Ashes VII

Slash!

A beautiful slash from below arched. The sword that was too big for her size completed its swing and carved Knight's armor and bones. His rib cage crumbled, as did his armor. The burning skull was cracked, and the fire that surrounded him waned.

Knight could feel it, his body was finally crumbling, and right in front of him, he saw a fist arrive!

BAM!

Yulia delivered a devastating punch to his deteriorating face. Her skull had already deactivated, yet her punch was ever strong. Yulia knew that she had won, she only needed to wait for him to disappear, but she could not.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

"You took everything away from me, you bastard! You killed my Father! My friends! My family!" Yulia shouted with grief and pain.

Yulia was seen as bad luck. Her biological mother died during childbirth, sending her Father into a spiral of depression. She was abused as a child, beaten and battered, always filled with bruises.

"Why did she have to die? Why did she have to leave like you instead!? It's your fault. This is all your fault!"

A drunken rage would always be followed by a beating and the pleas of a child begging her Father to stop in fear of death. If she cries, she will be beaten harder. Yulia wanted to cry, but uttering a single word or even crying would result in even more beating.

Bottles of alcohol would fly over to her with terrifying speed, hitting her from time to time. The pain wounds and injuries were tolerable, but the scrutinizing eyes of her Father hurt more than anything else. Yet, the child did not run away from home.

She had no one else than the Father she was given. She did not know how else to live. She clung to the thigh of the person who did not even bat an eye in punching a kid in the face. Against her Father's anger and rage, she smiles in hopes of finally receiving the affection she never got,

But, at the age of four, on the same day of birth, her Father suddenly changed. He smiled at her and fed her food, enough to fill her stomach. Yulia did not know what happened, but her Father was kind… really kind on that day.

She was dressed and bathed; for the first time in years, she learned the sensation of cleanliness. Yulia saw that her Father had changed, and by noon, he asked her, "Do you want to go outside?"

"Yes!" Yulia said with a broad smile on her face.

But, where she was brought to was not a restaurant, nor was it the marketplace. She was brought to the fringes of town, where she was sold to a man with weaving scars all around his body. On her fourth birthday, she was sold to someone else.

She was prettied up to look more appealing to the buyer, and Yulia was given away without remorse. The last image she could remember of her Father was him laughing in celebration, "Hahaha, Yulia, you've finally become useful to your father."

That was when Yulia realized her worth was no more than a 100 Zen.

"Father! Please, don't leave me! Don't abandon me! I'll be good, please, don't abandon me!" When she saw her Father leave, Yulia did not allow herself to be pulled. With tears going down her face, Yulia fought back to hold her buyer.

Yulia's face lit up when her father looked back at her, only to be crushed seeing the look of utter disgust behind his eyes, "Take her away, already! She's fucking annoying."

Triririririr!

A shrill noise echoed across, and from behind the trees, the eye of an overjoyed predator observed its prey dance a performance.

"A Lindwy-"

The Lindwyrm's tail pierced the body of her buyer with ease. Her father looked on in horror at the beast, and at the next moment, he met his end at the beast's fangs. Yulia saw him reach his hand out in between its teeth, yelling, "Yulia! Help me!"

But, for the first time in her life, Yulia turned her back on her Father. With fear fueling her legs, Yulia ran with all she had back into town as her Father was devoured by the beast. Earth and stone clipped her feet, and blood came out, but she did not stop.

She ran with all that she had not stopped even when the pain reached beyond what she could tolerate.

She screamed in her mind as the shrill cry of the Lindwyrm echoed behind her. She could feel the beast's breath on her neck and

With tears flowing out of her eyes, Yulia manifested her first-ever desire, "Someone! Help!"

She cried aloud to the first people she saw.

She could feel the warm breath of the beast, and just as she was about to be devoured, a man wearing nothing but leather armor sacrificed his left arm to save her. The Page Knight looked at her and asked, "Are you okay?"

That was when Yulia met her True Father. That was how she met the man who accepted her as his daughter despite not sharing an ounce of blood.

Knowing she had no parents, she was adopted by the Knight, showered by love, and taught how to smile again. All her young life, she never wanted anything. She aimed to please the Father, who never loved and managed to regain the light of innocence in her eyes.

Yulia lived happily with her Father. She was taught the sword and manners and was educated in the ways of nobility. Her adoptive Father became a Lord and led a nameless town to prosperity until a famine struck.

But even then, her father did not stop smiling. He did not stop hoping for a better future. He clung to tales to myths and supported his people without holding anything back for himself.

He was a man of honor and pride, yet when hope was in the palm of their hands, everything fell apart. The Fiend that was thought to have been defeated kidnapped a hundred people with Yulia included.

Yulia could not remember much of this, but all she could remember was how the Fiend tortured her until her Father arrived. Holding his sword and standing high up, she came to rescue his daughter and his people.

When the pain subsided, Yulia lost her consciousness, and when she woke up, she saw a Death Knight killing the citizens. She did not know what had happened and her father had disappeared, leaving only his sword behind.

At first, she thought that her father had become a Death Knight, but that was impossible. A Death Knight forms when a Knight grabs their swords one last time before their death. But, her Father's sword remained behind her, proof that he had not turned.

So, all she could come up with was that the Fiend succeeded in creating the Death Knight and killed her Father. Thus, she vowed to kill the very Death Knight and avenge her Father.

For 25 years, she trained to achieve that single goal while protecting the Town her Father poured his heart and soul into creating.

And now, she was at the very end of her journey.

BAM!

She sent the Death Knight flying with a single punch and picked up her sword. The Death Knight fell to his knees, and she walked to him with raging intent to kill.

She raised her sword and, as an act to end the existence of the one who took her light, "DIE!"

"Yulia! NO!" A voice echoed from a distance, but it did not reach her.

Yulia screamed from the bottom of her heart, and her sword descended with untold strength, even splitting the Earth together with the Death Knight.

…

BOOM!

An explosion of Miasma emerged from the body of the Death Knight. However, in the midst of the swirling darkness, Yulia saw a bright golden light emerge. The silhouette of a man with a single arm rose up and faced her with saddened eyes.

The golden soul looked at her, "Yulia… what have you done?"

"Father?"

Yulia felt a hot streak coming down her face.

"YULIA!"

A hand turned her around from behind, and she saw another familiar face, "Isaac? I think… I just… I-"

Isaac failed to listen to Yulia's words because what he saw was not a familiar face, unlike her.

With black tears going down her face, an insignia woke up on her forehead. Her silvery eyes devoured by the darkness and crimson rage, she was already changing.

"Isaac… I… my Father… what… why was he…."

"Yulia, calm down. Don't let your emotion run-"

BOOM!

Isaac was blown away dozens of meters back.

"YULIA!" He shouted, but it was all to no avail.

"No… no… no… nonononono!" Yulia's negative emotion transformed into a raging gale. Her once silver hair turned black as the insignia on her forehead fully awakening, and a black light shot up to the skies, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

With disbelief in his eyes, Isaac witnessed the darkness rage as he whispered under his breath, "The Curse… has been completed."

A Curse 25 years in the making has finally been completed with Yulia killing the Death Knight.