Cursed Queen: Battle Against Gods

The Creator's Sword

Koryu came down from the mountains to help us escape. We tried to wake Karis up, but he won't budge no matter what. I decided to just make him float towards Koryu's back.

"It is a member of the twelve. Bren the bear."

I looked at Koryu. "Thank you for telling me."

We climbed on his back as he flew towards the horizon. There was a small island across the place we left, so we decided to camp there until Bren leaves. Koryu landed as well to protect us in case Bren somehow finds a way to get here.

"Perhaps you are confused as to why The Zodiacs are all spirit animals?" Aiyana asked while helping me put Karis on the mat.

I blinked twice. "Actually, no. But I'm curious now."

"You see, they change based on the generation they are in. Their master chooses who they are based on what they want. The first generation was humans who were given power. The second was what each sign symbolizes in terms of traits. And the third, which is the current Zodiacs, are randomly chosen by Bythos."

I stared at her in disbelief. Bythos chose them randomly?! She laughed when she saw my reaction, but I couldn't get over what she just said. Isn't choosing each member important?

"Are...are you serious?"

"Yes. That man disliked thinking things carefully despite how he looks. Do you want to know what he told me when he saw the poor deer that was being ganged up on by his own kind?" she asked while looking at Karis who was sleeping peacefully.

I nodded. "Please tell me."

"Poor creature. I shall appoint him as the leader of The Zodiacs. He then proceeded to take him to the castle to heal him, and then marked him as a member of the twelve."

My mouth went agape as I looked at Karis. He then started to whimper and mumble words that I couldn't comprehend as if he was looking for someone or something. I placed his head on my lap and he continued to sleep peacefully. Did he go through such cruelty? My poor boy...

"Oh? Did he get bullied constantly when he was only a child?" I asked while caressing his face.

"Indeed. It seems like his parents were killed and he was left with the herd. He was very small and frail, so he always gets picked on by others. The poor child almost got killed. It is a good thing that we found him that day."

"What happened when he was appointed as the leader of the twelve? How did the other deers react?"

She laughed. "They were very shocked and forced the king to duel with him. He miserably lost and so the herd bowed before Karis."

"I'm glad that Bythos took him in and loved him. He deserves so much love..." I trailed off. "He's a very sweet and caring boy."

We were surprised when Koryu suddenly stood up and growled. I did the same and took my katanas out. My vision is beyond 20/20, so I was able to see something running in our direction and it's a f*****g bear. How could a bear run in the water?! He's not even swimming!

"Take care of him," I told Aiyana as I rode Koryu.

We greeted Bren in the middle of the water. He stopped when he saw us and I finally saw how he's standing in the middle of the sea. There's a huge platform of rocks that appear wherever he steps. I see. The earth element, huh?

"You..." he trailed off as he stared at me.

What? Is he going to break out of the spell? I stood on Koryu's back as I waited for him to do something. However, the man only stood there as he slowly transformed back into his human form. Isn't he here to capture?

"State your purpose," I said sharply as I pointed one of my katanas at him.

"Who...are you? And what did you do to me?!" he shouted as he held onto his head.

The platforms are slowly disappearing, meaning he's losing focus. He was about to fall, so Koryu swept him up and placed him on the island. I sheathed my sword and approached him. He was writhing in pain, and I didn't know what to do. Aiyana approached us, so I asked her what to do.

She shook her head. "That I do not know. There is no cure to such a thing."

I turned to Bren who was in so much pain. "Bren..." I called.

His eyes widened and his mouth went agape as he stared at my face. "Your Majesty..." he mumbled.

Oh. It worked. Damn, I was worried for a second. I held onto my chest as I heaved a heavy sigh. That was quite scary. I noticed how his eyes suddenly had life in them. Hildus, that sly god! What did he do to these poor little souls?! Bren quickly covered himself with rocks and leaves and then proceeded to bow before me. It was his way of apologizing and paying respect to his master.

"It's okay," I said and lifted his chin so he can see me smiling at him. His lips trembled and tears pooled at the sides of his eyes. "It wasn't your fault..."

"I'm sorry..."

He suddenly passed out after uttering a faint sorry. We placed him beside Karis and sat there while waiting for them to wake up. Koryu can only take so much. We can't have him carry all of us home.

"Did Hildus not consider the fact that if he sent a member of The Zodiacs, they would likely break out of the spell?" I asked.

Aiyana shook her head. "He thinks Karis broke out of the spell due to his incompetence. He must have thought that Drake was not affected, so it is fine to send the others to get you."

"Oh? That's quite...stupid."

"Indeed. Hildus does not have a single idea what was going on despite being a god."

"What god is he anyway?"

"He is the god of the land. Because of that, he believed that it is him who should be the king, not Bythos."

After chatting for a bit, Aiyana decided to rest on the island. Meanwhile, I decided to try to get my concentration to level up. Next time, I'll be fighting a real god. I might have defeated Karis, but I know nothing about Hildus. What if he's a lot stronger than him? I might need to summon that sword.

Aiyana told me that summoning that one requires me to forfeit my thoughts. That means I'll have to fight like how Bythos did during the war.

Not only that, but I need to think of a plan as well. We can't just storm into the castle and destroy it. I have to think of a way to bring them out without getting the civilians involved. I do not want any casualties as I fight Hildus.

"Focus, Flare..."

I sighed and closed my eyes as I tried to keep my thoughts organized. Three weeks is all that I have left to master this. Hmm, I always keep the scale in check and I'm sure that I can fight without letting it slip. Not enough. I need to be able to focus to the point that I can see everything within at least a 500-meter radius. That way, I would know where to attack without hitting anyone else. I meditated and stayed that way for a few hours until I heard a loud explosion somewhere.

"f**k, what now?"

I followed the sound of the explosions and found Koryu being surrounded by magical beasts that looked like scorpions. He was having a hard time dodging the poison that spurted from their tails, so I had to use my magic to absorb them.

"Absorb..."

The scorpions turned to me and started to attack me. Tsk. I took my swords out and cut them in half with a single strike. I had no idea that there are magical beasts in this place. Ah, f**k. I hope the others are fine.

"Aiyana!" I shouted.

She didn't look back at me, so I realized that she was defending against something. She was doing so to protect the two behind her. I approached her and stood behind her back because we are surrounded now.

I sighed, annoyed that we have to deal with this now of all times. "Why don't you take them to a safe place? I can handle this," I told Aiyana.

"Huh? But there are a lot of them. Are you going to be okay?" she asked worriedly.

I looked back at her and smirked. "Uh-huh. This would also be a good time to practice."

"Practice what?"

"Summoning that sword..."

"Flare, no! What if you fail?"

"I won't."

She sighed and called Koryu. "We will come back to get you..." she whispered before riding Koryu with the two.

I looked around to see how the magical beasts are reacting. They seem to be quite wary of my presence, so they are not yet moving. Hmm, perhaps they're waiting for me to make my move before attacking. 

After a lot of thinking, I have figured it out. The sword belongs to the Supreme King and can only be taken by those who are worthy. I have proved it again and again, that's why I'll try to take it now.

As I started to forfeit all my thoughts, I felt power surging within me. There was a force coming from above, which I'm trying to take. When my concentration was finally at the highest level, I closed my eyes and tried summoning the sword.

"Sword of thy creator, I summon thee..."

The moment I uttered those words, it was as if the sky was cut in half. A gigantic sword started to descend, and my body started to feel heavy. Ah, I see. This is the burden of bearing the sword. When my hands caught the sword, the magical beasts quickly tried to attack me. However, all it took was one swing. Everything within the 200-meter vicinity was cut in half. Meanwhile, I only stood there as I watched them fall.

"Ha, that's all it took?" I smirked as I made the sword vanish.

To be honest, I was scared that I would fail at first. I knew it wasn't going to be easy. Just now, I felt like my body was already at its limit. The thing here is, summoning the sword means accepting my fate as the new queen and bearer of the curse. I have long accepted that that's why I didn't hesitate.

My body was able to withstand the power of the sword due to my unyielding resolve. It was quite hard to move it, but I was able to do it properly. I feel so relieved right now...

I fell to the ground, panting. It's not surprising that I only feel its impact now because I knew that it would turn out this way. The sword sucks power from the user, which would only be felt once the sword has vanished. Damn, my muscles hurt. I can't move my own body now, so I'll have to wait for them to come back for me. I wish they saw what I did...

"Flare..."

What...? It was Bythos!

I looked around to see if he's around but failed. He was the one who just called me, I'm sure of it. Why won't he show himself? I've got a lot of things to tell him. I also want to see how he would react once he finds out that I have mastered the power that he passed onto me.

"Always be careful, Flare..."

I sighed and didn't bother to look around. "I'm always careful. What do you mean?"

"Don't let your guard down..."

My eyes widened and I immediately took my katanas out to block the attack. It came out of nowhere! There was a golem-like thing holding a sword. It tried to stab me earlier. Good thing I was able to block it in time.

Can it talk?

"Where did you come from?" I asked.

It only growled a little. Okay, it can't talk. However, I'm not worried about that. I couldn't feel its presence! Sure, it's a thing and not a person, but I should have felt that it was coming from behind. Did it emerge from the ground? Or maybe there's someone around that's controlling it.

I thought it was just us around here, but I guess I'm wrong. There's no way this thing just came to life from nothing. If anything, I'm sure there's a lot of them here. Dealing with them would be a pain in the ass now since I still haven't recovered from earlier.

And even if I try to find the one controlling them, it won't be easy. It'll be like playing tag, and I'm not up for it. If only I can get enough time to rest, this would be a cinch. My body is trembling as I tried to defend against it.

"Ah, screw it!" I shouted as I flew away from it. I may not have stamina, but I still have a lot of mana left.

I heaved a sigh when the golem finally left me alone. There was a tree that seems comfortable enough to sit in while I rest, so I decided to go there first.

"Now, how do I send them a signal? I can't fly all the way towards the island," I mumbled to myself.

"Need help, Milady?"

I almost fell on the tree when I heard someone speaking. Oh, it was just Drake! He was talking to me through Cyrus. I didn't know that he came with us.

"I'm sorry for scaring you..." he said, but he was obviously laughing at me.

I scoffed. "Yeah. Can you relay my message to them? Like, just tell them to come and get me."

"Roger that."

Cyrus disappeared after that. Oh, I guess Koryu can't do it. I sighed and rested my back on the tree, still wary of traps. I was lucky that Bythos warned me earlier. Had he not, I would have died alone. That was quite a close one.

"You!"

I jumped again when someone shouted. When I looked at where the voice came from, my brows furrowed. There was a child there, holding what seemed to be a katana. I came down from the tree to face him.

"Leave the island now!" he shouted at me.

"That's what I'm planning to do. I'm only waiting for my friends to come," I tried to explain softly.

I'm genuinely confused why this child is here, but I doubt he'll answer. He's glaring at me like my whole existence is wrong, so I'm a little amused.

"You destroyed the forest! You killed my friends!"

My eyes widened. Oh, I get why he's mad. Maybe I shouldn't have summoned the sword. There was a child here that almost got caught up! I would have hated myself if he was killed in that.

"I'm sorry, I can revive the forest..." I trailed off. "Are the magical beasts your friends?"

He nodded, and I saw how his eyes teared up. Oh, s**t. I mean, they attacked me first and I only defended myself, but they're this child's family. I turned my back on him as I bit my lip in frustration. Ah, f**k. I slowly walked towards the forest and tried to make the trees and plants grow once again. This is nothing since using the four elements doesn't easily drain my mana. However, I feel bad for doing this to the poor boy's island.

"Are you going to bring them back to life?" he asked as he stared at me.

I pursed my lips and shook my head. "I can't do that. That's out of my capacity..."

The boy started sobbing as he caressed one of the dog-type magical beasts. They must have adopted them out of pity and raised him. I didn't know that such creatures would be capable of that. Ha, I wish humans are the same.

"Hey, I'm sorry for what I did..."

"Can your sorry bring them back?"

I shook my head and looked down. What have I done? Ah, I wish I just escaped with the others and didn't try to use the beasts as training dummies. I swallowed hard and looked at the horizon, waiting for Aiyana. After quite some time, they finally came. Aiyana was shocked when she saw the beast and the boy, so I tried to explain the situation to her.

I sighed. "It's my fault."

She chuckled and tapped my shoulder. "I can bring them back to life. Did you forget? I am the goddess of time. I can turn back time for them and make them live again."

The boy heard what she said and ran up to her. "Do you mean it?"

"Yes, little one."

I smiled and stepped back so that she can do her thing. The boy did the same. Our eyes met, but I quickly looked away because I'm too embarrassed for what I did.

"I envy you for being strong. You can fight on your own. I'm always a burden in the pack, always hiding in a corner to not get killed. I also want to be able to fight alone like how you did," he said without looking at me.

He's talking about me, I guess. I tried to approach him so that I can tell him something. I also bent down so he can see me better.

"You see, being strong doesn't necessarily mean that you need to fight alone. It's a lot easier when you have others to lean on while fighting. You can get all the support you need and be able to get stronger. But if you really want to get strong, I can help you," I said hesitantly.

"But I'd have to leave the island, right?"

I scratched my temple. "Yes, that's right. On the second thought-"

"I'm not leaving my family," he cut me off.

I smiled and ruffled his hair. "I knew you would say that. You can just stay here and train with them if you really want to become strong. I'm sure they'd help you if you say what you really want."

"Okay. But don't come back..." he mumbled.

Ah, right. I nodded and stood up. I'll never destroy forests again, even if it's a part of my training. This whole thing happened because I didn't double-check.

"Alright. Just make sure that you get stronger, okay?"

"I will. And I'll make sure that I'm better than you."

I chuckled and ignored what he said. If that happens, I hope he uses it for a good reason. Well, I'm sure that he will. Aiyana actually revived the beasts that were part of the boy's family. We were about to leave, but he held onto my skirt with his head down. I bent down to see his face and asked him what was up.

"I don't know your name yet," he said in an arrogant tone,

I smiled. "Flare. What about you?"

"Crimson."

My mouth went agape when I heard what his name was. I chuckled a little and ruffled his hair. There was a flower called Crimson Flare, and I think it's quite a coincidence.

"What? Why did you laugh?" he asked sharply.

I made the flower from my hands and gave it to him. "This is called a crimson flare. You can have it."

He accepted it and went silent as we rode Koryu. I waved at him, but he didn't do the same. Ah, what the hell? What's wrong with that kid?

"He likes you," Aiyana told me.

I raised a brow. "Who does?"

"That child, Crimson. He genuinely admires you," she said with a smile.

"No. I destroyed his forest and killed his family. More like he genuinely hates me. He even told me not to come back," I replied, shaking my head.

"Flare, trust me. That kid liked you. Hmm, perhaps because you are a strong woman?"

I shook my head. "I don't think so."

"By the way..." she trailed off.

I got worried because of her tone, so I stared at her and waited for her to say what she wants to tell me. Her face was also a little pale, something I noticed earlier. I've been meaning to ask her about this.

"What? What's wrong?"

She sighed. "I had to throw stop time for Karis and Bren because they were about to kill each other."

My eyes widened and my mouth went agape. "They what?"

"Yes. They were trying to kill each other," she replied with a stressed look on her face.

"Why would they do that?"

She shook her head. "That I do not know."

Her face is telling me that she's not lying. Also, I know that Aiyana doesn't lie about these things. I sighed and looked forward. Karis shouldn't even be awake, so then why would they be throwing hands at this time? Ah, what flipped Karis's switch again?