Cursed Queen: Battle Against Gods

Duel With Karis

I'm supposed to practice moving at the speed of light. I know how to do it, but there's no one to supervise me. I'm not sure if I'll be able to do it! And what if I go out of control? I will likely mess up, and there's no one to stop me. However, Aiyana trusted me. She believed that I could do it as long as I focus. That's why I'll do whatever I can to do it without going out of control.

I was about to start when I heard some rustling on the bushes. My brows furrowed as I took my katanas out. There shouldn't be anyone here except me. Aiyana is at the hot springs, investigating. It could only be a wild animal or an imp. However, I know the smell of the wild animals, and I'm a hundred percent sure that it's not them.

"Why don't you show yourself?" I asked while staring at the bush.

Two small and red creatures slowly stepped out of the bush. Must be those imps that have ranks. That's what they look like, according to Aiyana. They looked at me with silly grins on their faces as if they were mocking me.

"What do you want?" I asked sharply.

"You're the former king's successor, and you can't even control yourself? How unsightly!" the buff one mocked me.

The thin one was staring at my katanas. "You wield the twin blades, yet you can't bring their full potential out? This is going to be the next queen?"

Since I'm used to being insulted, I didn't react. The imps are only trying to provoke me so that they can do whatever they're planning to do. I only stared at them, raising a brow at their silliness. And besides, everything they said is correct. Isn't that the reason why I'm out here, training on my own? I lazily ran my fingers through my hair.

"Is that all? You came here to tell me that?"

It appears that it is them who would get provoked. Oh? That was all it took to set them off. I chuckled, which made them angrier than they already are. Aren't they supposed to be the mischievous ones here? Pfft.

The thin one raised its hand and shouted. "Everyone, surround her!"

Oh, f**k.

They brought a lot of the imps just to subdue me. I looked down as I acted like a helpless prey that has been caught in a trap. Ha! As if I'd let myself be reduced to that.

"Attack!"

When they were only at least a meter away from me, I made a ball of light on the ground. It exploded when they entered the circle and blinded them. That was why I took the chance to create vines to tie them up altogether. The red ones also charged towards me and got caught up. I wiped the dirt off my clothes as I looked at the imps in contempt. The poor little creatures wriggled, so the vines almost strangled them.

They looked at me with scorn, but I only gave them a cold look. They stole my clothes, made Karis get his heat cycle early, and tried to kill me. Ah, the things I hate the most. But it's not like I'll punish them. I just want to scare them a little to make sure that they won't try to mess with me anymore.

I bent down so I can be face to face with the red imps. "Now, what do I do with you? You guys have been very naughty. Kids like you should be punished..." I drawled.

The buff one bared his teeth. "We're probably older than you! If there's someone who should be punished, that's you and The Zodiacs!"

I grabbed his neck and glared at him. "Did I allow you to speak?"

He swallowed hard as fear seems to have struck him like lightning. He slowly shook his head, which made me smirk. I hope this is enough to scare them off. The others trembled as they looked at me. Huh, I probably look scary right now.

Then I suddenly felt someone's presence from my back. They never seem to learn their lesson, huh? As the imp jumped to stab me, the vines caught their feet. I stood up, chuckling, as I turned to the poor thing. It looked at me with such hateful eyes, but I didn't falter. I tied her up with the others as I waited for Aiyana.

"Who sent you here?" I asked.

The imps trembled, but I didn't hear an answer from them. I could only sigh, impatient. What happened to Aiyana? She should be here by now. What could be stalling her? Tsk. I wanted to check on her, but these little ones might escape if I do.

Anyway, these past few days, I have been able to control the techniques properly. I never missed a single attack, and Karis said that I seem to improve every single day. He also said that I'm almost at Bythos's level. Once I master the light speed, I'd be unstoppable.

"Flare!" Aiyana called.

I didn't turn my back on the imps when I answered her. "What happened?"

She sat beside me as she looked at the imps with an arrogant smirk on her face. "I caught their leaders. I froze the time for them to make sure that they will not escape."

The imps gasped. "Please let us go! We'll stop doing mischievous things and go back to the other side of Hylus mountain. We're never coming back to mess with you. We promise!"

They continued to beg us while crying, so we decided to do them a favor. However, they remained tied up as we went to their camp here. When we arrived at their camp, I let them go as they ran towards their comrades. Aiyana clasped her hands together and made time flow for them.

"We are terribly sorry..." the imps said as they bowed to us.

I sighed. "Your old home was destroyed because of Bythos, right? What can I do to make it up to you?"

"Flare!" Aiyana looked at me with horror in her eyes. "Do you intend to do them a favor after what they did to Karis?"

"It's fine as long as they keep their promise, Aiyana. Don't worry."

She sighed. "If you say so."

They looked at me with twinkling eyes. What the f**k? I crossed my arms as I waited for them to make their minds up on what to ask of me. I sure hope I can provide it. They might have suffered because of Bythos and not me, but isn't it fair to help them out since I'll be the new queen?

"Will you allow us to live alongside the other tribes and create a nation of our own when you become queen?" their leader asked.

"As long as you don't cause trouble for the other tribes, I'll allow it. However, if I ever hear that you've been doing exactly that, I'll make sure to punish you. Do you understand?"

They nodded with little smiles on their faces. "We sincerely hope that you become a queen and save this nation. We shall await the day of your crowning."

We saw them off to make sure that they would keep their promise. After that, we went back to the training grounds. Aiyana wanted to talk to me regarding the hot springs, so the training might need to wait.

"I do not think we can bathe on the hot springs for a week. The potion will disappear within that period, and I am afraid that it can cause harm to your body."

I frowned. "I'll have to deal with the muscle pain for a week?"

She nodded. "Unfortunately, yes."

I looked at the twin blades that I wield. "Aiyana, do you know the name of these blades?"

"Taiyō no ken. The last wielder of that blade died after bringing its full potential out because his body could not withstand it. However, I am certain that you will be able to do it."

"But how will I do it?" She smiled.

"You will know in due time. Once you have finally become the most powerful god, it will answer to you."

I took a deep breath and stared at it. If I don't, it will not answer me. That's why I need to keep on getting stronger. I only have a month left, and I will make sure that I can make it obey me.

"Aiyana..." I called.

"Hm?"

"I want you to stop me if I go out of control. I will go all out now..." I said and allowed mana and my magic flow within me.

We kept on doing that for a whole week, and I can proudly say that I have mastered it within that short period. The problem is that my body has been aching all over. I plopped on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

"I can't move a muscle..." I mumbled.

Aiyana laughed. "You pushed yourself to the limit."

"You did the same, though."

When I got the hang of it, she decided to fight me to test my skills. She had a hard time defending against me, so she went all out too. That’s why we ended up almost destroying the whole place. Aiyana is lying beside me, and she's equally tired as me. We can only bathe in the hot springs tomorrow when Karis comes out of her domain. I hope he's okay. It's almost a week since his heat cycle started, and it's ending tomorrow.

I miss him...

"Is Alwina going to come here...?" Aiyana asked.

I shrugged. "We don't have a way to communicate with her because Drake hasn't contacted us yet. He wouldn't answer if we try to talk to him now. We'll have to wait for him."

She whimpered. "So annoying..."

I pursed my lips and looked away. I don't know if she's referring to me or Alwina. But either way, that was quite a surprise. We were so tired that we fell asleep without getting to eat dinner.

When I woke up, Aiyana was nowhere to be found. I went out only to find Karis, who seems to have just finished taking a bath. Only a towel was covering his body, but I didn't pay attention to that. He's back! A wide smile formed on my lips as I ran to his arms. He chuckled as he caressed my hair.

"I missed you..." I whispered. "What took you so long, stupid?"

The whole week felt like years as I waited for him. Now that he's here and he seems to be feeling better, I'm so happy. I buried my face on his chest while he kept caressing my back. His scent was a lot stronger than usual perhaps because his heat cycle just finished. It was so addicting.

"You should stop sniffing me," he teased. "How did the whole week go?"

I pulled away and sighed. "It was so tiring. We couldn't bathe in the hot springs because of the potion."

He raised a brow. "Potion?"

"Yes. The imps used it on you to make you have your heat cycle early. Aiyana said that it could affect us in some way, so we didn't go there until it goes away."

"Where are they now? I mean, the imps."

"They went back to the other side of the mountain after I promised to allow them to build their nation when I become queen." I smiled awkwardly, thinking that he would say that I'm stupid.

"You did that? That's so kind of you. But won't they cause trouble?" he asked hesitantly.

My mouth went agape. He didn't get mad. "They promised that they won't when I said that I'll punish them if they do."

"Let's just hope that they won't cause trouble." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair.

This time, I got a really good look at him. Water was dripping all over his body, as well as his hair. He made his antlers grow in a very hot way. What the hell? Since when did he learn to act like this? Ah, he's making me go insane!

"Are you okay? Did you get yourself healed?" he asked worriedly as he examined my body for bruises.

Aiyana suddenly came in while he was doing that, and her eyes widened. "What? I thought your heat cycle finished?!"

Karis groaned. "I was only trying to check her body for bruises! I wasn't doing anything weird!"

"You should go and wear some clothes now. We'll check the hot springs," I said and pulled Aiyana. "Let's go."

We walked towards the hot springs and examined the waters. "It seems to have vanished now. We can finally come here later. By the way, how do you feel? I have recovered now, but I am worried about you."

I smiled even though my body hurts like hell. "I'm okay. Don't worry. We should train now. I bet Karis would be surprised to see my progress."

"Oh? Really? Fight me, then. Let me see how much you've improved," Karis said from behind.

I turned to him and smirked. "Uh-huh. Brace yourself."

"Flare, you should go all out from the start," Aiyana whispered. I gave her a confused look, so she grinned. "Karis might be a lot stronger now. It is a peculiar effect of his heat cycle."

I smiled at her. "Thank you for the advice. Don't worry because I won't let my guard down."

Karis and I took our stances and got ready to fight. I allowed mana to flow freely throughout my body and kept my focus. I know that Karis is a formidable opponent, and I swear on my swords that I won't lose this time.

I took my katanas out and called out their names in my mind. "Taiyō no ken, heed my call..." The image of two men appeared in my mind.

"You called, our master?" they asked in unison.

I smiled to myself. "Lend me your power?" 

"Please use it to your heart's content..." 

"I sure will." 

The blades started to glow and suddenly turned red. So this is its true form? When Aiyana signaled us to begin, the both of us jumped from our positions to cross blades. His antlers almost hit me, but I was able to defend immediately. A huge impact was created the moment our swords met.

I have the advantage, but he's guarding well only by brute strength. He wasn't surprised by how fast I moved. Perhaps he's gotten used to it after serving Bythos. That's why I went even faster. 

"Speed up..." 

His antlers grew bigger as he accumulated mana from the surroundings. He suddenly filled the ring with water, so I used the wind element to float because the water was boiling hot. As long as I keep my concentration, I won't fall on it. 

"Get struck..."

He was pushed back after I summoned spears, so I used the chance to gain the upper hand. 

"Explode..." 

The damage he got after that was quite a lot. But of course, he'll never go down from that. The truth is, that can only be considered a scratch for him. His cheek was grazed, so he wiped it with a smirk on his face. 

"Lightning..." 

He immediately drained the water and dodged every single attack. He's still defending well despite that. I won't be able to summon those for a while, so we went back to crossing blades. When I noticed that he's about to activate the magic circles, I discreetly set the ball of light on the ground that was covered with water earlier. 

"Blinding light..." 

It swallowed his attacks, but Karis knew better. His water tridents came one after another, and they didn't stop even when my defense has gone down. I coated myself with white armor using light magic. Some of them and Karis's blows grazed me because I didn't get time to put my defense up again. 

"Get struck..." 

The spears that kept falling from the sky defended me from the tridents. They would explode whenever they meet. Finally, I was able to focus on Karis and his attacks. His brute strength is on another level that I had to speed up even more to keep up with him.

I dropped balls of light on the ground while fighting him. I coated one of the katanas with fire and light on the other. His water was stronger, so I had to up the intensity of the fire while keeping the spears coming. He was clad in water armor now because some of the spears have grazed him.

Earlier, I was on defense, but I'm back on offense now. The tridents have grazed me a lot while we were jumping all over the place. Suddenly, he started shooting water bullets from his other hand, so I had to jump back. 

"Explode and absorb..." 

He created a shield that was made of water to parry the attacks. I took the chance and placed the hilt of both swords together. They combined and turned into a double-bladed sword, giving me a longer range. I've been trained to use this back then, so I'm confident that I can use it.

"Here I go..." I murmured as I got ready to speed up again.

Of course, I'm not done. As soon as the blinding light disappeared, I ran up to him. He was a bit surprised that I'm suddenly so close to him, but he immediately recovered. He tried to block my attacks, but I'm going too fast.

The both of us are losing mana quickly, so I took the chance and summoned arrows to corner him. He tried to defend against my blows and the arrows, but it wasn't enough. I pointed the edge of the blade on his neck while arrows are headed towards his way.

"Alright, my loss!" he shouted.

I stopped the arrows while we were like that. Of course, I won't stop them if it's a real fight. I placed the spear down, and it immediately returned to its original form. Karis transformed back from his hybrid form because he's out of mana now. I'm the same, so I immediately fell on the ground, panting. Aiyana approached the two of us and gave us water to drink. We immediately drank it and laid on the ground, unable to move.

"It was an amazing fight. You two did well," Aiyana said and left to call her horses.

"Thank you."

I stared at the sky while smiling widely. I wondered if Bythos saw me fought like that. Our styles are completely different, but I know that I was able to meet his expectations. Ah, I wish I can talk to him and tell him about the things we went through. 

"You did well, Flare. I am proud of you..." 

My eyes widened, and I tried to get up to look for him. He's here! I felt his presence, and I'm sure as heck that he was watching us. Where is he...?

"Flare, are you okay?" Karis asked and tried to get up as well.

"Bythos..." I murmured.

He sighed and pulled me, making me fall on his arms. I was taken aback by what he just did. He buried his face on my neck like a child. I stopped looking for Bythos and caressed his head.

"Why are you looking for him?" he asked, his voice was raspy.

"I heard his voice, so I thought that maybe he's here. We can talk to him if he is. Don't you want to talk to him?" I asked while playing with his hair.

He shook his head. "You are my master now. There's no reason for me to want to talk to him."

My mouth went agape. I'm certain that he's not mad at Bythos because he's always expressed respect towards him. Maybe he's just not ready to face him because of what they did. He's still blaming himself for what happened even though he didn't know what he's doing.

"Will you talk to him when you're ready?"

He sighed. "Yes. I need to say sorry for what we did and for not being strong enough to withstand the brainwashing..." he mumbled.

"Good to know. But...did you get jealous?" I teased. 

He didn't answer, and when I tried to see his face, he buried it on my chest. "No..." he murmured.

"What? Are you jealous that he talked to me instead of you? Or because I was looking for him?"

"Stop..." 

I chuckled and stopped teasing him. We remained that way until Aiyana came back with three horses. She helped us climb up on the horses because we had a hard time moving.

"Bythos spoke to me," I told her while we're on the way to the hot springs.

She looked at me, surprised. "What did he tell you? Did he say something about the curse?"

I shook my head. "Unfortunately, not. He only told me that I did well. That's it, then he disappeared."

Her brows furrowed. "I would have known if he was there. Are you certain that it is him?" she asked while looking at the sky, thinking.

"Yes. That was definitely his voice. I also felt his presence."

"That sly god. He purposely hid his presence from everyone except you. However, it is quite strange that he can still use magic when he passed everything to you..."