The Beginning Of A Five Year Agony Chapter 23: For once, she saw no coldness in his gaze

Samuel stood still, waiting for her to say sothing. But She looked at him and gave a faint smile.

Yuliene opened a portal in the middle of the cave.

His eyes locked onto the swirling vortex of light and water mixed before him. He waited, perhaps for hesitation, perhaps for regret...but none ca.

"She’s already outside. Waiting for you," Yuliene responded calmly. "At the entrance to Eldoria Forest. If you go through this portal, you’ll see her."

Samuel nodded once in appreciation. Then he stepped into the portal.

Sunlight hit his face imdiately, warm and bright. It took a second for his eyes to adjust. Then...

"Samuel!"

He turned at the sound of the familiar voice. He hadn’t even realized he was smiling.

"Hey," Lira called out, waving at him. In both hands...ssy hair, and worried eyes...but her smile was wide and genuine, her hair fluttering in the breeze.

Samuel walked over, placing a gentle hand on her head. Her cheeks flushed red instantly.

"H-Hey!" she stamred, punching his chest lightly. "Don’t just go patting my head like that!"

"Well, it’s still good to see you."

"I was so scared," she added, eyes softening. "I didn’t know what was going on. But... we’re both alright now right?."

Samuel looked at her quietly.

"When we got separated at the lagoon... I ended up in this weird transparent place, all alone. It was awful," she whispered. "I never want to go through that again. Hours of silence... it felt like days."

She suddenly blinked, her eyes trailing down.

"Your clothes..." she said, stepping back to get a better look. "Whoa. You look... really good."

Her eyes widened more as she stared, then glanced away, blushing hard.

"They look really good on you."

Samuel let out a little smirk.

He reached into his cloth and pulled out the blue fruit.

Her eyes lit up. "No way...?"

He nodded.

For so reason, her expression dimd. "So... if I eat this, it’s over, right?"

A part of her has already gotten used to the journey. To Samuel.

Then a sudden "voom." pierced their mont.

Arrows.

Samuel moved instantly. He caught the arrows mid-flight and snapped them.

Lira froze.

"No..."

They erged from the treeline. Five emissaries, riding a massive chira, descended with the winds. Divine symbols shone on their pink armory.

Samuel stepped forward, unshaken.

The emissaries leaped from the beast. One stepped to the front. "Lady Lira. Co with us now. Goddess Ira demands your return."

"I don’t think that is possible," Samuel replied. "Not until she opens the portal to the divine realm. In the anti... kindly tell your goddess to piss off."

The emissary narrowed her eyes. "Lira, will you allow a mortal to speak for you?"

Lira lowered her gaze. "Big sister... please go back... You can’t win against him."

Another emissary snapped, "You think a mortal can harm us? Just because he has the essence of a God, Where is your faith, Lira?"

She pointed her blade at Samuel. "If you don’t hand her over..."

"Bang..." A burst of dark red energy exploded.

One emissary dropped instantly. Her skull cracked open, her body lifeless. Blood soaked the grass.

Samuel lowered his hand, his powers still radiating from it.

Lira turned to him, shocked. "Samuel..."

"Keep your blades out of my face," he muttered.

"Control yourself!" one shouted. "He’s trying to enrage us!"

Samuel grinned. "Enrage? No. I just wanted to kill her, I just couldn’t stand the sight of you so-called divine creatures."

He laughed, sharp and joyless. "Your divine titles an nothing to . I can sll the hypocrisy on your breath."

Enrage, an emissary charged forward, spear glowing with their divine essence.

Samuel deflected it with his forearm, slamd his elbow into the shaft, then ripped the spear free and tore her left arm clean off. He used her bones still hanging from the limb to pierce her throat.

She gurgled, blood spurting.

"Aegirion," he whispered.

The blade dropped from his skin and solidified in his hand.

The chira roared furiously, charging. Samuel ducked and rolled, slicing off its snake-like tail. The beast writhed and blasted fire, engulfing him.

"Samuel!" Lira scread.

The remaining emissaries grabbed her and turned to flee. But Aegirion pierced through the flas, stabbing the chira in the lungs.

It dropped, lifeless.

Samuel walked through the flas. His new clothes were fire resistance, A gift from his journey to the tree of longevity.

anwhile, Lira struggled as was being

dragged, pushing them away

One of them punches Lira in the mouth.

Enrage.

An arrow sliced through the air, cutting a lock of Lira’s hair. She turned.

One of them shouted, "What are you doing?!"

The other snapped back without hesitation. "Answer this, did she ever give us a choice? The goddess said dead or alive, rember? And if she’s dead, it saves us the risk, the hassle. It’s the safest option. Think about it."

The ones closest to Lira hesitated, her divine bow still raised but her grip faltering. Her eyes t hers...briefly, guiltily...and her voice softened. "I’m sorry."

Lira’s breath caught in her throat. She wasn’t just watching them argue. She was witnessing a decision...a gamble...with her life at stake. Powerless, outnumbered, and lying in the grass like so lifeless token, she saw the truth in their eyes.

To them, the gods, she wasn’t a person.

She was a problem to solve.

And death was the simplest solution.

"Lira... I’m sorry," her sister-figure whispered. "The goddess ordered your death. We had no choice."

Tears fell from Lira’s eyes.

"It’s nothing personal." They responded.

Releases the final arrow.

It stopped in mid-air...

"HMMM...."

"I’m not trying to ruin your fun," Samuel responded, voice low and steady. "But I’m not surprised. Ending a lifelong friendship... just like that?"

The arrow froze in midair, inches from Lira’s chest...quivering, caught in the grip of an invisible force. Samuel’s outstretched hand flowed with energy. Essence. "Hand of War."

"That," he uttered coldly, "tells everything I need to know about your god, every one of them, they are all the sa."

He stepped forward, "They give you impossible choices and call it divine will. Kill or be killed. rcy or betrayal. Today it’s her. Tomorrow, who’s next?"

His voice rose with bitter conviction. "How many more lives? How many more friends must die before you see it?"

He looked down at Lira, then back at the one who had aid to end her.

"This is no divine justice," he said. "It’s an endless cycle of bloodshed, sugar-coated in sacred word."

The arrow shattered midair, fragnts scattering, pieces of wood in the wind.

"Hand of war."

The emissary collapsed, from the power sobbing...

One of them remained calm.

"Why... Start all this?" she questioned Samuel.

Samuel stopped in front of her.

Then he answered.

"why does anyone commit acts others deem unacceptable."

She kept looking...

"for love..." Samuel uttered

" What is love if one doesn’t sacrifice for it?"

The bleeding emissaries spat. "there is nowhere you can hide mortal, put as much distance between you and the truth as you want it changes nothing."

"the gods will find you."

"No," Samuel replied. "I will be the one coming."

"You monster!"

Samuel smiles

"We are all monsters, all it takes is one mont, one thing to cause the fall over the edge, and that’s it, no coming back. The shadow within will take over.

"thanks to your gods, they gave my mont."

Samuel continues...

"I am never the villain.." I’m just the reflection of your god’s choices.. their beliefs.. their vanity.. I am what they made my dear, you may have forgotten but the debt remains on you and their shoulders..."

"Aegirion," Samuel uttered.

The remaining emissaries cried. Their tears fell with the weight of regret. Their lives flashed before their eyes.

"Your tears won’t stop ," Samuel uttered, in an intense tone.

One called out, "Lira... we’re sorry."

Another pleaded, "Forgive us..."

Lira turned away, tears dropping from her eyes...

But she holds it in.

Their blood spilled over the grass.

Then silence...

Lira excused herself and walked away.

"Lira," Samuel called her gently. "They were people you knew..., so It’s okay to cry... I understand."

She fell to her knees instantly. Her sobs broke through the quiet landscape.

Samuel gave her space. He stood alone atop the vast landscape.

He couldn’t deny it but he also felt her pain...

He uttered internally...

"My heart hurts from the emotional torture all this has caused. I’m in a never-ending labyrinth that even I can’t escape no matter how fast I sprint, my heart is gradually corrupting. Everything that once filled my soul with joy is a re distraction from the deep-rooted pain inside . I’ve lost track of my brain, my body and my heart. I’ll just continue to disheveledy warp into a tarnished, cruel and broken version of the person I once despise."

He swallowed...

After a while of Silence...

Footsteps.

He turned around.

Lira...

"Are you okay? Do you need ti alone?" she asked softly.

He nodded. "I’m okay."

"Have you eaten the fruit yet?"

She nodded again. "Yes."

Samuel noticed her swollen eyes. "I’m sorry I dragged you into this." He uttered.

Still silence.

"All right," he responded. "Open the portal. To the divine realm and You’re free."

She gently pinched his sleeve.

"Can I follow you?"

"I don’t have anywhere to go."

Samuel turned, his expression unreadable.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." She answered swiftly.

He looked ahead, Towards the horizon.

Due to what happened in the tree of longevity, Samuel wants to know why he couldn’t summon Emma’s soul. Why he couldn’t bring her back from the dead? What that sacrifice of his classmates ant...

"I won’t go to the divine realm yet."

Lira’s eyes widened.

"There is one last place I want to visit."

"Where?" She asked.

"The place it all began. The city we were summoned to."

"Blue-Crest Kingdom."

He smiled at her, "I would love you to open a portal please."

For once, she saw no coldness in his gaze.

Tears welled in her eyes. She smiled back.

"Yes."

Then....