1 Final reincarnation

Ancient Time

.

.

The night was crying, and thunder howled in a far distance.

In the wet yard of a manor, laid several hundred dead bodies clad in black attires. At the center of it all, stood a woman in a white nightdress. The stark contrast of color tainted in red made her look like a devil in angel's clothing.

Emma closed her eyes as she embraced the rain touch on her body, washing the sin she just committed. When she opened that pair of emerald eyes again, one could see the ruthlessness in her expression, which gradually turned to agony.

"Lady Emma," a man cloaked in a black robe approached her. He too was drenched in the enemy's blood. He positioned himself not far from Emma, ready to strike his enemy if there was any left.

Emma looked at her loyal servant with a sad smile on her face. "Old man Damien, this would probably be my last fight. I..." she stopped as intense headaches assaulted her. Falling on her knees, a trace of blood could be seen at the corner of her lips.

"Lady Emma!" Damien called in a panic as he rushed to check if she was alright. The other gently pushed Damien's helping hand as she struggled to stand on her two feet.

"Don't worry, I'm fine! But this fight needs to end," Emma proclaimed as she dragged her exhausted body towards the manor. Damien wanted to chase after her, but an invisible power that he recognized as Emma was restraining his movement. He could only look at the manor with a complicated expression on his face.

Inside the spacious building, a couple was laughing and joking happily as if outside, there was no one dying, and no blood was spilled.

Both the man and the woman were half-naked. Occasionally, the man would tease her partner intimately. When Emma saw this, she felt a piece of her being crushed.

"Your majesty!" she shouted, announcing her arrival. When she saw their startled expressions, a wicked smile loomed on her face.

"W-why are you still alive?!" the man stammered in shock as a horrified look emerged on his face.

He stumbled to a nearby table and took the sword lying on top of it. His other hand was pulling his companion to take cover behind.

Emma snickered when she noticed how protective he was of the woman who was now hiding behind him.

"Was it fun?" she monotonously asked, although her demeanor was nothing but fiery temper.

Was she angry? No, she was infuriated. The first time she came to this world, this man was the first who showed her love and kindness. She, who was bound by the curse of her bloodline, was skeptical at first because betrayals had always been the ending of her quest.

However, after going through a lot of trials together, she fell in love with him. She really believed that he would be the one to put an end to the curse that shackled her freedom.

He would make her his queen, and he, her king.

Yet, that never happened, and it killed her inside that she wasn't the one.

His betrayal was a blow she couldn't take. Little did she know that her vulnerability was the chance he had been waiting for. If it wasn't because of Damien, she was probably dead by now, killed by the assassins he had sent to end her life.

Now, that was beyond cruel. It seemed like he had planned everything since day one...

Tears welled up in Emma's eyes as she steadily approached the tip of his sword. She clearly remembered the mocking statement of one of the assassins who attempted to take her life a while ago. That they were sent by the king to kill her because she was a thorn in his life...

Funny, because all these while, she thought he was her rose.

"You wanted to kill me, right?" she asked, pushing the sharp point of the sword into her left chest.

The man was shocked. But when he saw her willingly threw her body at the mercy of his sword, he couldn't hide the glimmer in his eyes. He nodded as his sword penetrated further into Emma's chest.

Emma stared at the blood that was flowing from the small opening in her chest and slowly looked up with a rueful smile on her face.

"Why?" she mumbled between gasps of pain.

The man sneered as he pushed the sword deeper, causing Emma to barely hold on.

"Because I know you're only useful as a pawn and not as a woman," he replied in a tremulous voice. Excited that the one he despised the most was now dying under his hand.

However, when he heard Emma's mirthless laugh, a shiver went down his spine. He instinctively let go of the sword, however, Emma was quicker. Her hands were gripping tightly on his, which he couldn't shake despite being the one unhurt. This was his fear... He knew that she was always this powerful. If he had failed to manipulate her feelings towards him, he probably would've been dead a long time ago.

"Y-you can't do anything to me! I-I'm the king," he tried to threaten her with his position. However, he was still scared, especially after seeing the intense hatred in her eyes.

Emma was still laughing sardonically. She finally understood where she truly was in his life—just a mere tool and nothing more.

If that were the case... then, she would become the tool that killed its wielder!

Emma's sharp eyes locked on the man as her lips curved into a smile that caused the man to shiver.

"I welcome you to kill me..." she said in a low voice with the smile of the devil still on her face. "But I'll enjoy killing you and your loved one first," she announced menacingly as she pulled the sword out of her chest.

The silvery steel sword was now crimson red. Her blood, which was dripping onto the ground, started to swirl around the sword before it formed lethal disruptive energy of electricity.

"Now that I think about it... You too are merely a tool," Emma uttered as she swung the sword in her hand, pointing directly to the woman behind the man. Seeing his lover died, the man shook uncontrollably. He froze as fear crippled his mind.

"Farewell," Emma flashed a cold smile as the sword took its last victim.

***

Outside the manor, Damien could feel the power that was restraining him started to loose before disappearing. Once he regained his freedom, he ran into the manor as fast as he could.

"Lady Emma!" he called for her when he saw her fall on one knee while coughing blood. To Damien, the dead bodies of the king and his queen were the least significant as he rushed to the lady he served. He carried her to a nearby wall, letting her rest against it.

Damien kneeled on the cold floor as tears voluntarily fell on his cheek. This was the first time he saw Emma in such a state, and it made him feel utterly useless.

"Old man, why are you crying?" Damien looked up when he heard her weak voice.

"Lady Emma..." Damien wiped his tears with his left hand as his other hand gently wiped the blood that escaped from the corner of her lip. "Your wound. Let me attend to it," he moved closer with eyes focused on the wound on her chest. However, Emma held up the sword in her hand, forbidding him from getting closer.

"This is the price I have to pay," she said with her eyes closed. Sadness was written all over her face.

"Damien, the curse is getting stronger. I could feel the demon in my mind as well as my heart. That's why I allow myself to be in this state. The pain keeps me sober," she opened her eyes as her left hand clutched on the wound in her left chest.

Damien swallowed hard. He didn't know that something so scary almost consumed Emma's life.

The curse of her bloodline. The one she had inherited so her sister would be spared from the endless pursuit of true love. Only if such a thing existed...

"Damien, listen to me," Emma held Damien's hand, which startled the other.

"I will now transfer my power to you..." she said, but Damien's quick rebuttal made her look at him in exasperation.

"My lady, take my power instead. I am nothing but your slave!" Damien trembled uncontrollably. The thought of Emma giving him her power was insane. She was basically telling him that she was going to die.

"Enough," Emma tightened her grasp on his hand. "I need you to return to our world and guide my sister. Tell her that she needs to be physically and mentally strong. Train her, Damien, train her so she will not easily trust the words of a man," she took a deep breath and exhaled. Her face scrunched as she tried to focus. She still had a lot to say.

"Damien, you also know that as the inheritor of my bloodline's curse, I have nine lives. What a pity, this life was another failure leaving me with only one chance to reincarnate. That's why you must return to our world and do what I've told you. In my new life, I will not search for my so-called soulmate but will try to hold on as long as I can, so you'll have the chance to train my sister," Emma looked at Damien as if he was her last hope.

Damien, on the other hand, was shaking his head. He didn't like the idea.

"Lady Emma, I don't want to leave you. Let me die with you. If the curse can't be broken and you become a demon, let me be the first to kill you before I kill myself. It would be my honor to be by your side until the last breath," Damien's wish was exactly that. It was selfish, but if it meant that he could be by her side, it was only necessary.

Damien was already in his late age, that was another reason to stay with her. Although he was born at the same time as Emma, the other was still looking beautiful and young. It was the curse that stopped her from aging. Only when the curse was broken would her age resume... as of now, she would stop aging at twenty-one.

"You're one funny guy. Who said that I'm going to die? Even if I fail to break the curse, I'll curse the curse instead and become the demon to my demon," Emma uttered in confidence. However, just from hearing her voice, Damien could tell that she was trying to console him.

"Lady Emma..." he couldn't hold the tears from falling. He might be stubborn, but he also knew that he couldn't change what she had set her mind into. He nodded slowly, agreeing to her request.

Emma took a deep breath, relieved at Damien's acquiescence. She took his hands, and her fingers slid in between his, intertwining them.

"Damien, I now free you from the binding of D Callisto's slave contract. I shall transfer all my power to you so you can return home. Guide my sister well so she will be ready when her time comes,"

"Go!" she whispered, and a blinding light of white surrounded Damien's entire body. Soon, his body blurred before it dissipated alongside the light that encompassed all of Emma's power.

Emma looked at the void left by Damien and smiled bitterly. She was happy to know that her sister would soon meet her capable helper. If only Damien didn't carry the D Callisto's blood, he could be the one to release her and her entire family from the curse of true love. Sadly, he wasn't.

"Emma, let's go and see how your final life would look like," she mumbled to herself as her right hand stabbed into her wounded chest. She could feel her heart beating as well as the trace of the demon's breath in it.

'Heh...' she thought as she crushed her beating heart until there was nothing left.