysterical as snot rolled down his nose and tears blinded him.

However, my mind wasn't much better than his, and rather than the sadness he felt I was full of fury.

Grabbing the king by his robes close to his chest I tossed him like a rag doll across the room.

His body slammed into one of the nearby walls but before he could even realize that he was hit I was already on top of him.

Throwing punch after punch at his face it quickly became deformed.

The first punch gave him a bloody nose, the second broke it, the third smashed it to bits, and by the twelfth, whatever bone and cartilage held it to get her was long gone.

"Why!" I screamed as I picked him up this time from the collar of his neck. "Why!"

Obviously, no response came from the king as he was battered badly.

Yet this angered me further.

Throwing him once again behind me, his body went into the wall across from where he first got hit.

Just like before I was standing above him looking down as soon as he landed.

"Why!" I kicked.

"Why!" I punched

"Why! Why! Why!"

Punches and kicks became a blur as I released all my pent-up anger.

"Why?" I asked quietly.

I was hyperventilating as I towered over his unrecognizable body.

"She was mine!" I screamed at him as if I believed he would somehow respond.

"Mine I said! What gave you the right to take her from me!" Again there was no answer from the tattered body.

I was purposely ignoring the bright message that had long since appeared indicating a huge amount of experience I had gotten.

Or perhaps my own mind was so far gone that I actually couldn't see it.

Collapsing to the floor I pulled my legs to my chest as I attempted to catch my breath.

I don't know how long I stayed in that position, my mind was so numb that everything around me disappeared.

'Why does everyone leave me? What have I done to be cursed? I was a good kid so why did my parents leave me. I was a loving brother so why did my sister discard me? I was a caring friend so why did Willow die on me? What had I done to receive this kind of torment?'

Questions I didn't have answers to swirled around in my head as I contemplated my entire life.

While I was thinking dark thoughts another flash covered my panel.

Without even noticing the sounds of a message I went further and further down the rabbit hole of my emotions.

Things I had never thought about suddenly appeared. The pain I had hidden away erupted like a volcano. Sadness that I refused to show even to myself surfaced like a drowning person desperate for air. Betrayal and vengeance clashed with each other as morals I previously believed in were overwritten.

Just as I was about to lose myself a feeling of warmth spread across my arm.

Breaking free from the void I was about to lose myself in, I looked down. Attached to my arm was Willow's hand grasping on desperately.

'What?' I couldn't help but think. 'She wasn't dead… at least not yet.'

I quickly stumbled and moved so that I could get in a good position to check on Willow without hurting her.

Looking over her body I saw so much blood that she was almost as red as I was, however her blood was her own.

The sword had moved around cutting deeper and slicing more of her insides. 'It must have happened when she tried to reach out for me.'

Willow was in terrible shape, she had lost way too much blood. Her skin was as white as a ghost and her eyes were fluttering barely staying open.

Holding her shivering body in my arms I activated every single healing ability I had that affected others.

Yet even with extremely powerful abilities and hundreds of lower-tier ones nothing improved her condition.

"Why isn't it working?" I muttered. "It should be working."

Seeing that there was no change I switched to adding in life essence to see if it had any effect.

But contrary to my expectations her condition got worse and I was forced to cancel the abilities.

Laying there with Willow's body rubbed up against mine with no way to save her I began to get mad.

'How is it that I can save a single person? Is it my destiny to only kill?'

The two of us sat in silence as her breath was slowly leaving her body while there was nothing I could do but watch.

Suddenly a quiet, almost impossible to hear voice reached my ears, "I'm keeping my promise."

While Willow was talking she failed miserably at taking my hand. Realizing what she wanted I interlocked our hands.

But she shook her head and instead continued to move my hand closer to her wound where the sword was still lodged.

Once she finished moving our hands we were holding onto the handle of the sword.

She gave me a full and bright smile before whispering, "you can kill me now."

My eyes widened and realization dawned over my face, "I see."

My heart hardened and my mind went numb as I gave Willow her last wish, "my name… it's Arthur."

A smile as bright as the sun and full of warmth blossomed on Willow and her eyes softened when she relayed what I had said, "Arthur."

With her final breath, the light in her eyes diminished and I knew I was running out of time before she passed away.

Strengthening myself without any abilities or skills I performed one of the hardest actions I've ever done in my life and removed the sword from Willow's body.

With a sharp suck of air from Willow she finally left the cruel world she was sentenced to and another flash appeared on my status panel.