"You've forgotten."
"...Yes. Yes I have."
The sound of wind blowing the dust away echoed through my ears. Loud thunder rattled like an earthquake. Amidst the noise, I had the subtle voice of a woman ask me that question. Actually, it sounded more like an AI.
It began to rain. The cold sensation of water drops on my back jolted me back to reality. For a split second, I couldn't see anything even though I knew my eyes were open. Then all my senses returned.
I was on the ground, covered in mud and confused about how I got there. I could feel the throbbing pain in my head as I stood to look around. That whole time, I didn't remember anything. That was until my eyes landed on a certain group of demi humans looking at a certain direction worriedly as they tried to keep each other warm. I slowly turned my head to see what they were looking at. Then my eyes widened in shock.
Not a single whole building stood. Debris had spread everywhere. The castle I had built was no longer there. In its place lied a giant crater covering most of what the city was.
My face suddenly turned expressionless from the thoughts I was having while walking through the city. All I saw were hopeless monsters and demi humans trying to look for anyone that was buried under rocks or worse. Others were just looking at the homes they lived in for a few months. I wondered what they were thinking about.
I was trying to figure out how something like this could happen so suddenly. For three weeks, there weren't any big events that could lead up to that. Of course my guess was that it obviously had something to do with what happened before. Humans maybe? But how did they unleash something so powerful? Could it be the hero?
"My lord!" An elf called out and ran towards me. "There's something you need to see."
Inside the shell of a building, the four lords were there. They all looked alright aside from Nirvana. Her right arm and half of her face was burnt and disfigured. Even her right eye was affected. Most likely, it won't function anymore. That sounded familiar.
"You haven't healed yourself."
"Healing magic doesn't seem to work." Cassius responded.
Why? "Healing magic doesn't work on an injury caused by divine mana." Clara explained.
Divine mana?
"Hmm?" I noticed that she looked rather worried. Not about her injuries. Her eyes were focused on something else. "What is it?" She flinched when I asked her the question. I looked at what she was looking at. That entire time I was standing there, I didn't notice it. I was speechless.
There was a body. Someone had died. An elf. The whole thing was completely burnt to the point that bones could be seen from some parts. To the ordinary eye, it looked unrecognizable. It was unrecognizable. And yet, I knew exactly who it was.
I walked up to it and knelt beside it. My eyes couldn't believe what I was looking at. My heartbeats became louder and blocked other noises. I couldn't think. It was all so sudden.
"Is she the reason why you have those injuries?" I asked Nirvana. She didn't immediately answer. "How come she's the only one?" Why her?
"Everyone else is alive because of her." She said. "Even though some made it to safety, the majority were going to die. But she was somehow able to use magic and teleported everyone far from the area of effect. It seems that all she could do was move them by a certain distance because I was still too close."
She remembered how while she tried to approach her, light was somehow coming from her. Then all of a sudden she was somewhere else. She realized that she was teleported away. But she wasn't far enough away from the attack. That's when half her body was burnt.
"Its impossible to use magic in an anti magic barrier. There must've been a limit to her power. That's why she didn't make it out herself."
Why her of all of them? Why save others? Why sacrifice yourself to save monsters? Wait... What am I saying?
I looked at her. Just a while ago, I realized that she loved me. Of all people. Me. Not only that, but she also cared. Back when I was not heard from for a week, she was worried about me.
From when I was a child, not even the one who gave me life cared. But she did. Even though she thought it was her fault. The fact that she blamed herself proves that she cared.
Airi. She cared. From the very first day we met. She cared. She always did.
Giselle cared to. All three of them were the only ones. The only three people in my life.
But they all have something in common. Aside from them all being the only ones that cared. They all left. None of them stayed. I'm not even old yet, but they're gone. Why is it always them. Clara. Explain how she was left behind.
"She got distracted. Her mind was focused more on a memory triggered by the environment. A bad memory. This happened while the others already began running."
That was it? It sounds so stupid. But still, someone's life was taken. Why? At that point, the eye patch on my right eye became damp. Tears started to roll down. But on my left eye, it was a black liquid substance that was oozing out.
"Because, you forgot."
My eyes widened with the realization. I really did forget. Why have I been doing all of this? Saving slaves, building a nation of monsters? Why?
I stood up and picked up the body. Then I turned around and walked outside. The rain was still falling. This time, it was a little more than a while ago. I looked at the practically falling sky. It was dark and cold.
Then a winged monster flew around my vision. It circled around and descended to land. Its weight caused the ground to shake violently, attracting the attention of nearby monsters. The others came from the shelter of the soulless building to see what was going on.
It was a wyvern and its gaze fell on me. For a few seconds, it looked like it was studying me. Then it saw Nirvana and bowed its head.
"What are you doing here?"
"My lord. It seems like a large group of humans are headed this way. Their attire and method of movement suggest that its an army. Most likely coming to wage war on the monsters."
"They number less than 6000." I said with a low tone. My head was still looking at the sky. "Is that your definition of an army?"
The wyvern was visibly pissed. A human talked to him with that tone. It hurt his pride as one of the strongest monsters in the continent.
"Do you think a miserly 6000 people are enough to wage war? Your overestimating your opponent."
"Master." Nephilim asked. "How did you now they're number?"
"They'll arrive at the wall early tomorrow. I'll be there." I walked away once I was done talking.
I've been doing things the wrong way... Why am I pretending to be the hero?
This won't happen again. I nearly forgot who's to blame for all of this. That's right. Divine mana. Golden light from the sky. It all makes sense now. This was her. The goddess. I almost forgot about her.
Clara... You and I need to discuss a few things.
Far from the city lies the forest. Beyond the seemingly endless forest, the wall. Even further beyond that, 2000 soldiers wearing red armor. 3000 normal soldiers. 100 mages. 800 holy knights. All being led by a cocky priest on a horseback.
They were approaching the wall with full confidence.
"They're looking down on your power."
"Yes. Yes they are."
"Then start with them."
"I intend to."