New Targets For Revenge
Like before however, the disastrously humid air that filled the castle stuck to my skin, enlightening me of my regression once again. Snapping my eyes open, my head immediately swings to the chair where the old man with liver spots sat, a small, sickening smile adorning his face. Having to tightly dig my fingers into my arms to stop myself from trying to attack him, I instead tried to bore through him with my glare.
"I welcome you oh dear hero."
Not seeming to mind my glare at all, the King continues his relentless spiel about why I was here and the absolute importance that I had to making sure humans survived. Accepting the quest that he set out for me, I was once again introduced to the maids, butlers, and princess. Keeping my calm in the face of the one I hated the most, I left the throne room, heading to Guff.
Unlike my first life, Caitlin wasn't stalking me, instead she was nowhere to be found. Feeling at peace of mind that she wouldn't be standing next to me, the training with Guff began for a third time in a row. After finishing the grueling training, I found Olin waiting for me at the arch that separated the castle from the training grounds.
Upon standing in front of him, he immediately bowed. "I have been assigned as your caretaker by the King. The princess was originally supposed to be the one who guided you, but the King barred her from helping you. Now that I have the delegation, I shall help you to the best of my abilities."
After that, the process of training and then fighting out in the open world began. This time though, I constantly harassed Olin into telling every bit of detail about the King, trying to gauge his power and how long I would need to prepare before I could properly face him.
Olin's teaching continued for an entire year before he once again got mauled by a horde of rabid demons. I had tried to stray away from this event, but it seems that it was impossible to avoid when it was only Olin with me. Properly paying respects to Olin, I decided that the appropriate time in which I would face the King was ten years after my second regression.
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The time flew by within an instant and compared to the first regression, I've killed several of the Demon King's Generals and even one of his Apostles, but the fight with the apostle had almost left me crippled for life.
That fight had been a year ago, and now, I was loitering in front of the Castle Walls. Compared to striding in, I found myself a guard and asked him to inform the King of my return. Running to his direct superior, this chain continued until two of the King's Knights came to me, ready to personally escort me to the King.
Surprised by this new treatment, I gladly followed them, arriving at the angelic doors that led to the throne room. Resounding with a loud boom, the mechanism for the doors began to churn, slowly swiping the doors in. And there on the golden throne sat the King in his complete glory rather than his disheveled figure.
Stepping inside, the two royal guards closely followed and stopped me when I was going to approach the King at a closer distance. Giving hated glares towards them, the King smacks his lips, drawing my attention.
"Have you slain the Demon King, o' powerful hero?"
Laughing coldly to the point where my shoulders shook, I give a distraught shake of my head.
"Then why have you returned, o' god given hero?"
"Why?," I begin with a forbidding smile, "for no other reason that to remove that pretty head of yours."
Directly after, I gripped the hands of the royal guards that still held themselves on my shoulder and flipped them in front of me. Slamming them into the ground with enough strength to create a outline of their bodies in the ground, I tear my longsword from its sheathe and plant it into the small opening in the helm of the royal guard and proceeded to quickly do the same to the other.
Stepping through the puddle of blood that flowed from the corpses open flesh, I sprint forward, weapon held behind my shoulder, ready to try and behead the King.
Yet on his face, there was only an unimpressed smile.
"You think that I'm the only one you'll be fighting?"
Scrunching my eyebrows, I am soon answered by the entire castle shaking, making me stumble and lose balance. Seconds later, the roof of the throne room caved in, letting in a flaming ball of rock, which hit the floor, causing the tiling to spew everywhere and the carpet to catch fire. Regaining my composure, I saw the King standing up from his throne, looking down at me.
"I told you before didn't I, the demons were set to attack in ten years, and it just so happens that doomsday is today."
Wanting to know if what he said was true, I break vision away from him for a moment and stare outside the hole the molten rock had made and sure enough, along the horizon, there were lines and lines of dark dressed figures, marching towards the castle and a figure that appeared to be leaking darkness at its helm.
"If you choose to kill me, then that army shall arrive here and kill you, along with everyone else. So, work with me for the time being, then you can get your revenge."
Looking between the King and then back at the army, I fought inside my mind before deciding that working with the King would be the best source of action. So, I nod my head towards him, causing him to beam a smile. Jumping up onto an applicable ledge of the broken castle roof, the feeling of something piercing through my skin occurred to me.
Looking down at my stomach, I found one of the royal guard's swords protruding from it. Stumbling slightly, the words of the King clearly flow to me.
"You really are an ever so gullible hero aren't you. You'd just tried to kill me; how do you think that makes me feel? Well, no harm done since you gave me the opportunity to remove you myself. Goodbye o' dear pawn, you were as useless as I originally believed."
Turning my head just enough to look at him, I can see him giving a friendly wave of his hand, agonizing the rage that was trying so hard to free itself from its confines.
Raising my arm in return, I flip him the bird, before my vision starts to darken and my footing slips, causing me to free float down the castle wall. And luckily for me, I managed to die before I could hit the ground.
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Not even surprised anymore that I could feel my body which was in perfect condition, I open my eyes. Greeting me like before was the chandelier, yet it took on a much more sinister light that caused me to revolt at the mere sight of it.
"I welcome you oh dear hero."
Knowing that if I stare at him, I will immediately charge him, trying to kill him with my bare hands, I continued to stare at the chandelier, tuning the information the King proceeded to say out as I'd heard it three times.
Exiting the room quickly to escape from such a sickening atmosphere, I head to the training grounds where Guff lay. Unlike my second or third life, Caitlin once again stalked me on my way there, but upon barring my teeth and her and growling, she ran away quickly, most likely to inform the King of my behavior. Because of that encounter, Olin was once again in my care.
Finishing the training so I could head outside the castle as quickly as possible, I set out on a grand adventure with Olin for a fourth time in a row. Upon reaching the one year of adventure mark though, we had never encountered a random encounter of Demonic Beasts which would kill Olin.
Glad that I was able to keep the only person who made me sane and stopped me from going to far, I progressed my training for the next eight years. Once again killing an Apostle of the Demon King, Olin and I made camp, preparing to head back to the King's Castle.
"If I may be so impertinent to ask," Olin abruptly began, "Why are we heading back to the kingdom now, shouldn't we do it after having slayed the Demon King?"
"For reasons beyond your understanding Olin." I answer. "There is something I must do in the Castle that I cannot do here."
"Then I shall respect your wishes."
Comfortably resting for the night, the two of us begin our travel back to the Castle, yet with each passing night, Olin seemed to be getting more and more perturbed to the point that it hindered our travel.
"Olin, what's wrong with you?" Sincerely asking, Olin shakes my head.
"I myself am going through something difficult, yet it is something that I must do, even if my mind, body, and soul are telling me not to."
"Then just choose not to, if it hurts that much, you shouldn't need to do it."
"No… no…" Olin turns his head away. "I must. For it is the only way to pay he price for having my life saved."
"Then just do it." I command. "There's no use in worrying about it so much if you're going to dread on it for so long. If it means that you can move on and we can continue our travels, then just do it."
Very slowly shaking his head, Olin answers back, "If only it were that easy."
Even after confronting him so many different times and encouraging him in every which way to complete the task that the one who saved him had asked, Olin remained in his anxious state until the King's Castle finally came into view, and then it disappeared like it'd never been there.
Setting myself near the fire, I warmed my hands as the wind whipped dangerously around me. As I thought of what I'd do to get revenge on the King and Caitlin, a sense of satisfaction overcame me.
Taking a sip of the water that filled my skin, the sight of the Castle being illuminated was rather a sight to see it the dead of night. Breaking my line of sight, Olin stood up and walked behind me.
"Where are you going?" I ask while stroking the fire.
"The wilderness calls to me Hero."
Bringing my attention back to the illuminated castle, Olin's shoes crash against the scattered leaves until it eventually turns into a low hum.
Minutes later, the steps get louder again, informing me of Olin's return. Yet, instead of returning to his seat, he seemed to loom behind me. Wanting to ask him about it, I suddenly feel a sharp stinging in my neck, causing me to gargle and then start to cough up small specks of blood.
Quickly slapping my hand to my neck, I felt my own blood run over my fingers and my strength start to fade from my body. Olin then walks out from behind me and kneels to me, a spike with blood dripping from its end in his dominant hand. Raising his head, I could see as tears streamed freely.
"Please don't judge me too harshly Hero. This… this was the only way to repay the debt to my savior. So, please forgive me, I don't want your soul hanging over my conscious. So, please, with the last bits of your strength, forgive me."
Yet his words were like a buzz in my ears as I once again found myself betrayed by the person that I'm the closest with. Laughing as best I could, I curse my luck and fall backwards, away from the trembling Olin. Staring at the starry sky, I thought, 'Dying doesn't get any easier.' The poison that had been slathered on the knife before it stabbed me seemed to finally kick in. Feeling my lungs on fire and my skin boiling like being placed in a fire, I suffer an agonizing pain, squelching out whatever sound I could make.
After what felt like years, the feelings of pain lessened, and I felt a sense of relief wash over me. That relief however became despair as when I opened my eyes, there hung a chandelier, illuminated by the ambient light coming from a crystal rose window.