The huge tree was burnt during Allen and Alkrasha’s battle but fortunately, the inside wasn’t thoroughly destroyed and with a bit of cleaning, it could already be called a proper room.
Alkrasha dealt with the aftermath of the battle and ordered her minions to clean the ss outside.
Unlike Allen whose body was so battered, he could barely move, Alkrasha possessed a high-level self-healing ability and little by little, her injuries gradually healed.
With the use of so plant related ability, she slowly restored the whole forest by quickening the growth of the plants and trees in the surrounding.
She even restored the huge tree’s appearance using an unknown ability that stole a life from sothing and giving it to other. Using this, Alkrasha took the life force from monsters and move it to the plants and trees.
Allen slept for an entire day before feeling his body getting better. His injuries were also slowly healing.
--- ---
"Seeing that I’m still alive, it ans that Alkrasha didn’t kill ..."
Allen woke up and realized what he had done.
He fought with the Insect Queen; Alkrasha and even though he had lost, he still managed to wound the infamous Insect Queen pretty badly. For now, he was satisfied with that result.
It ans that he had moved forward. He had gotten stronger compared from before.
Allen looked around and noticed that he was in the sa room when he just ca here.
I wasn't tied up?
He had expected to see a tattered cold hard bed, slly room, thick iron bars, dimd light and a guard with an unpleasant look on his face always glaring daggers at him… but he was mistaken.
“Rather than an ugly guard, it was a strange yet quite beautiful lady~” Allen murmured.
“What are you talking about, human?” the girl, or rather Thumbeline snorted as she looked at Allen.
“Ah there it is, a guard with an unpleasant stare~”
“I’m not your guard!”
Allen shrugged but he suddenly felt a stinging pain surging inside him.
"Aah......"
As he moaned, trying to escape the pain, his eyes wandered around the surrounding room.
“What am I doing here? You’re not going to put behind bars?”
Thumbeline glared at Allen. “Believe , you can’t imagine how much I really wanted to do that.”
“… …”
“And even that isn’t enough punishnt for hurting my queen and destroying our ho.”
“Guilty.” Allen smiled sourly and sat up on the bed.
“However, my queen is very soft-hearted and still ordered to treat you nicely. Sothing I’m very reluctant to do.”
“You really hate … do you?”
Thumbeline said that while gritting her teeth. The bitterness on Allen's face deepened.
Noticing Allen’s look, she changed her expression.
"... ... So are you alright?"
"Thanks for asking. I feel much better."
Allen got off the bed and made his way to the window. “Where’s Alkrasha?”
“Human, can you not address the queen so casually?” Thumbeline frowned. “Just because she’s nice to you doesn’t an you have the privilege to call her with her na that intimately!”
“You can call Allen, Nah, I prefer it that way.”
“… …”
“Thumbeline, did Alkrasha told you sothing about ?”
“?”
Allen rembered his original world.
The world he couldn’t save and left many important people behind.
He didn’t want it to happen again but he wasn’t a fool. No matter how strong he becos, he won’t be able to return the world back to how it was. Being optimistic in this situation is sothing only fools do.
Even if he can’t return the world back to normal, he could still protect his family.
But just he alone isn’t enough!
“Before, you asked why I know your na… right?”
Thumbeline frowned but she didn’t speak and just intently looked at the youth standing beside the window. The crimson rays of sunlight, passing through and illuminating his body, giving him a strange radiance.
“… simple. I ca from a parallel world similar to this world. And I t Alkrasha and you there…”
He decided to be honest. With Thumbeline’s help, he might be able to persuade Alkrasha.
“… of course, we are no friends. In fact, the total opposite! We are bitter enemies. One that kills or be killed kind of relationship.”
Thumbeline listened to him with wide eyes.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Alkrasha was the Insect Queen who followed the Demon King and I’m one of those who bear the hope of humanity’s survival.” Allen narrated with a faint smile. He looked like he was just telling a story.
A story about a man who couldn't save anything from another world.
“… …”
“We had fought many tis, several we fortunately won and most, we lost. You, Thumbeline were Alkrasha’s loyal servant and so you are often the one who leads an army to hunt us. We t many tis before more than I could rember.
Though, because of one accidental event, your hate for the humans was changed and redirected to only …”
“… …”
Allen turned around and faced Thumbeline. Her expression was showing her confusion.
“No matter where I go, you chased and tried to kill so many tis. You even chased to the Dark Woods that every creature was afraid to step on, just to find .”
“So, you are my enemy then?” Thumbeline stood up and glared at Allen. She stared at him with narrowed eyes and the air around her distorting in a threatening manner.
“Yeah.” But Allen still kept his smile on. As if showing he wasn’t afraid of her, he leaned his back on the wall.
“… but didn’t I tell you before that we are already even.”
“? Huh? What are you talking about?”
“Thumbeline, you killed many of my people. My friends, my loved ones, and my fellow humans. You massacred all of them to the point that I had wished I could tear you to pieces with my own two hands.” Allen’s gaze turned icy cold.
The pressure around the room also multiplied, causing Thumbeline to take a few steps back. She felt a chill surging through her as though a demon had gripped her heart!
The eyes looking at her was so horrifying that she seems to have seen an illusion of her being torn apart by Allen. This gave her a shiver of disbelief, her entire body trembling.
An unspeakable fear had begun to overco her.
“But…”
However, this terrifying atmosphere inside the room only lasted a few seconds before returning back to normal, giving Thumbeline a ti to catch her breath.
Allen’s icy cold looked gradually softened.
“… all of it was offset by sothing you did. And because of it, my hatred towards you diminished and gradually disappeared over the ti. That is why I told you, that we are even. Our bitter relationship should return to zero.”
“… What I did?”
“Do you know how you died in that world?” Allen suddenly asked her a very shocking question.
Thumbeline’s eyes widened in shock and her whole body slightly trembled. “I, I died…?”
She couldn’t believe what Allen said. She died…
Although it felt sowhat stupid as she was still alive right now but hearing that you died in so other world you didn’t know really felt funny yet sowhat eerie.
In other words, it was totally creepy!
“Yeah,” Allen nodded.
“H, how? Did, did you kill ?”
She expected for Allen to nod his head and admit that he killed her after saying all those things she did to him. Even she admits that she would totally chase the person who killed her family and friends and kill him herself.
What Allen did would be pretty reasonable.
However, contrary to her expectations, Allen shook his head and with a smile, he answered, “I did not, more like I wasn’t able to.”
“!?”
“… You were killed in the Dark Woods by a monster called [ Wendigo ] …”
“I was killed by a monster while I was chasing you?!” Thumbeline was shocked by this strange developnt. If that really happened, isn’t that a very shaful matter…?
But never would she expect about Allen’s next words.
“… After saving .” Allen said in small voice.
“What?!”
“Thumbeline, you saved .”
!!?
“In the Dark Woods, I was the one who t the [ Wendigo ] not you.
I fought with it and won but then a group of five [ Wendigo ] showed up and besieged . I managed to kill another two but because of that, I was wounded pretty badly. I couldn’t move and could only wait for death.
But then you showed up.
You managed to kill them by sacrificing your life.”
“Say what?!” Thumbeline unconsciously raised her voice in shock. “I saved you? You an I protected you and even sacrificed my life?”
It was absurd! Never in her life had she expected for this kind of developnt!
“Yeah, pretty weird if you ask .” Allen nodded and moved away from his awkward gaze.
“I can’t believe it! You are lying! You are obviously lying! I would never sacrifice my life for a human! Besides, you just told a while ago that I hate you to the point that I wanted to kill you! And then you said, I saved you resulting on my death? Impossible!”
Truly ridiculous! He was surely speaking nonsense!
But Allen just smiled naturally and nodded. “That was also what I thought at first. You really nailed it.”
“… …”
“… Those were the exact thoughts running through my head when I saw you appeared out of nowhere and fought those monsters. I even thought that it was all just an illusion, an image before I died. But the pain I was experiencing through at that ti told that it was no illusion.”
“… …”
“I couldn’t believe my own eyes, and could only watch you die with my hazy vision. Even until now, I could still rember that scene as if it was just yesterday.” Allen looked up above, his expression softening.
“… …”
“The sight of your beautiful wings and even your limbs being torn off one by one in front of was unforgettable. But even with all those pain, you still desperately fought with those monsters and protected , for who knows what reason."
"I was stupefied to the point that I couldn’t move.”
Why was this monster saving ?
Why did this monster protect ?
Didn’t you want to die? Didn’t you want to kill ?
“Those thoughts ssed my mind.”
“… …”
“… Up until now, I couldn’t understand you. Why did you do those things? Are you stupid? Why did you save , an enemy? Didn’t you hate ?”
“… then a realization struck at that ti. In fact, this isn’t the only ti you saved .”
Thumbeline couldn’t believe Allen. Her expression was if soone sh*tted on her face. That was the expression she was wearing right now!
What was this developnt?!
“… I never thought hard about it because at those tis I always hated you. But, in the Pacific, you also saved from being swallowed by a Kraken by kicking in the air causing my falling trajectory to shift away. At that ti, I thought you just wanted to make sure that I would fall straight from the monster’s gaping mouth but missed. But maybe I was mistaken?”
“When we raid one of the demon king’s camp, you kicked in the cliff… for what? I don’t know but when I managed to climb back, all I saw was the body of the demons and monsters along with the corpses of my companions. When I returned to my camp, I heard from the survivors from my group that it was all a trap made by the grand duke of the Demon Army; [ Witch Queen of the North ] and [ Halloween ].
There was also the ti when I was captured by the necromancer [ Orbid ] with his undead army. You co to and rcilessly stabbed my stomach with your sharp claws. At that ti, as I was falling to the ground, my vision flickered in and out but I still heard you. Loud and clear."
‘This human will die after a while from my poison, there’s no use taking him.’
"... [ Orbid ] yelled at you as to why you did it and you answered, ‘He’s my sworn enemy. His death is my pleasure.’
[ Orbid ] conceded as you are the Insect Queen’s regent but when he wanted to make one of his undead, you threatened him. Saying that I was your hateful enemy and if I live, you will kill over and over again even if I beco an undead. And so you don’t want to see ever again.
When you left along with [ Orbid ] and I was left alone in that dark place, I just thought you missed because there’s no poison inside of and I was able to live. I didn’t realize that you saved my life because I was blinded by my hate towards you.
There are still many events that ended with the sa conclusion.
But thinking all those things again… I co to realize, didn’t you saved over and over again.”
“… …”
“… I owe you a big debt but even so, you still killed many important people in my life so I just can’t feel any gratitude for you.
That is why; all our debts have been repaid.
We can call it even.”
Allen narrated his past accurately without any excess or deficiency as if he was telling so kind of fairytale.
Thumbeline’s mind turned blank. She took a few steps back before falling on a chair made of vines. She doesn’t know what’s what anymore.
Did she really do those things…?
She was like a girl who was told that she runs around in the school, naked when she was sleeping.
Was that really her?
That’s impossible! But if she did, why?!
She couldn’t believe that she would do all those things.
She looked at Allen with a dumb expression.
“You’re lying.” She said but it sounded like the question wasn’t just for Allen but was also for her.
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