I awoke to a face full of dirt, a body racked with agony, and a mind that felt like it was on fire.

  I struggled to push myself up.

  It’s like my body was squeezed of every ounce of performance it had to give. And now I was trying to drive a car on empty.

  I shakily rose to my knees and that’s when I saw it—a massive lake on the edge of a cliff.

  Through my blurred vision, I could see all kinds of things in that lake. Wood splinters, stones, and corpses.

  Behind me was nothing but a thick forest.

  I looked down and ran a hand across my bare chest. Where there once was a hole, there was now just a massive scar.

  I let out a ragged breath as I closed my eyes.

  It wasn’t because I was terrified or too squeamish to look at the bodies.

  I was just tired.

  Dragon, what happened?

  “I handled business.” He replied all too smugly.

  “Though your body couldn’t handle my raw power. It redlined to exhaustion, you’ll need two weeks of recovery at least.”

  Welp, at least the job is done and I’m free.

  “Lafayette, you’re alive!”

  My eyes fluttered open as I looked over my shoulder to see Louise emerge from the forest, nearly tripping over herself.

  How convenient.

  “Let me guess, you tracked me with your blood?” I raised a tired brow, my eyes half lidded.

  Louise dropped to her knees beside me. “Yes! Yes, I did, and I’m so glad you’re okay.”

  “Of course you are.”

  I pushed myself to my feet and wobbled.

  Louise took my leg and steadied me.

  “C-careful,” she whispered.

  I placed my palm against her face and rubbed it. “Careful? Don’t pretend like ya love me.” I pushed her back with a slurred chuckle.

  Louise’s head bobbed back but her grip remained firm. “I know you’re angry, y-you have every right to be, but please stop this.”

  “Angry?” I repeated as my hand slid off her face. Was I angry? I guess I was, wasn’t I?

  Who wouldn’t be after the shit I went through?

  But the thing was that I really didn’t feel anything anymore.

  The world, it just felt as it always was.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “I don’t care about the betrayals anymore.”

  My voice was soft and distant.

  Louise’s eyes widened with disbelief.

  “I-I don’t understand.”

  “It’s because I know the truth. People are selfish, heartless bastards. Why get angry at human nature? It’s like getting angry at the sunrise. Pointless.”

  I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

  With this acceptance of the truth, the world felt so much lighter.

  I felt euphoric.

  “Louise, did you find any—“ Daniel emerged from the forest with both blades drawn. His eyes focused on us. “Kid!” He jogged forward with a smile.

  As he got closer, his attention wandered over to the bodies floating in the makeshift lake. He slowed his jog to a walk.

  “What happened here, Lafayette?”

  I tilted my head. “Does it matter?”

  He stopped in his tracks and took another look around. “Uhm, I guess… I guess not.” He scratched his cheek.

  “But where’s the masked guy? Did he just leave you in the middle of nowhere?”

  I chuckled.

  Even if I told him the truth, that there was a massive complex here and the dragon blew it away, would he even believe me?

  Eh, I don’t care.

  “You came here for me, here I am.” I spread my hands with a wide smile. “What more do you want?”

  Daniel slowly sheathed his swords. “Is he at least dead?”

  I shrugged.

  Daniel exchanged a concerned glance with Louise. She tightened her grip on me, like she was afraid she'd lost something.

  Daniel looked down at his feet then over his shoulder into the forest. “We should probably get going just in case. Can you walk?”

  “Absolutely.”

  I took a few steps forward, and immediately my vision swam and the sky was replaced with dirt.

  I chuckled softly as I closed my eyes. “I guess I lied.” I let out a yawn and curled into a ball.

  Seconds later, I was out like a light.

  — — —

  “H-hey, you’re finally awake.”

  Louise looked down at me, there was a leather water pouch squeezed between her small hands.

  “Yes.” I replied, “People tend to do that after they’ve slept.” My gaze wandered around. I was in the back of a wagon and we were on a trail through a black grassland.

  Daniel was at the front. He was hunched forward with narrowed and baggy eyes.

  I was able to get a better look at him, his hair was longer and tied in a ponytail. He had a lot of stubble on his face too.

  And that signature smile of his was gone.

  “Where’s Vis?” I asked curiously as I sat up.

  Daniel clenched his jaw. “Tch~ she didn’t wanna come. She called me an idiot for going after you.” He glanced over his shoulder.

  “But who’s the idiot now? I got you. And we’re going back to Col-Rava. I want them to see that you're still alive, that they shouldn’t have given up on you.”

  I smirked, then laughed. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  Daniel’s eyes bugged. “The hell? How can you say that shit? We spent weeks tracking you down, I’m trying to fix things! Make amends.”

  “For who?”

  “For you, obviously!” He wildly gestured with a hand.

  I laughed harder. “You’ve been doing me a lot of favors and look where I am. But fine, let’s go back to Col-Rava. I’d love to see your reaction.”

  Daniel blinked. “My reaction? What are you…”

  I leaned back on the wall of the wagon and pointed a finger at him and winked. “You’ll see.”

  — — —

  The journey back to Col-Rava was a silent affair. Daniel spent all his time brooding, from various inns to the hours on the road.

  Louise meanwhile clung to me like a koala. It had gotten so bad that she’d legitimately start having a panic attack if she couldn’t see me.

  Now normally that wouldn’t have been a problem because I didn't care to move.

  But after about a week I began to stink so bad it started to attract monsters. And it came to a point where I actually had to bathe myself to keep my peace.

  But because Louise would freak out when she didn’t see me, which would negate the point of taking a bath…

  We had to bathe together.

  It wasn’t all bad though. Louise offered to clean me as well as herself so she’d be less of a burden on me.

  I didn’t care either way, but if she was gonna do it i wasn’t gonna stop her.

  Daniel would always look conflicted when he saw us leave the bath together. Like a dad watching his daughter date the obvious fuck up.

  It’s almost hilarious how lost he looked. Like he didn’t know whether to intervene or hope something changed on its own.

  Luckily for him, that change was coming.

  But I don’t think he knew how it would happen. Or maybe he did, deep down he knew how they'd react to me.

  But he was hoping for something different.

  Well, he’s about to learn the very lesson he taught me.

  — — —

  The white stone walls of Col-Rava finally came into view after weeks of travel.

  Daniel finally smiled as our wagon rolled up to the gate.

  I smiled too.

  We rolled past the guards and into the city streets. It’s been about a month or so after everything and the city looked like it was before that day.

  Of course, the demons didn’t forget. When they saw me, they stepped aside or kept their heads down.

  Eventually, we reached the guild. Daniel didn’t bother to park the wagon. He jumped out and I leisurely followed after I helped Louise down.

  Daniel stomped up to the guild doors and forced them open with a push. The chatter within the guild fell silent upon the sight of him.

  Vis was among the mercenaries, drinking from a mug. She smirked as she gently placed her mug down. “So, you failed—“

  Her gloat was cut short when I emerged from around the corner. Her narrowed eyes and smug smile disappeared as fast as they appeared.

  Daniel grinned smugly as he marched right up to her and slammed his hands on the table. “Yeah, I saved him. Against all odds I saved him.”

  Vis hadn’t even acknowledged him at this point. Her gaze was focused solely on me.

  She was terrified. And unlike Daniel, I knew exactly why. The last thing you wanna see, is the person you betrayed and written off for dead.

  She swallowed hard, then with a split second drew her bow and fired.

  Thwip.

  The arrow rocketed past Daniel and was aimed at my forehead.

  It was imbued with enough Spirit Ouro to put a hole through a tank.

  If it had hit.

  Instead, the arrow was blocked by a shield of blood. One provided and maintained by Louise. “Vis, why would you do that?” She shouted in disbelief and boiling anger.

  Daniel glared and snatched the bow from her.

  “Vis?!”

  Vis swallowed hard as sweat rolled down her forehead. “You’re an idiot, you're a god damn idiot he’s gonna kill us all!”

  She kept an eye on me, never letting my gaze go. “He’s just biding his time. Or he led that masked man here. Is that it? Did you sell us out for payback?! A vindictive little shit like you would do that, wouldn’t you?!”

  I took the arrow from Louise's blood shield and sniffed it as if it were a rose. “That wasn’t the plan originally but hey, tempting.”

  The basement door opened.

  [End of Arc 2: The demon continent]

  We’ll see…